OTTAWA—Toronto-area MP Leona Alleslev’s floor-crossing from the Liberals to the Conservatives had been in the works for almost a month, two sources told the Star Monday. Alleslev made the surprise announcement she would leave the Liberal party to sit as a Conservative Monday, giving Andrew Scheer’s party a public relations win as Parliament began its fall sitting. Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer walks with Leona Alleslev, who crossed the floor from the Liberal party to Conservative party before Question Period on Parliament Hill Monday. Alleslev argues the Trudeau government must be openly and publicly challenged, but to do that she must join Scheer’s Conservatives. ( Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS )But the talks between Alleslev and Scheer’s team began three or four weeks earlier, just a few weeks after she hosted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in her Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill riding.

Source: thestar September 17, 2018 17:55 UTC