Fix floor-crossing cynicism with Canadian legislation, not American-style recalls

OTTAWA, April 12, 2026 - The Canadian Future Party (CFP) calls on the federal government to introduce legislation requiring any Member of Parliament who leaves the party under which they were elected to vacate their seat and trigger a byelection, or to sit as an independent until the next election, when voters can confirm or reject their choice. This is a straight-forward way to respect the wishes of voters and the independence of Members of Parliament without the divisive and ineffective American-style recall legislation proposed by the Poilievre Conservatives.

This week Marilyn Gladu became the fifth MP to switch teams since last year's general election. But just this January Ms. Gladu publicly supported a petition calling for mandatory byelections for floor-crossers, telling her local newspaper that constituents "deserve a chance to have a redo" when their MP changes parties.

This is not a new fight for CFP Leader Dominic Cardy. In 2014, Cardy championed An Act Respecting Floor Crossing (2014, c.62) in the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, requiring any MLA who left the party under which they were elected to sit as an independent or resign their seat. The law, the first of its kind in Canada, was repealed by a subsequent Liberal government.

"Prime Minister Carney’s business background is making him forget that MPs aren’t board members to be shuffled, but the people’s representatives, elected to use their judgment and to follow their conscience,” says Domenic Cardy, Leader of the CFP. “Members of Parliament absolutely need the right to leave their parties. It’s the ultimate way to show you have no confidence in that party or its leader, but that shouldn’t turn Parliament into a free-for-all”.

Cardy highlighted the dangers of governments offering gifts and favours to floor-crossers, like Markham MP Michael Ma, who joined the PM on an official visit to China, the week after he crossed.

Cardy also commented on Pierre Poilievre’s proposed recall legislation to target floor-crossers. “If the Liberal approach to floor-crossing comes from the boardroom, the Conservative approach comes straight from the Republican Party, who have championed recall legislation for decades. Recall legislation is expensive, divisive, and unnecessary. Canada has a proud parliamentary tradition Mr. Poilievre should call on, rather than winking at his pro-US base. The Canadian Future Party wants to modernize Canadian institutions, not import traditions from elsewhere: our proposal is a simple, all-Canadian, fix.”

CFP's position applies equally regardless of which party benefits from a floor crossing. The party is calling for permanent federal legislation, not criticism of any individual MP's decision.