Federal Government & parliament: 1) Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont leaves Conservative caucus to join the Liberals; 2)Canada and Philippines sign a defence pact to boost drills and deter China’s aggression

1)Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont leaves Conservative caucus to join the Liberals

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Sarah Ritchie and David Baxter, Nov. 4, 2025

Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont left the Conservative caucus to join the Liberals on Tuesday, just hours after the government tabled its latest budget on the floor of the House of Commons.

“After serious consideration and thoughtful conversations with constituents and my family, I came to a clear conclusion: there is a better path forward for our country — and a better path forward for Acadie-Annapolis,” d’Entremont said in a media statement, issued by the Liberal party Tuesday evening.

He said he tendered his resignation to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and other relevant figures once the budget was presented in the House.

“Prime Minister Mark Carney is offering that path with a new budget that hits the priorities I have heard most in my riding, to build strong community infrastructure and grow a stronger economy,” he said.

His move puts the Liberals two seats shy of a majority government and being able to pass their budget without opposition support. The news did not land well among his now former caucus colleagues.

Deputy Conservative leader Melissa Lantsman said d’Entremont chose not to do the job Conservative voters sent him to Ottawa for.

“Chris made a decision, and he made a decision not to fight inflation and not to lower the cost of food and not to do any of the things that he was sent here to do by his constituents,” Lantsman said while leaving the House of Commons on Tuesday.

Ontario Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis said that the situation is “very sad.”

“It’s like a divorce, right? Divorces are always sad,” she said.

Other Conservatives were less charitable.

“He’s a coward,” B.C. Conservative MP Aaron Gunn said while leaving the House.

Rob Batherson, former Conservative party president who ran unsuccessfully in a Halifax riding earlier this year, called d’Entremont’s decision “the worst personal betrayal I have ever experienced in 30 plus years of politics.”

Batherson said on X d’Entremont broke a promise to him to be Nova Scotia’s lone Conservative voice in the House of Commons.

“I never imagined I would be in a position to not trust Chris d’Entremont,” he said.

Before the news that d’Entremont had joined the Liberals was formally announced, some MPs said they would happily welcome him into their ranks.

“It’s a real shame that he has no home in the Conservative party today, but it’s not surprising to me,” Ontario Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull said. “I think there’s lots of opportunities for people to join our caucus because we’re a big tent.”

“Chris is a terrific guy and a personal friend. These things aren’t easy for anybody, but he knows more about it than I do,” Justice Minister Sean Fraser said.

D’Entremont served as deputy House Speaker from 2021 until the April election and did not get support from the Conservative caucus for his bid to become the Speaker this spring.

D’Entremont was first elected as an MP in 2019 after sitting as a Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative MLA for 16 years.

2)Canada and Philippines sign a defence pact to boost drills and deter China’s aggression

Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press

By Jim Gomez, November 2, 2025

Canada and the Philippines, both staunch critics of China’s increasingly coercive actions in the disputed South China Sea, signed a key defense agreement on Sunday to boost combat drills and expand security alliances to deter aggression, officials said.

Canada and other Western nations have been bolstering their military presence in the Indo-Pacific to help promote the rule of law and expand trade and investment in the region. The strategy dovetails with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ’s efforts to build defense ties with other countries to help the Philippines’ underfunded military face a militarily superior China in the disputed waters.

There was no immediate comment from China, which has accused the Philippines of being a “troublemaker” and a “saboteur of regional stability” following joint patrols and combat drills with the United States and other countries in the South China Sea.

Beijing claims the waterway, a major trade route, virtually in its entirety, despite a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated those claims based on a 1982 U.N. convention. China has dismissed the ruling and has employed powerful water cannons and dangerous blocking maneuvers against Philippine coast guard and other vessels, resulting in collisions and injuries to crewl. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have been involved in the long-simmering territorial disputes.

Philippines says China wants to expand its territory

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. signed the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement with his Canadian counterpart, David McGuinty, after a closed-door meeting in Manila on Sunday.

McGuinty said the agreement will boost joint military training, information-sharing and cooperation in addressing emergencies, including responding to natural disasters.

Teodoro told reporters the agreement will be key to fostering a rules-based international order in a region threatened by China’s aggression. “Who is hegemonic? Who wants to expand their territory in the world? China,” Teodoro said.

Such agreements provide a legal framework for visits by foreign troops for joint large-scale exercises in either country.

The Philippines signed the first such defense pact with the U.S. in 1998, followed by a similar accord with Australia nine years later. The agreement with Canada was the third signed under Marcos, after similar ones with Japan and New Zealand.

Talks are ongoing with France and Singapore for similar agreements. Efforts are also underway to launch negotiations with Britain and possibly with Germany and India, Teodoro and other officials said.

Beijing faces backlash over plans for disputed shoal

At the annual meeting of defense ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations with Asian and Western counterparts on Saturday in Malaysia, Teodoro condemned China’s recent announcement that it would establish a “nature reserve” in the Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing area claimed by Manila and Beijing.

“This, to us, is a veiled attempt to wield military might and the threat for use of force, undermining the rights of smaller countries and their citizens who rely on the bounty of these waters,” Teodoro said.

Canada criticized China’s plan when it was announced in September, saying it opposes “attempts to use environmental protection as a way to take control” of Scarborough Shoal. Canada in September also criticized China’s “dangerous” use of water cannons, which injured one Filipino official aboard a government vessel.

Canadian Ambassador to Manila David Hartman has said his country has “been vocal in confronting the provocative and unlawful actions” of China in region’s waters and ”will continue to do so.”

Last year, Canada signed an agreement on defense cooperation with the Philippines. Another agreement signed in Ottawa in 2023 gave the Philippines access to data from Canada’s “Dark Vessel Detection System,” which harnesses satellite technology to track illegal vessels even if they switch off location-transmitting devices.

The Philippine coast guard has used the Canadian technology to track Chinese coast guard ships and fishing vessels in the South China Sea.