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Hours after the Liberal government picked up another member in a surprise floor-crossing, government House leader Steven MacKinnon claimed he's spoken to other Conservative MPs who are increasingly disgruntled with that party's leadership.
"There are lots of Conservatives, I assure you, who do not like [Leader Pierre] Poilievre's approach," he said Friday morning at a news conference.
"You have seen two to date. There are others, for sure. Others exist."
The final day of the fall sitting ended with a bombshell, when Greater Toronto Area MP Michael Ma announced he was leaving the Conservative caucus and joining the Liberals. It marks the second floor-crossing in as many months.
MacKinnon, who plays a key role in stickhandling the government's day-to-day affairs, alleged he and his colleagues have spoken to Conservatives who are "extremely frustrated with the leadership of their party" and "extremely frustrated with the small games and the obstruction" in the House.
He described them as representing a "minority" in the party.
MacKinnon wouldn't bite on questions about who he has been talking to or whether his party is courting more MPs to secure a majority for when Parliament resumes in the new year.
Ma's move brings the Liberals up to 171 seats in the House, one shy of a majority government.
"These are incredibly hard choices for those people to make, so I don't want to speculate," MacKinnon said.
WATCH | Carney introduces Ma:Prime Minister Mark Carney brings new Liberal MP Michael Ma onto the stage during the Liberals' holiday party. Ma defected from the Conservatives earlier in the day.CBC News has reached out to the Conservatives for a response to MacKinnon's claims.
Ma wrote in a statement that he made the decision after listening to constituents in his riding.
"This is a time for unity and decisive action for Canada's future," he wrote. "In that spirit, I have concluded that Prime Minister Mark Carney is offering the steady, practical approach we need to deliver on the priorities I hear every day while door-knocking in Markham-Unionville."
Conservatives express shock, disappointmentThe deal appears to have unfolded quickly.
Conservatives were quick to point out Ma had attended the Conservative holiday party Wednesday, just hours before marking the switch and had voted against Liberal policies in the House this week.
A Liberal source told CBC News that Ma met with Carney on Thursday afternoon before announcing that he would join the government caucus.
Sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly, said Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson was involved in bringing Ma over.
Conservatives said they were blindsided by the move and had believed they had clamped down on floor-crossers after their rough start to November.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre posted on social media Thursday night that Ma had turned his back on voters who sent him to Ottawa as a Conservative.
"The people he let down the most are the ones who elected him to fight for an affordable future. He will have to answer to them," he said.
WATCH | Another Conservative crosses, leaving Liberals 1 seat shy of majority:Ontario MP Michael Ma announced he is leaving the Conservative caucus and joining the Liberals. Ma is the second Conservative MP to cross the floor in the last five weeks, along with Chris d'Entremont. The new addition puts the Liberals one seat shy of a majority government.Parry Sound-Muskoka Conservative MP Scott Aitchison said he is "incredibly disappointed" in Ma's decision to "betray his team and the people who went to the polls mere months ago."
"When you join a team, you work as a team. If you have a problem with your team, you work it out with your team," Aitchison said.
London-Fanshawe Conservative Kurt Holman posted on social media that he was Ma's secret Santa.
"I gave him an Amazon Fire Stick just hours before he crossed the floor. Now I want my gift back, just like the people of Markham-Unionville want their votes back!" he quipped.
Questioned about Ma's integrity, MacKinnon called his newest colleague a "distinguished Canadian who wants to be part of the solution and not part of this obstruction and silly games."
WATCH | D'Entremont on his decision to leave the Conservatives:Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont says the Conservative House leader and the party whip “barged” into his office and yelled at him about “how much of a snake” he was, following news he was crossing the floor to join the Liberal Party. He later clarified with the CBC News that they pushed the door and that his assistant was able to jump out of the way.The Conservative Party lost its foothold in Nova Scotia when Chris d'Entremont left the party to join the government benches last month.
Explaining his decision to leave, d'Entremont said he was no longer "aligned with the ideals of what the leader of the Opposition had been talking about."
At the time, d'Entremont hinted there were other Conservative MPs who "are in the same boat."
Alberta Conservative leaving politicsIt has also been widely suggested that Conservative Matt Jeneroux was also considering crossing the floor.
After a flurry of rumours, the Alberta MP announced in early November that he would be leaving politics altogether. Jeneroux hasn't officially resigned but hasn't voted since his announcement.
Conservative sources told CBC News at the time that Jeneroux had said he was under pressure to stay from some in the party. A senior Liberal source confirmed the MP met with Carney the week he announced his resignation.
Jeneroux said coercion played no role in his decision to leave federal politics.
Ma, a first-time MP, won his riding in April by about three percentage points.
Markham-Unionville had previously been held by Liberal Paul Chiang, who was set to run for re-election in the spring — but withdrew from the race over comments he made suggesting that another Conservative candidate could be turned over to the Chinese consulate to collect a bounty.