Mark Carney Edges Closer To Majority Government

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney can almost taste a majority government that could secure his hold on power until 2029.

Lori Idlout, a two-term New Democratic Party MP who represents the sprawling Arctic territory of Nunavut, is joining Carney's Liberal caucus.

The Liberals now hold 170 seats in Canada's House of Commons, just two short of the 172 majority threshold. The party is likely to achieve at least that number following two special elections in Toronto scheduled for April 13.

Those votes follow the recent resignations of two former Cabinet ministers: Chrystia Freeland, who vacated her midtown Toronto seat in January; and Bill Blair, who left his suburban Scarborough riding for a new posting as Canada's top envoy in the U.K.

Both are safe Liberal bets. If the party holds both, Carney's hold on power is still tenuous.

But Liberals also hope to find a little more breathing room by holding a third riding in another special election scheduled for the same date as the Toronto contests.

In Terrebonne, Quebec, a pair of former MPs — Liberal Tatiana Auguste and the Bloc Québécois' Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné — are facing off in a rematch of the 2025 election.

Auguste came out on top by a single vote last year following a judicial recount, but the Supreme Court annulled the result following voter complaints that Elections Canada failed to count their ballots.

The Montreal suburb is likely to be closely fought once more. 338Canada, a polling aggregator, currently projects a toss-up between the two front-runners.

Idlout's crossing is the first from the NDP benches, but the fourth time Carney has gained from the opposition side. Conservatives have so far lost Chris D'Entremont, Michael Ma and most recently Matt Jeneroux.

Jeneroux, an Alberta MP who was rumored last year to be considering a jump to the Liberals, had promised to resign his seat this spring. He instead did join Carney's team and accompanied the prime minister on every leg of a recent trip to India, Australia and Japan.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has condemned every crossing as a betrayal of voters' will in the last election.

Poilievre has accused Carney of "trying to seize a costly Liberal majority government that Canadians voted against in the last election through dirty backroom deals."

Interim NDP Leader Don Davies broke the news about Idlout in a statement late Tuesday evening. Davies called on her to resign her seat and run in a special election.

"The position of the New Democrats on floor crossing is longstanding and clear," read the statement. "We believe that when someone rejects the decision of their electors and wants to join another party, they should put that decision to their voters."

The NDP is reaching the crescendo of a leadership contest. Party members are currently voting for the next permanent leader. Idlout recently appeared at a campaign event hosted by contender Avi Lewis.