OTTAWA - Nova Scotia MP Chris d'Entremont surprised many on Tuesday when he left the Conservative caucus to join the Liberals, bringing the government caucus to within two votes of a majority.

While switching parties between elections — a practice known as floor crossing referring to physically crossing the floor of the House of Commons to sit with a different caucus — is a controversial practice. More than 300 members of Parliament have changed parties while in office since 1867.

The first known MP to cross the floor was Stewart Campbell, a Nova Scotian who, in 1868, left the Anti-Confederates for the Liberal-Conservatives under Sir John A. Macdonald. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography says Campbell was later pelted with eggs at a "social occasion."

Library of Parliament data shows i

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