How is it that people think that the Conservatives are behind the story of potential Liberal floor crossers?  The story was first reported last week by Don Martin, who says he spoke to Liberal MPs about the possibility.

For some reason, there is an idea that the rumour of one or more Liberal MPs crossing the floor to join the Conservatives is some sort of Conservative Party black ops:

Some questions have been posed about my [Susan Delacourt] story in today's paper, re: possible Liberal defections. I thought I'd answer them here. Feel free to send more. Here's the gist of the main questions people have:

Q. Is it possible that the Conservative source made up this story to make "mischief," as Liberals allege?

A: Yes it is. But our usual practice is to "out" the source if we find out it was a deliberate lie, so stay tuned. Seasoned political people know that you only get to lie once to a reporter. 

What nonsense!  Of course the story is legitimate.  We first heard about it last Thursday, in a column by Don Martin, in which he reports that he had spoken to more than one Liberal MP musing about crossing the floor:

Bond with caucus. This is a very speculative rumble, but at least one prominent MP has quietly mused to me about crossing the floor to join the Conservatives.

So how did this idea start that the story was a Tory lie designed to sow confusion among the Liberals?

The confusion was being sown last week, thanks to Liberal MPs talking to Don Martin.

The only question is whether these Liberal MPs will actually cross the floor.  If they don't then some people will think it was just a fabrication by the Tories...

...which makes me wonder if this is an elaborate attempt to embarrass the Conservatives.  You know, make the Tories think the floor crossing is a real possibility, get the Tories to engage the media, and then pull back and leave the Tories twisting in the wind.

But that is way too twisted to be true.  No, Don Martin broke the story on the existence of potential Liberal floor crossers.  Now we just wait and see.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 05:55 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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