Edmonton Riverbend: Matt Jeneroux Crosses Floor to Liberals

EDMONTON, AB — Matt Jeneroux, the Conservative MP who narrowly held Edmonton Riverbend last April with just over 50% of the vote, crossed the floor today to join Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal caucus.

The move makes him the third Conservative MP to defect in four months, following Nova Scotia's Chris d'Entremont in November and Toronto-area's Michael Ma in December. The Liberal caucus now sits at 169 seats—three shy of majority territory.

New Role, Old Riding

Jeneroux will serve as special adviser on economic and security partnerships, a position announced by Carney this afternoon. The floor crossing avoids triggering a by-election in Edmonton Riverbend, a constituency Jeneroux won by the narrowest of margins nine months ago.

In November, Jeneroux had announced plans to resign amid rumours of his potential defection and what sources described as "aggressive pushback from Conservative leadership." Today's decision cements that pivot.

Carney's Davos Effect

Jeneroux pointed to Carney's January speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos as a turning point. The Prime Minister's focus on addressing a "national unity crisis" and "economic coercion by great powers" resonated, Jeneroux said, particularly in light of new federal commitments under the Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding signed with Premier Danielle Smith last November.

That MOU greenlights an oil pipeline to Asian markets, commits to reducing emissions intensity in heavy oil production to best-in-class levels by 2050, and suspends the Clean Electricity Regulations in Alberta pending a new carbon pricing deal by April 1.

Defence and Economic Push

The timing aligns with yesterday's launch of Canada's Defence Industrial Strategy—a $6.6 billion, five-year plan aimed at creating 125,000 jobs by 2035 and boosting defence exports by 50%. Also yesterday: Minister Eleanor Olszewski announced over $5.8 million through the Regional Tariff Response Initiative for five southern Alberta projects, part of a $1-billion national effort to help businesses diversify exports.

Updated Investment Canada Act guidelines now explicitly factor "economic security" into national security reviews, with a Sensitive Technology List rolled out earlier this month to safeguard critical tech.

What It Means

For Calgarians and Edmontonians watching federal-provincial dynamics, Jeneroux's defection signals Ottawa's intention to lock in Alberta's energy interests while threading the needle on climate commitments. For voters in Edmonton Riverbend, it means their narrow Conservative win last spring now belongs to the Liberal column—no ballot required.