Carney awards Jeneroux with international junket while constituents ignored
A week after crossing the floor to join Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals, Edmonton Riverbend MP Matt Jeneroux has been rewarded a high-profile international tour to India, Australia, and Japan.
Author: Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
A week after crossing the floor to join Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals, Edmonton Riverbend MP Matt Jeneroux has been rewarded a high-profile international tour to India, Australia and Japan even as constituents back home say his office remains abandoned.
New footage taken by one of Jeneroux’s constituents almost a week after his floor crossing reveals that Jeneroux’s office continues to be unstaffed and the doors locked.
Carney’s office confirmed that Jeneroux will accompany the prime minister on stops in Mumbai and New Delhi, India; Sydney and Canberra, Australia; and Tokyo, Japan.
The trip delegation includes senior cabinet ministers and provincial leaders.
The international tour to India, Australia, and Japan includes a delegation to Mumbai and New Delhi. The India group features ministers François-Philippe Champagne (Finance), Anita Anand (Foreign Affairs), David McGuinty (Defence), and Maninder Sidhu (Trade). Now-Liberal MP Matt Jeneroux is going in his newfound role as a special advisor. Provincial leaders joining are New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt (Mumbai only) and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe (Mumbai and New Delhi).
The Canadian delegation to Sydney and Canberra, Australia, included Champagne, McGuinty, and Jeneroux. In Tokyo, Japan, the Canadian delegation includes only McGuinty and the Jeneroux.
The optics are raising eyebrows in Edmonton Riverbend.
On Feb. 18, Carney announced that Jeneroux, a former Conservative MP, had crossed the floor to join the Liberal caucus. He became the third Conservative MP to defect, following Chris d’Entremont and Michael Ma, leaving the Liberals just one seat shy of a majority government.
Within days of the announcement, furious constituents began contacting Juno News alleging Jeneroux had become an “absentee MP,” with calls to his constituency office going unanswered.
One Edmonton Riverbend resident sent a video to Juno News on the day of his crossing showing phones ringing off the hook in Jeneroux’s local office with no staff in sight.
Now, instead of addressing those concerns locally, Jeneroux is being elevated onto the international stage as part of Carney’s travelling entourage listed as a “special advisor on economic and security partnerships.”
Jeneroux’s appointment mirrors that of another recent floor crosser, Michael Ma, who was also granted a seat on Carney’s recent China trip after joining the Liberals.
Carney’s aggressive recruitment of opposition MPs has dramatically shifted the balance of power in Parliament. With the Liberals now within a single seat of a majority government, three upcoming by-elections could cement Carney’s control until October 2029.
For voters in Edmonton Riverbend, however, the immediate concern is more basic: when will anybody answer the phone to hear their concerns?