Article contentOne example would be the significant infrastructure upgrades coming to 14 Wing Greenwood. The base is in Acadie-Annapolis, but it impacts the whole region.Article content Kings-Hants MP Kody Blois, right, posted this photo on his Facebook page Nov. 5, a day after Acadie-Annapolis MP Chris d’Entremont joined the Liberal Party. Photo by ContributedArticle contentThe two politicians would cross paths at various events or see each other while travelling back and forth to Ottawa. Blois said he teased d’Entremont that, “As a good red Tory, you should be with our team.”Article content“I always respected Chris’ work,” Blois said. “I think he is respected across party lines in Parliament.”Article contentArticle contentMLA daysArticle contentLeo Glavine spent a lot of time trading questions with d’Entremont over the years. Glavine was the health critic when d’Entremont was Nova Scotia’s health minister and after Stephen McNeil’s Liberals won the 2013 election, the roles were reversed.Article content“We both had those opportunities to engage in strong debate and conversation,” said Glavine, who represented Kings West from 2003 to 2021. “I certainly appreciated the fact that we had a great respect for each other.”Article contentArticle content Leo Glavine was a longtime MLA for Kings West. – File photoArticle contentGlavine said he regarded d’Entremont as a true Progressive Conservative.Article content“You have to run for a party and run under a banner and a leader, but I certainly didn’t see Chris as in the strongest alignment with the current direction of the Conservative Party of Canada.”Article contentBlois said he had Conservatives tell him on the doorsteps during the election in April they were voting Liberal because Liberal Leader Mark Carney represented the values they were looking for in a government.Article content“Chris d’Entremont is an example of an elected member who is coming to that same conclusion.”Article contentArticle content2003 mergerArticle contentBill Casey served seven terms as the member of Parliament for Cumberland-Colchester between 1988 and 2019. He initially served with the Progressive Conservatives then the Conservatives following the 2003 merger with the Canadian Alliance.Article contentHe was expelled from caucus in 2007 for voting against the Harper government’s budget over changes to the Atlantic Accord. He was re-elected as an independent, retired and then was elected as a Liberal.Article contentArticle content Cumberland-Colchester MP Bill Casey, centre, talks to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and genealogist Stephen White from the University of Moncton at Beaubassin in 2018. – Contributed Photo by Contributed /ContributedArticle contentCasey said d’Entremont will find a role within the Liberal Party.Article content“He is a centralist politician. He’s not dramatically right, he’s not dramatically left. He’ll have no trouble fitting into the Liberals. I didn’t and Scott Brison didn’t,” he said, referring to the former Kings-Hants MP who crossed the floor to join the Liberals in 2003.Article content“The Conservative Party of Canada now is not the Progressive Conservative Party that we all started with. It’s completely different.”Article contentArticle contentFriendshipsArticle contentCasey acknowledge his decision did impact longtime relationships he had in the riding.Article content“It does change things and friendships do get strained, but you’ve got to do what you got to do,” he said. “You have to stand up for what you think is right and sometimes there’s a price to pay.”Article contentGlavine wasn’t surprised by the move as much as the timing of the decision, as the budget was being presented. The Liberals are now only two seats from having a majority.
Former d’Entremont staff member calls floor-crossing ‘a slap in the face’
