{"id":102741,"date":"2026-03-12T09:23:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T13:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=102741"},"modified":"2026-03-12T09:23:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T13:23:50","slug":"idlout-says-she-felt-she-was-betraying-her-constituents-by-staying-with-ndp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/idlout-says-she-felt-she-was-betraying-her-constituents-by-staying-with-ndp\/","title":{"rendered":"Idlout says she felt she was &#8216;betraying&#8217; her constituents by staying with NDP"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Nick Murray Nunavut MP Lori Idlout said Wednesday feedback from constituents calling on her to join the Liberal government ultimately convinced her to cross the floor. In her first interview as a Liberal MP, Idlout told The Canadian Press staying with the NDP felt like she was &#8220;betraying&#8221; Nunavummiut. &#8220;It started to, every day, to feel like I was betraying the wrong people, that I was betraying my constituents,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And with leaving the NDP, I feel like I&#8217;m betraying them too, but at least I keep my focus on making sure that my constituents always come first.&#8221; Idlout was introduced as the Liberal party&#8217;s newest MP on Wednesday. She received a roaring ovation from her new Liberal colleagues, who chanted her name as she walked into their&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F03%2F12%2Fidlout-says-she-felt-she-was-betraying-her-constituents-by-staying-with-ndp%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Nick Murray Nunavut MP Lori Idlout said Wednesday feedback from constituents calling on her to join the Liberal government ultimately convinced her to cross the floor. In her first interview as a Liberal MP, Idlout told The Canadian Press staying with the NDP felt like she was &#8220;betraying&#8221; Nunavummiut. &#8220;It started to, every day, to feel like I was betraying the wrong people, that I was betraying my constituents,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And with leaving the NDP, I feel like I&#8217;m betraying them too, but at least I keep my focus on making sure that my constituents always come first.&#8221; Idlout was introduced as the Liberal party&#8217;s newest MP on Wednesday. She received a roaring ovation from her new Liberal colleagues, who chanted her name as she walked into their... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F03%2F12%2Fidlout-says-she-felt-she-was-betraying-her-constituents-by-staying-with-ndp%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Idlout says she felt she was &#039;betraying&#039; her constituents by staying with NDP - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/idlout-says-she-felt-she-was-betraying-her-constituents-by-staying-with-ndp\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Idlout says she felt she was &#039;betraying&#039; her constituents by staying with NDP - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Nick Murray Nunavut MP Lori Idlout said Wednesday feedback from constituents calling on her to join the Liberal government ultimately convinced her to cross the floor. In her first interview as a Liberal MP, Idlout told The Canadian Press staying with the NDP felt like she was &#8220;betraying&#8221; Nunavummiut. &#8220;It started to, every day, to feel like I was betraying the wrong people, that I was betraying my constituents,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And with leaving the NDP, I feel like I&#8217;m betraying them too, but at least I keep my focus on making sure that my constituents always come first.&#8221; Idlout was introduced as the Liberal party&#8217;s newest MP on Wednesday. She received a roaring ovation from her new Liberal colleagues, who chanted her name as she walked into their\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/idlout-says-she-felt-she-was-betraying-her-constituents-by-staying-with-ndp\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-12T13:23:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/12\\\/idlout-says-she-felt-she-was-betraying-her-constituents-by-staying-with-ndp\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/12\\\/idlout-says-she-felt-she-was-betraying-her-constituents-by-staying-with-ndp\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Idlout says she felt she was &#8216;betraying&#8217; 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