Former Conservative MP to join Liberal Party
Former Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Eve Adams announced her decision to join the Liberal Party in a press conference two weeks ago in Ottawa, alongside Liberal leader Justin Trudeau. Adams’s defection from the Conservatives to the Liberals also had her slamming Prime Minister Stephen Harper, remarking that she could no longer support “mean-spirited leadership that divides people instead of bringing them together.”
Adams, 41, who formerly represented the riding of Mississauga-Brampton South and has served as MP since 2011, said in a prepared statement that she had joined the Conservatives to improve the lives of Canadians, but instead was let down.
Adams noted that the Conservative government is “about to roll out policies like income splitting, which will devour the surplus without benefiting many Canadian families, or creating a single job.” Adams also mentioned a woman’s right to choose is another issue upon which she did not agree with the Conservative stance.
The Conservative Party’s response to her defection was almost immediate, part of their response coming from Conservative Party President John Walsh, who stated how he had previously refused to let Adams run for the party again.
“I informed her in writing on Jan. 29 that she would not be permitted to run for our Party in the next election due to the misconduct from the Oakville North-Burlington nomination race,” Walsh said in a statement.
Walsh here refers to Adam’s controversial failed bid to win the Conservative nomination in the new riding. The race is thought to have been flawed, as allegations were made of dirty tricks being used back and forth between herself and her rival, Natalia Lishchyna.
Questions have also been raised as to how Adams’s decision to switch went over with her partner, Dimitri Soudas, the former senior aide and one-time communications director to Harper. Soudas also served as director of the Conservative Party in 2013.
“My entire family is 100 per cent supportive,” Adams noted on the afternoon of Feb. 9, while Soudas tweeted that he “fully supports” Adams’s decision.
When pressed to address her well-publicized difficulties in securing her Conservative nominations in two separate ridings, Adams did not respond. Trudeau has said that he is not concerned with Soudas’s Conservative ties.
There has been criticism from Liberal opponents, however, with this recent switch.
“Once again, an elected official is thinking of their own career ahead of the constituents that elected her,” NDP MP Charlie Angus said in a statement. “The Liberal Party of Canada is giving us yet another example of cynicism by accepting in their ranks a Conservative MP that has fallen out of favour of the prime minister.”
Conservatives have said they are happy to see Adams leave, pointing to an apparent track record of multiple small, but embarrassing, controversies for the Conservatives, including her attempts claim hair and nail salon treatments as campaign expenses in the 2011 election.
Harper has refused to comment on the switch, but has suggested Adams’s choice as tied to her rejection as a candidate in the next election. Liberal MPs, however, seem to be welcoming Adams to their party.
“We’re only 35 [MPs in caucus]. We’re glad to have another person,” Marc Garneau, the Montreal MP, commented to CBC News.
Adams has announced her intent to seek nominations on behalf of the Liberal Party for the Toronto riding of Eglinton-Lawrence in the next election.