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It’s been a big month for floor-crossers: Maxime Bernier left the Conservatives to form his People’s Party of Canada, Leona Alleslev left the Liberals for the Conservatives and five MPs who crossed the floor away from the Bloc Quebecois are now crossing back.

Below, a brief history of the Canadian practice of floor crossing, and why it may not be the democracy-strangling power play that its detractors contend.

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Note: This story is deeply indebted to the nameless political nerds who painstakingly compiled a Wikipedia list of Canadian floor crossers. Thank you for your service.

Floor-crossings are very rarely a naked play for power

One of the more notorious floor-crossings still belongs to Vancouver’s David Emerson. As a Liberal in 2006 Emerson won re-election in the historically left wing riding of Vancouver-Kingsway. Before parliament had even convened, however, Emerson had ditched the Liberals for the promise of a cabinet post with the newly elected Conservatives. The decision was so widely criticized as a betrayal of Emerson’s constituents that even Conservatives found it a bit icky. But as modern Canadian floor-crossings go, it’s very rare that an MP will cross their way into a plusher office and a better salary. In fact, with the exception of Canada’s wildly corrupt early years, it’s usually the other way around: A disaffected MP quits on principle and is rewarded with years in ignominy as an independent. Over the last 10 years a total of 20 MPs have changed their party affiliation. Not one of them did it in order to join the government benches.