LAWRENCE CANNON

Mulcair named former Conservative cabinet minister Lawrence Cannon as the one who approached him to join the Conservatives.

The duo knew each other from their days with the Quebec Liberals; Cannon represented that party in the Quebec National Assembly for nearly 10 years before Mulcair joined their ranks.

And Cannon backed Sheila Copps when she ran for leadership of the federal Liberals in 2000.

But he then left the party for the private sector, reportedly disillusioned over Jean Chrétien’s handling of the 1995 Quebec referendum and the subsequent sponsorship scandal.

He went back into municipal politics for a time and then joined the Conservatives.

“The decision of Lawrence Cannon to join the Conservative party will help us build a new, clean federalism in the province,” Harper told a 2005 press conference announcing Cannon’s candidacy. He was elected in 2006, serving in two cabinet posts before losing his seat in the 2011 election and being appointed ambassador to France.