Marilyn Gladue floor crossing to the Liberals is the kind of news that made Rob Breakenridge wonder if he was thinking of the wrong person. Then wonder if it was a late April Fools joke. Then confirm it was real and sit with the fact that she had been denouncing other floor crossers just days before.

What do you actually get out of crossing the floor? Not a cabinet post. Rob Breakenridge is clear on that. Not necessarily more freedom in caucus. Not even a guaranteed seat, given how conservative her riding has been. Marilyn Gladue spent years as one of the most ardent social conservatives in the party, ran to lead it six years ago, and has a track record that makes the Liberal fit genuinely hard to explain. She could walk into a private sector job in petrochemicals that would pay more than an MP salary plus whatever anyone imagines they're being offered. The incentive is baffling and that's the part nobody can answer cleanly.

This is the fifth floor crosser. At some point the question stops being about Marilyn Gladue and starts being about what the Liberal Party actually stands for when everyone is welcome.

Topics: Marilyn Gladue floor crossing, Canadian by-election, Pierre Poilievre caucus, Liberal majority, floor crosser incentive

GUEST: Rob Breakenridge | robbreakrenridge.ca | @robbreakenridge

Originally aired on 2026-04-09