The biggest lesson Canadian conservatives must learn from the Mark Carney floor-crossing saga: Stop trying to please your Liberal detractors, because they’re not sincere.

This is a constant problem in the conservative movement: people who think Liberals in the media or politics will ever be fair to us, if we contort ourselves or water down our message enough.

JIVANI: Liberal Party stands for nothing but their own power Back to video

But the truth is that the Liberals who throw stones at conservatives on television or in parliament don’t do so in good faith. There is no substantive disagreement that they sincerely want to address, because the Liberal Party has no substance. For Liberals, politics is simply about power and control.

MP Marilyn Gladu joining Mark Carney’s caucus exposes exactly who and what the Liberal Party is.

What’s going on in Ottawa?

For years, Liberals have tried to destroy the careers of people who disagree with them on a wide range of issues, such as the trucker convoy, vaccine mandates, transgenderism, sexuality, or euthanasia. As a Conservative MP, I can tell you firsthand stories of the vitriol, pettiness and blatant racism that I encounter when dealing with Liberals who disagree with me on these issues. Liberal attacks have cost some Canadians job opportunities and even led to people losing their bank accounts or being fined egregious amounts of money.

MP Gladu once advocated for conservative positions on these very issues. She used to be the target of Liberal scorn. That is, until she was willing to prop Carney up and help him secure a majority of seats in the House of Commons.

This week, Liberals rolled out the red carpet for somebody whose views they claim to find beyond the pale. Gladu joined Carney for a chat in the Prime Minister’s Office, and he shared the news proudly. But this doesn’t signal that Carney and the Liberals will now be gracious with Conservatives who they disagree with. Not at all. They’ll continue trying to vilify those of us who refuse to join their hollow and empty political party.

Many Canadians on the political left, right and centre are wondering, what is going on in Ottawa? The truth is that the floor-crossings reveal the real agenda of the Liberal Party as an organization. If you challenge their vice grip on Canadian institutions, they will try to destroy you. If you support their vice grip on Canadian institutions, they will embrace you with a devious grin and limp handshake.

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Do floor-crossings attack democracy?

Frustration is palpable in the air. Floor-crossings feel like an attack on democracy, undermining the will of the Canadian people. Petitions have been launched in the House of Commons to demand changes to the rules, so floor-crossings would trigger a by-election or other forms of democratic accountability.

All of these concerns are understandable. But I hope this can also be a moment of liberation for any conservative who has operated under the misguided idea that we should be sensitive to the criticisms levied against us by our Liberal detractors. There are conservatives who watch CTV and CBC, or read Liberal newspapers, and believe Liberal talking heads can be won over. They long for an imaginary world where Liberals shower us with praise for our good policy ideas. There are conservatives who think that if we just had the right tone or became bland and vanilla enough, Liberals might extend us grace.

For any conservative under that delusion, I hope this can be a wake-up call. Liberals only care about power and control. They will call you names and smear your reputation, for as long as you challenge them, but change their tune as soon as you are not a threat.

Our path ahead is to be strong, unapologetic conservatives focused on being the only political movement that can and will deliver positive results for the great people of this country. I hope you agree with me that it’s a battle worth fighting.

– Jamil Jivani is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Bowmanvile—Oshawa North.

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