Chris d'Entremont's floor crossing met with mix of admiration, admonition at home in N.S.

Reaction to MP Chris d'Entremont's move from the Conservative Party to the governing Liberals is making waves back home in Nova Scotia, with some fully supporting his decision and others saying he misrepresented his intentions to voters.

D'Entremont, the representative for Acadie-Annapolis, told reporters Wednesday he left the Conservative caucus because he no longer felt represented in leader Pierre Poilievre's party.

"That does not surprise me," Linda Gregory, warden of the Municipality of the District of Digby, told CBC News on Wednesday. "I think of Poilievre as a right-winger. I personally would run too."

Still, Gregory — whose municipality falls within d'Entremont's southwest Nova Scotia riding — said the longtime politician's switch was unexpected because he's always been known as a "staunch Conservative."

"But he's also got a lot of integrity. He's also a very caring person, caring about his community, caring about what's best. And to me, when he walked across the floor, he made a decision that was very heart-wrenching for him to make the best choice for our community," Gregory said.

D'Entremont was first elected to the Nova Scotia Legislature in 2003 as a Progressive Conservative. He was re-elected four times and held multiple cabinet positions before eyeing the federal seat of West Nova, now Acadie-Annapolis. He became the only non-Liberal MP elected in Nova Scotia in the 2019 federal election.

Gregory said she hopes having d'Entremont in the Liberal caucus will lead to action on important local issues, including the twinning of Highway 101.

"We need the feds on side with the province to get this done," said the warden.

John Cunningham, the warden for the Municipality of the District of Yarmouth, said he was surprised by Tuesday's floor crossing and that the people he's spoken to have mixed feelings.

Cunningham, who once ran unsuccessfully for the provincial Progressive Conservatives, said he's not sure how d'Entremont's decision will impact his municipality, where the top issues include fisheries, infrastructure and tourism.

"I've yet to speak with him on how our priorities are going to be brought forth to the government, so maybe it's a good thing, maybe it's a bad thing. Until I speak with him, I have no idea," Cunningham told CBC News, adding that he had already reached out to d'Entremont in a text message.

Pam Mood, mayor of the Town of Yarmouth, said d'Entremont is a friend and she supports his decision.

"I think it was a good move, obviously. He knows what the community needs," said Mood, who briefly pursued the federal Liberal nomination in West Nova in 2019. "It's not about the party, it's about leadership."

Mood said there would be "better opportunity" to secure federal funding for projects with an MP on the government side.