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Nathaniel Erskine-Smith
Canadian politician and lawyer (born 1984) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (born June 15, 1984) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who has been the member of Parliament (MP) for Beaches—East York since 2015. A member of the Liberal Party, Erskine-Smith served as Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities from December 2024 to May 2025. Before entering politics, Erskine-Smith was a commercial litigation lawyer.
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Early life and education
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Erskine-Smith was born on June 15, 1984,[3] in Toronto, Ontario, attending Bowmore Elementary School and Malvern Collegiate. His parents, Sara Erskine and Lawrence Smith, were public school teachers.[4]
Erskine-Smith attended Queen's University, where he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in politics in 2007, before completing law school in 2010. While a student at Queen's, he was an unsuccessful candidate for city council for Sydenham District in Kingston, Ontario, in the 2006 municipal elections coming in third despite being endorsed by the Whig-Standard and Queen’s Journal.[5][6] Erskine-Smith described his attempt to Althia Raj as "naive" and that he knocked on no doors due to and spent his time researching local issues.[4] He also attempted to start a business selling panini sandwiches from a trailer and hoped to start a catering business.[7]
Erskine-Smith then went on to study political philosophy and constitutional law at the University of Oxford, where he earned a Master of Laws (BCL) degree in 2013.[8] He focused on the evolution of section 7 of the Canadian charter, with references to assisted dying, prostitution and marijuana.[4] In addition, during his time at both universities, he played baseball for both their teams as a pitcher.[9][10]
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Legal career
Erskine-Smith practiced commercial litigation as an associate at Kramer Simaan Dhillon, after working as a law student at Aird & Berlis LLP. He told Raj that he found some advantages in commercial litigation, such as "fun to win," "argue," "do the research," and "prepare arguments," but felt like he could make a bigger impact advocating for issues that affect more Canadians.[4]
Erskine-Smith also performed volunteer work for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.[11] He has taken on pro bono cases for a range of clients and causes, including a civil liberties case to protect religious freedom in Ontario's school system.[12] In a notable civil liberties case in 2014, Erskine-Smith successfully argued against compulsory religious studies at publicly funded high schools in Ontario.[12]
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Political career
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Member of Parliament
42nd and 43rd parliament
In November 2013, Erskine-Smith announced his candidacy for the Liberal nomination in Beaches-East York, citing Justin Trudeau's call for more youth involvement in politics, his advocacy for bottom-up democracy, and positive politics as reasons to run.[4] Erskine Smith based his nomination campaign on lessons learned from his 2006 municipal campaign and signed up 900 riding members. In December 2014, he beat four candidates to become the Liberal nominee.[4]
Erskine-Smith was elected to the House of Commons in the 2015 federal election. He beat incumbent MP Matthew Kellway, who was elected in 2011.[13][14] During the campaign, Erskine-Smith received endorsements from the provincial Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Arthur Potts and City Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon.[11]
Erskine-Smith was vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics during the 42nd Parliament.[3]
Erskine-Smith was re-elected in the 2019 election and 2021 election,more than having double his vote compared to his nearest competitor in the last two campaigns.[3][15]
Uncommons Podcast
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic Erskine-Smith launched the Uncommons Podcast as a substitute for local town hall meetings.[16] The episodes feature prominent guests, including members of all major parties, and often seek to showcase his thinking on a given issue.[17]
In June 2022, Erskine-Smith, hosted former Conservative leader, Erin O'Toole, who commented on the 2022 Conservative leadership race by expressing his concerns that "the populism of anger or frustration or dislocation" can undermine institutions and national unity.[18] In June 2024, fellow Conservative MP Arnold Viersen sent a letter to Erskine-Smith stating that he felt "ambushed" by Erskine-Smith after it was revealed that he told Erskine-Smith on the podcast that he would ban same-sex marriage, abortion and that some members in the Conservative caucus felt the same way.[19] Viersen later walked back on his podcast comments and Erskine-Smith, who felt that those views were anathema to most Canadians, told reporters that he was surprised about the letter by stating that Viersen was well known for his anti-abortion advocacy.[20]
In October 2024, Erskine-Smith hosted both Prime Minister Trudeau, who expressed regret over his handling of electoral reform,[21] and Mark Carney, who teases his future political plans and agreed that Erskine-Smith's comments about increasing housing supply for first time home buyers to have a home, on separate episodes of the podcast.[21][22][23]
