Liberal MP Ruby DhallaDarren Calabrese
Beleaguered Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla swore allegiance to her party, denied she was crossing the floor to the Tories and was given a standing ovation by her colleagues.
All this happened behind closed doors at the national caucus meeting Wednesday morning.
"I have been a Liberal since I was 12," the 35-year-old Brampton-Springdale MP said, according to a Liberal insider. "I am a Liberal and will always be a Liberal."
Ms. Dhalla has been the focus of much attention on Parliament Hill this week after at Toronto Star report suggested she was poised to cross the floor because of her discontent with some of her colleagues.
She has denied the suggestion. "I have chosen hope over smear and ideas over fear," she told caucus, according to an insider.
She said, too, that she has been on "Jason Kenney's hit list," referring to the Immigration Minister, who along with other senior Tories has been visiting her suburban Toronto riding trying to woo voters.
Ms. Dhalla won the riding in the last election by fewer than 800 votes. The Tory candidate came second.
The Toronto Star revealed Wednesday that Mr. Kenney's senior aide, Alykhan Velshi, was the source of its story suggesting that three Liberal MPs were poised to cross the floor.
Ms. Dhalla was the focus of the piece but a Conservative source said she might not be "a good fit" in the caucus. In fact, no Liberal MPs were named in the story.
At caucus, Ms. Dhalla also referred to her "horrendous ordeal" - the so-called "nanny-gate" affair in which a House committee investigated the hiring of two caregivers who had looked after the Liberal MP's mother.
"After the horrendous ordeal I decided to fight back the best way I knew how by working, working, working," she said.
There has been speculation, meanwhile, that Ms. Dhalla has been unhappy with the Liberal leadership over her private member's bill on immigrant seniors. Some in caucus do not support it.
As well, she had stepped down from her post as Liberal youth and multiculturalism critic last spring after the caregiver controversy. And Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff never put her back in that post, giving it instead to Montreal MP Justin Trudeau in a shadow cabinet shuffle this week.
Ms. Dhalla, however, was appointed as a special adviser on poverty and youth. She seems to be happy with her new role.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ignatieff, who is going through a bad patch of late after the resignation of Denis Coderre as Quebec lieutenant and declining public opinion polls, admitted he has made mistakes. He did not elaborate.
"I've made some mistakes. I will make some more," he told his caucus according to an insider. "But I've stood strong on the beliefs."
"We stand for those people for whom the promise of Canada has not been met. We are here for you. We are here for Canadians," he said. "We're in the business of helping people who are not in this room."