Ottawa hasn’t seen this kind of soap opera drama in decades

Instead of focusing on Carney, the focus has been on Poilevre, who struggled to keep his team on track and together last week and is now working the phones to try to mitigate the damage.

While Conservative MPs, including a handful who are still considering their future, are spending time traveling this week, Chris d'Entremont, the Nova Scotia MP for Acadie-Annapolis who crossed the floor with the Liberals on Tuesday, and Matt Genereau, the Alberta MP for Edmonton Riverbend who announced Thursday he was leaving his seat, have given them plenty to think about.

In two interviews after the meeting, d'Entremont, a five-term Progressive Conservative MP and three-term Conservative MP, said he had been contemplating his future since the summer, following the spring election in which many longtime supporters told him they could no longer support him because of Poilievre's leadership style. Like many in his faction, he hoped to see a change in tone; this is wrong. “They haven't learned anything,” d'Entremont told CBC on Sunday.

“To be honest, it often felt like it was part of a brotherhood rather than a serious political party,” he said.

Poilievre and his leadership team, d'Entremont suggested, are more interested in disagreement, anger and breaking things down than in working constructively to try to find solutions and build on the situation.

“I think [the Conservatives] a new leader is desperately needed. They need to do some soul searching right now,” he told the publication. Vanguard of the Three Counties.

Scheer and the Conservatives responded to Chris Warkentin last Tuesday to news that he was considering joining the Liberals, d'Entremont said, and that's what really pushed him over the edge.

“The Leader of the House (Scheer) and the whip (Alberta MP Chris Warkentin) burst into my office,” he told CBC, throwing the door wide open and nearly knocking his aide over. “Sitting there and, you know, telling me what a snake I really was and turning my back on my constituents and the people who voted for me.”

He met with Carney, but “wasn't 100 percent there,” he told the Tri-Country Vanguard. However, the response from Poiliev's leadership, more insults than compassion, convinced him that “this is no longer my party.”

“The best thing [about moving over to the Grits] walks into this liberal caucus and is greeted as a friend with open arms,” he told a local newspaper, which quoted him as saying he couldn't remember the last time he felt that way with his old caucus.

In response to the CBC interview on Sunday, Poilevre's office released a written statement saying: “Chris d'Entremont, who proved himself a liar after deliberately deceiving his constituents, friends and colleagues because he was upset at not getting the coveted role of deputy speaker, is now spreading even more lies after crossing the floor. He will fit perfectly into the Liberal caucus.”

(Last spring, d'Entremont, a former deputy speaker and self-proclaimed centrist who is known on the Hill as friendly, fair and largely open-minded, had hoped to become speaker of the House of Commons, but Poilevre's office rejected the offer and, according to sources, urged members to vote against d'Entremont for deputy speaker. He lost the caucus vote and admitted he was upset about it, but said he had moved on.)

Later Sunday, Poilevre's office issued a new statement reflecting a change in tone, denying that Scheer and Warkentin entered d'Entremont's office forcefully and yelled at him. Instead, the office assumed that they had acted calmly and deliberately and that d'Entremont had already made the decision to join Grits.

About a handful of other Conservative MPs also considered crossing the floor last week, but d'Entremont believes the backlash he received could dissuade others from following suit.

Attacks on social media, including online threats that the RCMP are investigating, have had his personal information posted on right-wing sites, to the point that he said Thursday that security is now present at his home.

But that may not be the only thing that discourages those crossing the floor. Last week Generu appeared ready to run – he met with Carney and the Liberals were confident an announcement could be made on Wednesday; they even prepared a press release. But Wednesday came and went without any announcements. Genereux did not attend the Conservative meeting; he did not appear for questioning.

Behind the scenes, several Conservative sources say that Poilievre's circle “threatened” Genereux in an attempt to dissuade him from leaving. He later denied this.

Hours after accusations of pressure tactics surfaced in the media on Thursday, Generou posted on Facebook that he wanted to “make clear that there was no coercion in my decision to resign”, that he had a “great conversation” with Poilevre following his announcement, and that he wished his fellow Conservatives the best of luck.

Poilevre's office again pointed to that statement on Sunday, as well as Scheer's statement to the media on Friday, where the Conservative House leader said that “the only rumors I've heard about intimidation and harassment come from Liberals pestering Conservatives in elevators and calling them at home.”

What happened? Genereaux wouldn't say. Rumors abound.

Intimidating a Member of Parliament, such as by damaging his or her reputation, is violation of parliamentary privilegesand, if serious enough, may result in criminal prosecution.

The mood on the Conservative backbenches is gloomy. Other deputies continue to tell stories about the strong-arm tactics of Poilevre’s team. Poilievre forgot to table an amendment to the Conservative budget on Wednesday, and on Friday the party voted to give the Liberals a lifeline by voting with the government against a Bloc Québécois proposal that was seen as a vote of confidence. If Poilievre had wanted to hold elections, he could have held them on Friday.

Now all eyes are on Monday, November 17, when the main budget goes to vote. Will more conservatives defect? The Liberals hope so as they are still counting heads. Generou last week abstained from two votes of confidence; even if he did it again, Grits would be left without two votes or need three more abstentions.

Feedback from voters this week could help sway some new Democrats. Green Party leader Elizabeth May is trying to negotiate changes to the budget, but a conversation with Carney last week did not go smoothly. However, the Grits asked her one of their questions in the House last week as a bridge-building tactic.

Meanwhile, the Bloc is adamant its members will vote against the budget, and Poilievre said his party will also vote against it, but he did not specify whether all of his members would attend.

While the Liberals are enjoying Poilievre's setback, they have their own problems to worry about that could also cost them votes.

Friday, conversation with the Canadian Club of TorontoCarney expressed support for a new pipeline and expansion of Alberta's oil sands. “We are in the development stage… Don't worry, it will happen,” the prime minister said, before adding: “Well, something will happen, let's put it that way.”

The federal government is in talks with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to sign a memorandum of understanding on energy. She had previously demanded that a new bitumen pipeline to British Columbia's north coast be included in the updated list of major projects she expected to see ahead of the Gray Cup next Sunday, November 16.

If Carney supports this pipeline despite British Columbia Premier David Eby's objections — ahead of Monday's budget vote, the Prime Minister's Office will have to worry not only about opposition votes, but also about Liberal votes.