Unfortunately, it can be easy for long stretches to forget about most of the 343 democratically elected members of the House of Commons — or to know next to nothing about them. But then, every so often, someone who is not the prime minister, the finance minister or the leader of the Opposition does something to steal the headlines.
So it was, with all due respect to François Philippe-Champagne and his sizable budget, that this became the week of Chris d'Entremont and Matt Jeneroux, two Conservative backbenchers who stepped forward by leaving — d'Entremont departing his party to join the Liberals, Jeneroux announcing his intention to quit his office entirely.
In doing so, they might have at least reminded everyone that MPs are — or at least can be — important political actors. They also became potentially potent political symbols.
The pair of departures come two weeks after the release of an interview with Pierre Poilievre in which the Conservative leader said the leadership of the RCMP was "despicable" and alleged, without evidence, that the police force had covered up potentially criminal acts committed by Justin Trudeau.
WATCH | What do the departures mean for Poiliev
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