OTTAWA — The federal NDP has introduced legislation that would force MPs to seek a new mandate from voters if they change political parties after being elected.Bill C-278, introduced by Don Davies, would amend the Parliament of Canada Act so that any MP elected under one party banner who joins another party would automatically vacate their seat and trigger a byelection.Davies said the bill is intended to protect voters rather than prohibit MPs from changing political affiliations.“This doesn’t ban floor crossing,” Davies told reporters Tuesday. “It simply says that it should not be a unilateral decision of one person. It should be fundamentally the decision of the voters who sent us here.”The Vancouver MP said he has introduced similar legislation since first being elected in 2008, but argued recent events have made the issue more urgent.“We’ve never before seen a government change the complexion of the government … from a minority into a majority by five floor crossings,” Davies said..The bill comes after a series of MPs crossed the floor to join Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal caucus, including former Conservative MP Chris d’Entremont, who joined the Liberals in November 2025.Davies said the legislation is aimed at preserving confidence in democratic institutions and preventing what he described as private political arrangements from overriding voter choice.“If one of those MPs is really unhappy, they should think about resigning their seat,” he said. “They’ll be not only free to run for a different party if they want to do that. That’s at least a democratic way to do it, as opposed to back-room deals that raise all sorts of concerns about legitimacy.”Asked Wednesday about the proposal, d’Entremont said the idea deserved debate but offered a pointed observation about its origins..“I think it’s worthy of a discussion, but it comes from a party that nobody wants to transfer over to,” he told the Western Standard.The bill would apply equally to MPs elected as independents who later join a political party. As a private member’s bill, it would require support from Liberal MPs to advance through Parliament.
