In 2016, Gladu was voted “most collegial” MP in a survey of her colleagues. But in the years since she has made headlines for different reasons.
She was elected four times as a Conservative and briefly ran for the party leadership in 2020. In April of that year she promoted an unproven treatment for COVID-19 [hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and zinc sulphate] and questioned the public health response to the pandemic. In 2021 she was criticized by the then leader of the Conservative Party — Erin O’Toole — for saying COVID-19 was less of a threat than polio (Gladu apologized for her comments).
In June 2021, Gladu voted against Liberal legislation that sought to ban conversion therapy. At the time, Gladu said she opposed the practice, but believed the wording of the legislation was too broad. (In a 2020 interview, she said “it’s important that every part of the community is made to feel loved and accepted” and that she’d be willing to march in a Pride parade.)
It was also just three months ago that Gladu said any MP looking to switch parties should have to run in a byelection before doing so — a fact that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre pointed to on Wednesday while criticizing her move.
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Gladu will no doubt be asked at some point to account for her own views and stances. And Carney may hope that differences of opinion can be minimized — at least publicly. But the prime minister will be poked and prodded now to explain his values.
There’s basically no reason for this one to cross the floor unless she was promised something in return. Considering I’m at odds with her on more or less any topic you care to name, I’m definitely not going to like whatever that is.
There is one other possibility. Poilievre has been an asshole to at least one other Conservative MP. Perhaps he did something to her behind the scenes that she decided she wasn’t going to tolerate, and she crossed the floor as a form of revenge.
Either way, I doubt we’re ever going to find out exactly what the carrot and/or stick was.
I did note that she put her hat in the ring for leadership of the party at one point and her nomination was rejected. She could still be that butthurt that she wanted to leave?
Or … the rats are leaving the sinking ship.
Gladu is no red tory. The CPC is very much her ideological home. We’re talking a reactionary who is against abortion, against vaccination, etc. who almost certainly ended her chances of getting re-elected with this move. She didn’t cross without being offered something.
If this is the type of person the Liberals are able to convince to join them, I shudder to think about what’s in store for us under a Carney majority.
If someone this batshit is running from PP, how much more insane is the remaining core of the CPC?
