his switch. January 14, 2004: Keith Martin, Canadian Alliance MP, sits as an independent and announces he intends to seek the Liberal Party's nomination for his riding to protest the former's merger into the Conservative Party. He subsequently won the nomination, won the election and sat in the Liberal caucus until his retirement in 2011. June 8, 2004: Anne Cools, appointed to the Senate as a Liberal, announces that she will be crossing the floor to sit as a Conservative. June 29, 2004: Gary Masyk, Alberta MLA, crosses the floor from the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party to the Alberta Alliance Party. November 22, 2004: Carolyn Parrish, Liberal MP, was suspended from the caucus on November 18 after public comments about the Liberal party and Prime Minister Paul Martin. She decided to sit as an independent member four days later. 2005: David Kilgour, MP, changes from Liberals to independent. May 17, 2005: Belinda Stronach, MP, leaves Conservative Party to join Paul Martin's Liberal cabinet. June 6, 2005: Pat O'Brien, leaves Liberals to sit as an independent MP. October 17, 2005: Bev Desjarlais, NDP, sits as an independent MP after losing her party's nomination for an upcoming election January 13, 2006: Frank Branch, dean of the New Brunswick legislature and MLA for Nepisiguit, switches his affiliate from Liberal to independent pending a police investigation into his business practices. February 6, 2006: David Emerson, MP, changes from Liberals to Conservatives and joined Stephen Harper's cabinet two weeks after the election. February 21, 2006: Michael Malley, New Brunswick MLA for Miramichi-Bay du Vin, changes from Progressive Conservative to independent, after being turned down for a New Brunswick cabinet position and other demands. This move changed the balance of power from a majority government to a minority government in the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly. April 13, 2006: Michael Malley switches from independent back to Progressive Conservative while serving as speaker. This is seen as setting a precedent. January 5, 2007: Wajid Khan, MP, leaves the Liberals and joins the Conservatives. March 29, 2007: Tim Peterson, MPP in Ontario, leaves the Liberals to sit as an independent. On June 6, 2007, Peterson joins the Progressive Conservatives. April 17, 2007: Joan MacAlpine-Stiles and Wally Stiles, spouses and MLAs in the New Brunswick legislature, leave the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick and join the governing New Brunswick Liberal Association. August 30, 2008: Blair Wilson, independent MP who