At a table in the roadside truck stop sat Dominic LeBlanc, who serves as intergovernmental affairs minister and chief political point man for Justin Trudeau.
It wasn’t their first conversation.
In normal times, the two might have already been acquainted, given how everyone seems to know each other in New Brunswick’s tight political circle.
He asked Atwin in the course of this initial, 90-minute encounter if she’d be interested in joining the Liberals.
Greens have been making steady progress as a political force in the Maritime provinces, holding three seats in the New Brunswick legislature and official opposition status in Prince Edward Island.
During their many conversations, he said, Atwin told him that she’d been quietly able to work across party lines with several Liberal MPs and ministers from around the GTA.
Just one week ago, Trudeau was talking at a Ryerson University democracy forum about how he hoped to frame the next election as a choice on how to “build back better” after the pandemic has abated.
A Green-turned-Liberal MP in the ranks will help in Toronto, LeBlanc said, where the Green party is hoping once again to make a mark whenever the next election comes along.
Atwin’s move to the government benches, said LeBlanc, tells potential Green voters in the GTA and beyond that Liberals “are a viable progressive choice.” Trudeau has already said that his government’s climate plan will be at the centre of the build-back-better platform too.
The very same day that Trudeau spoke at Ryerson last week, he also finally had a phone conversation with Atwin.
The next day, LeBlanc and Atwin met at the Lincoln Big Stop to seal the deal.
LeBlanc isn’t saying whether he’s working on other deals right now to boost Liberal ranks before the election, whenever that is.