44th parliament
2023 Ontario Liberal leadership campaign
Erskine-Smith ran for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party in the 2023 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election.[17][24] He positioned himself as a generational change candidate and distanced himself from previous leaders of the party like criticizing senior Liberals who wanted Ontario Greens leader Mike Schreiner to lead their party instead.[25][26] Erskine-Smith focused his campaign on renewing the grassroots renewal, rebuilding the party organization, a political focus on "fairness".[27] He stating that he saw idealism, optimism and a rebuilt party operations in federal Liberals of 2015 and felt that approach should be applied to its provincial counterparts.[6] Erskine-Smith also ran on what he described "progressive and pragmatic ideas" around on issues such as access to health care, senior care, mental health and addictions, climate change and wealth inequality.[28][27]
Ersinke-Smith was critical on fellow leadership candidate Bonnie Crombie's desire to move the party to the centre-right because he felt that centre-right governments lacked ambition.[29] A month before the vote, he joined fellow Liberal MP and leadership candidate Yasir Naqvi in a mutual support pact to rank each other as the second choice in an attempt to defeat Crombie, the perceived front runner.[30] Both of them felt that they shared the same priorities during the campaign, that this was the best way to win the upcoming election was building a party around Liberal values and felt that Crombie's leadership would have simliar criticisms as Premier Doug Ford's Conservatives.[30]
Crombie however was elected closer than anticipated on the third ballot with 53.4 per cent, ahead of Erskine-Smith who came in second with 46.6 per cent.[31]
Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities
Erskine-Smith was appointed as the minister of housing, infrastructure and communities on December 20, 2024, following a Cabinet shuffle due to Sean Fraser resignation. [32] During a press conference after his appointment to the role, Erskine-Smith stated "I understand there’s going to be a short runway," and said his goal would be "to make the biggest difference that I can."[33][23] Due to his appointment, he reversed his initial decision not to run in the 2025 federal election.[34][35] Erskine Smith later explained that he talked to his family and got their approval before accepting the position and compared Conservatives ideology to the Reform Party as a reason for his reversal.[35]
Erskine Smith cited three things that he would do to tackle the Canadian housing crisis, which include removing restrictive policies that hinder development, getting the government back into the development of public housing, and treating housing less of an investment vehicle.[35] In January, he was publicly critical of the Ontario government for reducing spending on social housing.[36] In March, Erskine-Smith sent a letter to Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow warning that any form of blocking six-plexes would result in 25 per cent less federal funding that was pledged annually to Toronto from the Housing Accelerator Fund, a program that incentivizes cities to build more housing.[37]
Erskine-Smith remained in that role under the 30th Canadian Ministry of Mark Carney and was reelected on April 28, 2025, but reshuffled out on May 13, 2025.[38]
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Political Views
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Eskine-Smith has been mostly characterized as a maverick,[29][39] though others have described him as a progressive or a left-leaning liberal,[40][41] who has been noted for breaking away from certain issues within his own party.[42][43][44] Eskine-Smith, though, has touted his ability to get things done across all parties,[25][26] describes being committed to the grassroots[45] and modelled his politics after former Liberal Prime Ministers Pierre Elliot Trudeau and Lester Pearson. [46]
Environment
Animal Welfare
In 2015, Erskine-Smith seconded Bill S-203, the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act, that became law in June 2019. The bill prohibits the captivity of cetaceans and requires permits to import and export them to and from Canada. Erskine-Smith spoke to the house about the importance of the bill in June 2018.[47][48]
On February 26, 2016, Erskine-Smith introduced Bill C-246, the Modernizing Animal Protections Act,[49] to ban the import of shark fins and make Canada's animal cruelty laws tougher.[50] The bill won support from EndCruelty, a coalition of Canadians who support stronger animal protection laws.[51] Due to concerns from animal use lobbyists, the bill was defeated 198 to 84 at second reading.[49] Two years later, a government bill addressing similar concerns was tabled by Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould. She acknowledged Erskine-Smith's efforts as a precursor to the government's legislation.[52] The defeat of Erskine-Smith's Bill C-246 led to the creation of the Liberal Animal Welfare Caucus in 2017.[53] On September 5, 2017, Erskine-Smith wrote an article in NOW Magazine addressing his veganism and the importance of a social change towards the treatment of animals.[54]
Climate action
