In blow to Canada PM, legislator quits to join opposition party

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian legislator Eve Adams left the governing Conservatives to join the opposition Liberal Party on Monday, in a fresh blow to Prime Minister Stephen Harper ahead of an election scheduled for October. Sitting alongside Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, Adams told reporters, "The party no longer shares my values". She also blasted what she called Harper's mean-spirited leadership. The move comes just a week after Foreign Minister John Baird's surprise resignation, which came amid talk of a split with Harper's office over Russia policy and other issues. Adams is currently member of Parliament for Mississauga-Brampton South, which is just outside of Toronto, a region where the Liberals must pick up seats if they are to do well in the October election. Adams had fallen out with the right-leaning Conservatives, though, and it seemed unlikely she would run for the party in October. Harper has been in power since early 2006. Most polls show the Conservatives neck-and-neck with the Liberals. If an election were held now, the most likely result would be that Harper would lose his majority in the House of Commons. (Reporting by David Ljunggren and Leah Schnurr; Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson; and Peter Galloway)