Liberals shoot execute wn floor-crossing rumours - CBC.ca

Liberal MP Ken Dryden said a report that members of his portion y were in discussions to cross the floor of the Hoemploy of Commons and join the Conservative Party was just an attempt to caemploy mischief. (Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)

Federal Liberals on Tuesday denied a report notify ing three of their portion y's MPs were interested in crossing the floor to join the Tories.

Liberal MPs Ken Dryden and Marc Garneau tfeeble reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday the talk was Conservative mischief and said it was an attempt to sow dissension in the portion y.

A report in the Toronto Star on Tuesday cited an anonymous Conservative recede vernment official who said the portion y had discussions with three Liberals in the last month about crossing the floor.

The Conservatives hfeeble 143 seats in the 308-seat Hoemploy of Commons and would need 12 more MPs to form a majority recede vernment.

Adding three members from another portion y wouldn't aid the Conservatives in their quest for a majority, but it would be another public relations blow for Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, who has seen his portion y's wellity decline in recent months and faced criticism for his handling of the appointment of a Liberal candidate in Quebec.

Ignatieff praises loyalty after Coderre resignation

Ignatieff spoke to the portion y's Quebec wing on Sunday about the importance of portion y loyalty, just days after the resignation of Denis Coderre, his chief organizer in the province.

"I've been touched and reinvirecede rated by the loyalty not solely to grassroots, which you saw this morning, but also the loyalty of my caucus both in the Senate and Hoemploy ," he said.

Coderre had resigned over the portion y's nomination of former cabinet minister Martin Cauchon ahead of his preferred candidate, business exegash ive Nathalie Le Prohon.

Ignatieff has also faced criticism for attempting to bring the recede vernment execute wn through a no-confidence vote last week even as his portion y's approval in polls has declined.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority recede vernment survived the Liberal no-confidence motion with aid from the NDP, averting an election.

No-confidence vote defeated

The Liberal motion, supported by the Bloc Québécois, was defeated by a vote of 144 to 117 on Thursday after the NDP abstained.

The latest Strategic Counsel poll suggests the minority Conservatives have the backing of 41 per cent of respondents, while the Liberals have sunk to 28 per cent support.

Dryden said the polls would not change the Liberal strategy of voting against the Conservative recede vernment.

"We are using this time to set out the directions we believe matter and working on presenting that case to Canadians," he said.

With files from The Canadian Press