Social Conservative Group Says MP Gladu Joining Liberals Signals Ruling Party Softening on Pro-Lifer Exclusion

MP Marilyn Gladu representing Sarnia—Lambton—Bkejwanong arrives for a Conservative caucus retreat on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Jan. 24, 2020. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

A pro-life organization says Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu’s floor-crossing to the Liberal Party may signal that the Liberals are becoming more accepting of Canadians who oppose on-demand abortion.

Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), whose main function is to track politicians’ stance on social conservative issues and make voting recommendations, said in a statement on April 8 that Gladu has a long history of supporting pro-life legislation.

Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had barred any new pro-life candidates from running for the party since 2014.

“Many Canadians have been shut out of meaningful participation in the party,“ CLC National President Jeff Gunnarson said. ”If Gladu’s move signals that Prime Minister Mark Carney is charting a different course in 2026, that would be welcome news indeed.”

On its website, CLC has recommended against supporting Gladu, saying while she has supported some pro-life legislation, she has also stated that abortion should remain an available option for pregnant women, and has supported Pride parades.

During the 2020 Conservative leadership race that she competed in briefly, Gladu said she is “personally pro-life,” while adding that abortion services need to be available for those who want it, and that she would take part in Pride parades.

Gunnarson said Gladu voted in 2021 in favour of Bill C-233, which sought to ban sex-selective abortion. She then voted for Bill C-311 in 2023, which would have made it an aggravating circumstance in sentencing to knowingly assault a pregnant woman.

The CLC noted Gladu has also repeatedly voted against the expansion of euthanasia in Canada. Gladu spoke at the National March for Life in 2017, which was organized by the CLC.

CLC’s Vice President Matthew Wojciechowski said Carney had gotten rid of Trudeau’s “feminist policies” in the most recent federal budget. Wojciechowski said that when combined with Gladu joining the Liberals, it could mean “the Trudeau-era policy barring pro-life Liberals is changing too.”

“Confusing as this contagion of floor crossings may be, it’s refreshing to see Trudeau’s discriminatory policy losing its iron grip,” Wojciechowski said, adding that it was time for the Liberal Party to become a “broader tent” and welcome back hundreds of thousands of pro-life Canadians.

While the Carney government’s 2025 budget removes terms such as “Feminist International Assistant Policy,” it contains more expenditure on gender and LGBT programs compared to the Trudeau government’s 2024 budget.

Gladu announced earlier in the day that she is crossing the floor to join the Liberal Party because her constituents wanted “serious leadership and a real plan to build a stronger and more independent Canadian economy.”

Carney welcomed Gladu to the government caucus, saying she is bringing “the practical, results-driven leadership” needed to “build ambition into progress and strengths into sustained advantage.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, said Glaud’s constituents had voted for the “Conservative vision of a Canada,” and that she should face voters in a byelection before changing parties.