In October 2018, Erskine-Smith called an emergency debate on climate change in Parliament in response to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's special report on global warming. He requested action to be taken by the government and Canadians to ensure that Canada can reduce its emissions and reach the targeted goals.[55] On June 5, 2019, Erskine-Smith introduced bill C-454, the Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions Act, to require the Government of Canada to reduce GHG emissions to net zero by 2050.[56][57]
Healthcare
National pharmacare
In February 2021, alongside Wayne Long, Erskine-Smith was one of only two Liberal MPs to vote in favour of a New Democratic Party (NDP) motion to take a first step towards developing a national pharmacare system. The bill, proposed by Peter Julian, would have established the conditions for federal financial contributions to provincial drug insurance plans.[58] The following year, the Liberal Party would commit to work towards a "universal national pharmacare program" as part of their confidence and supply agreement with the NDP following the 2021 federal election.[59]
Legal policies
Civil Liberties
In June 2018, Erskine-Smith introduced bill C-413, an Act to amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, to give new powers for the federal privacy commissioner.[60] In August 2019, Erskine-Smith wrote an op-ed for the Toronto Star expressing his desire for the right to be forgotten. He explained that in an increasingly connected, online world citizens should have the right to hide content published about them from search engines if the individual’s privacy is being seriously violated.[61]
In response to the occupation of downtown Ottawa by the Freedom Convoy, the government enacted the Emergencies Act. With Ottawa streets being largely cleared of protesters by the time of the vote, Erskine-Smith's Speech to Parliament condemned the protests, but questioned the necessity of the declaration of emergency, and its approval after the clearance. He ultimately voted to confirm the use of the declaration.[62][63][64]
Drug policy reform
In February 2016, Erskine-Smith represented Canada at a joint United Nations/Inter-Parliamentary Union conference reviewing how different countries were dealing with illegal drugs. He partnered with Mexican Senator Laura Rojas to argue that countries should seek alternatives to incarceration in cases where individuals have drugs solely for personal use.[65] In early January 2017, Erskine-Smith published an op-ed in Vice calling for the decriminalization of all drug possession as a logical next step to the government's drug policy.[66] In late January 2017, Erskine-Smith delivered a speech in the House of Commons in support of Bill C-37, to expand access to safe injection clinics across Canada.[67] In the first episode of the television series Political Blind Date in 2017, Erskine-Smith and Conservative MP Garnett Genuis discussed their differing perspectives on the legalization of cannabis in Canada.[68] Erskine-Smith introduced a Liberal caucus policy resolution to address the opioid crisis through a public health approach, and it was adopted as the second overall priority by the grassroots Liberal membership at the Liberal Policy Convention in Halifax in April 2018.[69]
Erskine-Smith introduced bill C-460, seeking to remove criminal sanctions for low-level possession and to reduce the stigma associated with seeking treatment.[70] In 2018, Erskine-Smith appeared on CBC's Power & Politics to speak about his disappointment in the Liberal government endorsing a ‘War on Drugs’ document from the United States during CUSMA negotiations. He argued it brought the conversation about drugs away from a health issue, which ran counter to his push for drug decriminalization and domestic policy at the time.[71][72]
In March 2019, Erskine-Smith wrote an op-ed for NOW Magazine where he discussed his support a bill introduced by New Democratic Party (NDP) MP Murray Rankin, stating that only expungements would address the injustice of cannabis criminalization.[73] Erskine-Smith seconded the bill in the House of Commons.[74]
In 2020, Erskine-Smith introduced bill C-235. This bill would delete the drug possession offence from the Criminal Code.[75] He also introduced bill C-236, which would provide diversion options to law enforcement, crown attorneys, and judges for drug possession cases.[75]
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Personal life
Erskine-Smith was raised vegetarian, and is now vegan.[45] He has Crohn's disease.[76]
Erskine-Smith married Amelia (Amy) Symington, a Toronto vegan chef and nutritionist, on her family farm in Camlachie, Ontario.[45] The two met in an undergraduate film studies course at Queen's University.[5] They have two sons born in 2016, and in 2019.[77]
Recognition
For his efforts to modernize Canada's federal animal protection laws with Bill C-246, Erskine-Smith received the Humane Legislator Award from Animal Justice.[78] In 2017, Erskine-Smith received the Fur-Bearers’ Clements award for his dedication to improving the lives of animals with Bill C-246.[79][80] In 2019, Erskine-Smith was awarded the Toronto Vegetarian Association Lisa Grill Compassion for Animals Award for his compassion and commitment toward animals. He was also recognized by Humane Canada for his dedication to ending animal abuse.[81][82]
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Electoral record
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References
External links
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