MP Scott Anderson says he was asked to join Carney’s Liberals — but he’s the only one

One of the BC Interior’s furthest right politicians claims he was approached to cross the floor to join the Liberal Party, but it appears he’s the only local MP who was.

Conservative MP Scott Anderson posted to social media Jan. 5, claiming he was approached by the Liberals and asked to cross the floor to join them. He said he declined.

“It’ll be a cold day in Hell before I even consider betraying my constituents, and you should probably stop asking because I will certainly advertise it every time you try,” he wrote.

Anderson accused the Liberal Party of “pulling out all the stops” to lure Conservatives across the floor. Prime Minister Mark Carney has already pulled two Opposition MPs to his side and was within one seat of a majority, at least until Chrystia Freeland announced her resignation this week.

If it were a strategy, it would be expected to continue, if not accelerate.

But Anderson is an odd choice to be a target for the Liberal Party. He’s the farthest right politician among other BC Interior MPs. He was a quick and vocal supporter of the troubled owners of the Edgewood Universal Ostrich Farm, for example, while others were silent or tepid. As a councillor, he voted against raising the Pride flag and alone kept the BC Conservative Party alive for years when no one would look at them.

No other MP in the region has made such a claim about being approached.

Like Anderson, Helena Konanz is a first-time MP but unlike Anderson, her Similkameen-South Okanagan-West Kootenay is hotly contested — she had to run three times to get it. She told iNFOnews.ca she hasn’t been approached.

“I have never been asked to cross the floor and being a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party of Canada reflects the values, morals, and beliefs that I uphold daily,” Konanz said in an email. “I was voted in as a Conservative MP and I am proud and honoured to continue to represent all my constituents as a Conservative.”

Four-time North Okanagan–Shuswap and now Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies Conservative MP Mel Arnold also said no one has asked him to switch sides.

“The Liberals have not approached me to cross the floor, nor would I consider being part of such a conflicted and scandalized party,” Arnold said in an email.

Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna Conservative MP Dan Albas also said no one has approached him to switch sides, nor would he move.

“I feel very strongly I was elected to serve my constituents as a Conservative MP… it’s really as simple as that,” Albas said.

Conservative Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Frank Caputo didn’t respond to our question, nor did Anderson, nor Liberal Party MP Stephen Fuhr.

Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont crossed from the Tories to the Liberals last November. He’d won three federal elections for the Conservative Party but mostly in tight races. He was also the only MP from Nova Scotia who wasn’t a Liberal.

Weeks later, Conservative MP Michael Ma followed suit, crossing the floor to the Liberals. He won a slim victory over the Liberals in his second attempt.

In the last 25 years, 80 MPs have changed their party affiliation between elections but polls suggest it’s not popular among voters.

A 2018 Angus Reid poll found that 42% of Canadians wanted the practice of switching from one party to another to be banned, with a further 41% being OK with it. But the majority of those who favoured the practice still wanted MPs who left the party to sit as independents until the next election.