NDP to Introduce Bill Banning MPs From Floor Crossing Without Voters’ Support

NDP MP and parliamentary leader Don Davies rises during Question Period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in a file photo. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

NDP parliamentary leader Don Davies said he will introduce legislation prohibiting MPs from crossing the floor to other parties without the consent of their riding constituents.

Davies said in a statement on June 1 that the bill would require MPs seeking to join another party after being elected to Parliament to either obtain consent from their constituents through a byelection, or sit as an independent MP until the next federal election.

While private member’s bills rarely pass and become law, they can bring additional attention to issues, and can sometimes pave the way for similar government legislation passing.

The current sitting of Parliament has seen a total of five MPs—four Conservatives and one New Democrat—cross the floor to the Liberal Party and give it a majority government.

Tory MPs Chris d'Entremont, Michael Ma, Matt Jeneroux, and Marilyn Gladu crossed the floor in late 2025 and early 2026. NDP MP Lori Idlout joined the Liberal Party in March.

The NDP has a longstanding policy against floor-crossing. Then-interim leader Davies said on March 10 that “when someone rejects the decision of their electors and wants to join another party, they should put that decision to their voters.”

NDP Leader Avi Lewis also told reporters on May 28 that the party believes in the “democratic will of the people,” which means that MPs looking to change parties must resign and then run in byelections. Lewis was responding to a question on whether the NDP would invite Liberal MP Steven Guilbeault to join the party after he announced his coming resignation.

“He would be welcome if he resigned from the Liberal Party to seek the nomination as an NDP candidate in any of the ridings across the country. But floor-crossing is not what we do. That’s what the Liberals do,” he said.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in April following Gladu’s floor crossing that if an MP “goes back on the word they made to their constituents” and crosses the floor, then their constituents should be able to “petition to throw them out and have a byelection.”

In the past, Conservative MPs have voted against a bill that would require MPs to automatically face a byelection if they changed parties. When asked if he would vote differently now on recall legislation, Poilievre told reporters that it would be a decision for his caucus.

An Angus Reid survey from March found that just 26 percent of Canadians believed that floor-crossers should be allowed to serve out their full terms under new party colours. The poll found that 41 percent said floor-crossers should step down and re-contest their seats in a byelection.