Friends, I'm about to do something out of character: I'm about to advocate for NDP voters. Their MP crossed the floor and hijacked their votes to help Mark Carney get one step closer to his stolen majority. They deserve a byelection. If you agree, go to FireIdlout.com and sign the petition.

Let’s be clear about something. That seat in Parliament doesn’t belong to Lori Idlout. It belongs to the voters of Nunavut.

They chose a New Democrat to represent them in Ottawa. That was their voice, their say, their mandate in the House of Commons.

But with one quiet political maneuver, that voice was handed over to Mark Carney’s Liberals instead.

Without consultation or election. No permission from the people who actually own that seat: the voters.

And this wasn’t some minor procedural move. This floor crossing helped push the Liberals to 170 seats in the House of Commons — just two seats short of a majority government.

That’s not nothing. That’s a major shift in the balance of power in Ottawa, and Canadians hate this kind of political bait-and-switch.

An Angus Reid poll found that only 26% of Canadians think MPs should be allowed to switch parties and keep their seat.

The largest group, 41%, say MPs who cross the floor should resign and run again in a byelection. Because voters understand something politicians pretend not to. When you vote, you’re not just voting for a person; you’re voting for a party, a platform, a team, a set of promises.

Nunavut voters didn’t vote for Mark Carney’s Liberals. But that’s what they got anyway, and the timing here raises some very serious questions.

In the months leading up to Idlout’s floor crossing, Ottawa suddenly started making a series of funding announcements aimed at Nunavut.

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On January 5, the federal government announced about $8.5 million for French-language and second-language education in Nunavut. On January 30, Ottawa announced up to $250 million in federal support tied to building 750 homes in the territory.

Then came additional program funding announcements for digital access and northern initiatives.

And then on March 4, the government rolled out a major new Arctic Infrastructure Fund, part of a $6-billion federal infrastructure package aimed specifically at northern development.

Just days later, on March 10, Lori Idlout crosses the floor to the Liberals.

Now look — governments announce funding all the time. That’s normal. But anyone pretending the optics here don’t raise questions is kidding themselves.

It looks exactly like the kind of political courtship Ottawa has perfected over decades: announcements, attention, access — and suddenly an opposition MP finds a new home in the government caucus.

But what makes this even worse is that Idlout denied it was happening.

When rumours began circulating earlier this year that she might join the Liberals, she flatly dismissed them. She insisted she had no intention of crossing the floor. A couple of months later… she did exactly that.

Just like that Judas Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux. Voters were told one thing and the MP delivered something completely different.

That’s not the only ethical cloud hanging over this situation.

According to reporting by Blacklock’s Reporter, Idlout disclosed she was a major shareholder in NVision Insight Group, an Ottawa company that sells Indigenous cultural sensitivity training.

After she was elected in 2021, that company received about $454,250 in federal contracts, including sole-sourced awards from various departments.

To her credit, Idlout did disclose the ownership and instructed her staff not to seek training from the company.

But politically speaking, when you combine government contracts, federal funding announcements, and then a floor crossing to the governing party, voters are absolutely justified in asking questions. But this double-dipping makes her an excellent Liberal.

Democracy is supposed to work in a very simple way: voters choose, politicians serve. But in this case, Lori Idlout and Mark Carney flipped that around.

They chose for the voters. Nunavut elected a New Democrat. Instead, they woke up with a Liberal.

If Lori Idlout truly believes she did the right thing — if she honestly believes Nunavut voters wanted her to abandon the NDP and join Mark Carney’s Liberals — then she should have absolutely no problem proving it.

Go ask them, run again. Put your new Liberal colours on the ballot and let the people who elected you decide whether they approve.

Because that seat doesn’t belong to Lori Idlout. And it certainly doesn’t belong to Mark Carney. It belongs to the voters of Nunavut.