Sunshine Coast Conservative MP John Reynolds questions whether Belinda Stronach's decision to cross the floor from the Conservative party to the Liberal cabinet was done for the good of Canada.
"It's all about power, all about money," said Reynolds in a telephone interview from Ottawa May 18.
Stronach announced her decision the previous day, after sitting in on Conservative meetings over the weekend where candidates discussed election strategies.
"I think it showed a total lack of ethics," said Reynolds. "She's made a lot of people very mad."
Reynolds said he, their staff and Conservative MP Peter MacKay, with whom Stronach has a personal relationship, didn't see this move coming.
In her announcement, Stronach cited unhappiness with Conservative leader Stephen Harper's alliance with the Bloc Quebecois, which she sees as a threat to national unity. She also didn't agree with Harper's opposition to same-sex marriage.
However, Reynolds doesn't expect the loss of Stronach to have much impact on the party. He said there are other good candidates running federally to take her place in her Ontario riding of Newmarket-Aurora, where she won a seat in 2004.Ultimately, he said this isn't the first time a politician has switched parties.
"People are going to do what they're going to do in politics," said Reynolds.
He does not support public comments made by former Ontario Conservative cabinet minister Bob Runciman that she is a "dipstick," or Conservative member of the Alberta legislature Tony Abbott that she "whored herself out for power."
"I don't go along with it," said Reynolds.
As for how her move will affect Thursday's confidence vote in parliament, he said it all depends on what the Independents do, namely Chuck Cadman and David Kilgour. Neither Independent announced which way he would vote.
Results of Thursday's vote were not available at press time.
In 2004, Stronach ran against Harper for Conservative party leadership.
On Tuesday, Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed her the new Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development.
She will be helping the Liberals put recommendations in place from the Gomery inquiry, when its results are revealed later this year.
Stronach, 39, is the former president and CEO of a major auto parts supplier - Magna International Inc.
Fortune Magazine named her the second most powerful woman in business outside the U.S. in 2002. In 2001, the National Post named her the most powerful woman in business.
