Nova Scotia MP Rick Perkins (Photo: CPAC)
This week as longtime Conservative MP Chris d’Entremont crossed the floor to join the governing Liberals—just hours after Prime Minister Mark Carney tabled his first federal budget.
MP d’Entremont, who represents Acadie-Annapolis, said the budget reflects the priorities he’s heard most from constituents, including infrastructure and economic growth. “There is a better path forward for our country—and a better path forward for Acadie-Annapolis,” he said in a statement issued Tuesday evening.
The move brings the Liberals within two seats of a majority government and has sparked reactions across party lines.
Among those responding was Rick Perkins, the former Conservative MP for South Shore–St. Margarets, who lost his seat in the spring election.
In a post on his social media, Perkins claims that d’Entremont didn’t cross the floor for his constituents. Rather, he claims it was to bolster his reelection chances, combined with resentment from not getting the House Speaker role.
Perkins also claimed in a separate post that d’Entremont told him this past weekend, “If an election is held now, I will lose my seat. I might as well not run”.
The former MP is now calling for d’Entremont to resign his seat and run in a byelection to see if his constituents still support him under his new liberal banner.
