This is unprecedented. No Canadian PM has flipped a minority into near-majority power with four opposition defections in four months—no election needed. Past floor-crossings happened, but never this volume or speed to seize control. Carney's Liberals went from short to 170 seats in a 343-seat House, two shy of full rule. It erodes democracy this way: Your vote picked MPs to check the government. When they switch without going back to voters, it rewrites the balance in back rooms. The opposition mandate you backed gets erased. Politicians learn deals beat public will. Trust collapses, elections feel fake, and power shifts to insiders over ballots. That's the pattern, media spin or not.