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Michel Maisonneuve: Jeneroux rewarded handsomely for his disloyalty

Jeneroux appears to have traded loyalty to his party and constituents for a special advisor gig with touring benefits

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Canadians woke up last Wednesday to the news that Matt Jeneroux, a Conservative MP, had decided to join the Liberal party. With the two other turncoats, Michael Ma and Chris d’Entremont, that makes three defections from Pierre Poilievre’s party since the federal election in April. Many pundits are predicting that the Liberals are going to achieve a majority through by-elections and possibly more defections. Fair-weather conservatives are continuing to wonder whether Poilievre is the right man to lead the party into the next election.

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The current situation had me thinking about this in the context of loyalty. We are told Jeneroux will be appointed as a “special advisor on economic and security partnerships” to Prime Minister Mark Carney, which suggests that negotiations were likely going on behind everyone’s back before he jumped ship, especially as Jeneroux had announced in November that he was going to resign in the spring to “concentrate on his family.” As columnist Brian Lilley wrote, “it seems (Jeneroux) has spent enough time with his family.”

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What would push MPs elected under a Conservative banner to completely forego their values and join Liberal progressives? What about their loyalty to conservative values? What about loyalty to their leader? What about their loyalty to those who elected them? If that happened in my electoral district, I would be angry, frustrated and feel betrayed.

Loyalty can work in one direction or be reciprocated and is often considered a virtue. It can involve a transaction where it results in a benefit in exchange for something. As far as my wife is concerned, if you do not possess the loyalty “gene,” no one can teach it to you. There have been many reactions coming from the Liberals to the three defections, but the most interesting has been the one to Jeneroux’s: he appears to have received compensation in the form of the advisory role.

Some have called for any MP considering defecting to resign and run in a by-election for their new party. In May 1996, Sheila Copps, then-MP for Hamilton, to her credit, promised to resign over the GST commitment of the governing Liberals and followed through. Though she did not change parties, she regained her seat in June in a by-election. Not a real test of loyalty, but one of keeping promises. There have been a number of defections from one party to another in our system throughout our history, so these last three are not a precedent; think Belinda Stronach and Joe Comuzzi.

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What expectations should Canadian citizens have of their MPs? Joining a party entails a commitment: to its values, its principles and its members. This should not entail being completely in agreement with every decision made, but there is always the question of how to react to those issues one disagrees with. You can quit in anger, or you can decide to remain and try to influence from the inside. I have been in that position myself, and I’ve seen some of my colleagues use both approaches.

A candidate or an MP has a greater responsibility for loyalty than mere citizens who join a party. They are elected by their constituents based on the values writ large of the party to which they belong. Constituents will also vote based on the candidate, their charisma, their perceived leadership and their overall attractiveness. In electing them, they have demonstrated loyalty towards their MP, and it ought to be one of the MP’s most important values to reciprocate that loyalty or return to their constituents and explain the situation.

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As far as those who are not sure of Poilievre’s leadership, it is puzzling. Ask any of them why they aren’t sure and they seldom can make a cogent argument; they are not sure why they don’t like him. You just need to speak to him one-on-one, and you quickly understand why that is such an asinine way to think: he is genuine, principled, reasonable, strong and courageous. The Liberal party has decimated our country enough with their extreme progressivism. If that’s what you want to be loyal to, be my guest.

So, to all conservatives I say what my basic training instructor Sergeant Cyril Clayton used to tell us officer-cadets: “Shake your head, sir!” There is no better Conservative Party leader than Poilievre; he is by far the best Leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition we’ve ever had, and he is the best PM we have never had….yet.

Let’s check our loyalty.

Michel Maisonneuve is a retired Lieutenant-General, a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and the author of “In Defence of Canada: Reflections of a Patriot” (2024).

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