Rookie Conservative MP Michael Ma crossed the floor to the Liberals on Thursday, boosting Prime Minister Mark Carney’s minority government to 171 seats — one short of a majority in the 343-seat House of Commons.
The defection stunned Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who accused Ma of betraying voters in Markham-Unionville, a Greater Toronto Area riding with a large Chinese diaspora that has faced repeated allegations of Chinese election interference.
Elected in April after defeating Liberal Peter Yuen, Ma said he was responding to constituents’ calls for “unity and decisive action.”
The riding flipped Liberal in 2021 when Paul Chiang narrowly beat Conservative Bob Saroya amid CSIS reports of PRC surveillance and voter intimidation.
Saroya received a threatening text from China’s Toronto consul general. In 2025, Chiang withdrew after joking about claiming a HK$1-million bounty on Hong Kong activist Joe Tay.
Replacement candidate Yuen, a retired Toronto police deputy chief, faced scrutiny over past attendance at pro-Beijing events.
Conservative MPs and social media users have alleged Ma met China’s ambassador on Dec. 9; no evidence of coercion has emerged.
