We Are Michael Ma’s Constituents & Volunteers. He Betrayed His Community
Constituents and volunteers of the Markham—Unionville MP condemn his floor crossing from the Conservatives to the Carney Liberals
Constituents and campaign volunteers for Markham—Unionville MP Michael Ma say they feel betrayed after the first-term Conservative crossed the floor to join the Liberals.
Ma, who was elected for the first time in 2025 under Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, made the surprise announcement Thursday night.
The move came despite Ma having attended the Conservative Party Christmas party the night before, where he posed for a photo with Poilievre, and despite having planned a Conservative meet-and-greet for the following week.
Ma claimed the decision was made after speaking with constituents.
“After listening carefully to the people of Markham—Unionville in recent weeks and reflecting with my family on the direction of our country, I have informed the Speaker and the Leader of the Opposition that I will be joining Prime Minister Mark Carney in the government caucus,” Ma said in a statement released by the Liberal Party.
In interviews with EMCN Media, however, constituents and volunteers from Ma’s 2025 election campaign said they were shocked and extremely disappointed by the decision.
“A real slap in the face”
Eric Hung, a Markham—Unionville resident who volunteered on Michael Ma’s 2025 federal election campaign, said he felt blindsided and betrayed by the MP’s decision to cross the floor to the Liberals.
Hung said he spent about 20 hours volunteering on the campaign, canvassing door to door and serving as a scrutineer on election day to observe the ballot-counting process. He said it was his first time volunteering in a federal election.
“I normally don’t get involved that much. But that election felt very important, a pivotal moment for the country,” he said.
Asked his thoughts on the floor crossing, Hung said the decision came as a shock.
“It was very shocking. I felt blindsided,” he noted.
Hung said the move dismissed the effort volunteers put into getting Ma elected.
“It’s a real slap in the face of all the hours of hard work that we put into getting him elected. He had never been in office before, and we put in the energy and the enthusiasm that was needed to get him into his position, and he’s taken advantage of that.”
Hung also criticized Ma for limiting his public presence following the announcement, calling the move cowardly.
“You’ve deactivated your social media, and you’re hiding from your constituents,” he said.
Hung said Ma should resign and seek a new mandate.
“Run in a by-election so that we can decide if we want to elect Michael Ma the Liberal.”
“What the hell?”
Ryan Mehrtash, who also volunteered on Ma’s campaign, said he too felt blindsided by his decision to cross the floor to the Liberals.
Mehrtash said he spent about 10 hours helping the campaign by knocking on doors, putting up lawn signs, and delivering campaign pamphlets for distribution. Like Hung, it was his first time volunteering for the Conservatives.
“I specifically volunteered with him because I didn’t want the Liberals to win that seat,” he said.
Mehrtash, said the announcement came as a shock and left him questioning the value of the time he invested in the campaign.
“I felt terrible. I was like, what the hell? I wanted the Conservatives to win (in the riding), and they did. I was glad when they won. But now this happens, and I was kind of like… I guess it was worthless.”
Asked what he would say to Ma directly, Mehrtash said the decision amounted to a betrayal of trust.
“We helped you out, but we wanted you in as a Conservative. You betrayed the trust of your volunteers and the trust of the voters who voted Conservative. If the people wanted you as a Liberal, they would have just voted for the other guy.”
Mehrtash believes the decision will have political consequences.
“I don’t think this is going to be good for him in the next election,” he said.
“I was very disappointed”
Jeff Yang, a former Willowdale Conservative nomination candidate who assisted Michael Ma’s 2025 election campaign and brought an entire volunteer team with him, also said he was disappointed by Ma’s decision.
Yang said he and his team played a significant role in the campaign.
“We did a lot of heavy lifting. We did door knocking, we put up the signs… if we count the combined total, probably over hundreds of hours (of work). I also did the training for his volunteers.”
Yang said his support was rooted in a belief that Ma was committed to Conservative principles.
“When I brought my team over to help Michael Ma, I was helping a Conservative. I was helping someone who really believed in the Conservative platform.”
He said Ma’s decision to cross the floor came felt dismissive of those who helped elect him.
“To hear that he just went ahead and did this, without even asking some of his core volunteers, I was very disappointed and very sad. He did this to the people that supported him. A lot of people gave him their votes and their confidence because he ran on a platform that was, in my opinion, the best platform in the previous election.”
Asked what Ma’s decision says about him, Yang said he was reluctant to speculate but suggested several possible explanations.
“He either saw more opportunity for his own career advancement, which some politicians tend to do. Or perhaps it was related to some of the rumors floating around about foreign interference. Maybe there was something that wasn’t working out for him in the party. But I’m not privy to that knowledge,” he said.
Either way, Yang said the outcome is disappointing.
Growing calls for resignation
In the days following Ma’s decision to cross the floor, calls for his resignation have intensified.
Protests were held outside his constituency office over the weekend, and another demonstration is planned for Monday.
A Change.org petition calling for Ma to resign had garnered more than 37,000 signatures as of Monday morning, which is more than the number of votes Ma got in the 2025 election.
Ma is the second MP to cross the floor from the Conservatives to the Liberals in recent months. The other was Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont, whose decision was also met with criticism.
With Ma’s defection, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals are now one seat short of a majority government, despite not earning a majority from Canadian voters in the last federal election.
Ma’s office did not respond to a request for comment.