Liberal Party

Citing what she described as the "mean-spirited leadership" of the Conservative Party, Toronto-area MP Eve Adams has left the Conservatives to join the Liberal Party.

Adams announced her decision at a press conference in Ottawa alongside Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau.

Adams, who currently represents the riding of Mississauga-Brampton South, said in a prepared statement that she initially signed up to run for the Conservatives to improve the lives of Canadians.

Instead, she said, the government "is about to roll out policies like income splitting, which will devour the surplus without benefiting many Canadian families, or creating a single job."

"Even Canada's former finance minister, Jim Flaherty — a Progressive Conservative from Ontario — could not support the impact and the waste of income splitting, " she noted.

'I can no longer support mean-spirited leadership, ' MP Eve Adams said Monday in announcing she has left the Conservatives to join the Liberal Party. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

As a result, Adams said, "I can no longer support mean-spirited leadership that divides people instead of bringing them together, " she said.

"We need a kind, generous and strong leadership that champions shared vision for how to make Canada work for everyone."

That leader, it seems, is Trudeau.

Trudeau says Adams has 'passion' for job

Trudeau said he understood how "personally challenging" the decision was for Adams.

"She wanted to be her community's voice in Ottawa, not the prime minister's voice in her community, " he said.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau was by Eve Adams's side when the Toronto-area MP announced she was joining the Liberals. (Justin Tang/Canadian Press)

"She has shown passion and commitment to her constituents, both as a city councillor and as an MP, and in her work as a parliamentary secretary."

But, he said, she has also "seen her work restrained by a party focused on the politics of meanness and division."