By Pepper Parr
August 20th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Being part of the process that has candidates for leadership positions in a political party is fascinating.
The best I once took part in was when John Turner and another half dozen people were running to lead the federal Liberal Party. Pierre Elliott Trudueau won that contest and went on to be one of the most influential and at times divisive Primer Minters the country has ever had.
Nate Erskine – Smith was a happy man – facing a room of attentive Liberals.
Choosing who the next leader of the Provincial Liberals in Ontario will be is a lot quieter but none the less important.
The Burlington Liberals listened to Nate Erskine – Smith who told the audience that the race was between him and Bonnie Crombie who will be meeting with the Liberals on Monday evening at Tansley Woods.
What did Nate have to say to the audience?
Well – he is certainly fiscally conservative and believes that operating budgets have to be balanced. Capital budget don’t have to be, and if I understood Nate they shouldn’t be.
He wasn’t all that keen on a Universal Basic Income either.
He did respond to the tax and spend reputation Liberals have.
Nate was an active federal parliamentarian – wrote some of the legislation that governs the country and produced a number of policy papers.
We learned a lot about what he did while the Member in the House of Commons for Beaches East York.
Nate didn’t like being told how to vote with the Trudeau government but that is the way federal governments work in Canada. You get elected as a Member of a Political Party and you are required to support the party. It isn’t any different in Ontario – Nate wants to be the leader of the Liberal party and will expect those elected is as Liberals to stick to the party line.
Nate clearly wants to lead. He knew that his career opportunities federally were limited; and Queen’s Park means he can get home for dinner most nights.
Nate was an active parliamentarian – wrote some of the legislation that governs the country and produced a number of policy papers.
A decent audience – not that many young people.
His strong point was his consistently telling the audience that they would always know where he stands. You may not agree with him but you will know where he stands on an issue and why.
He spoke consistently about good faith relationships and doesn’t see very much of that in Ontario today.
He sees the problem Ontario faces with the current Ford government is this: they are not working for the people of the province – they are working for their friends. Nate call this corruption in plain sight.
He has a firm grip on the housing issue and talked about churches, municipalities and Metrolinx as organizations that have a lot of land that can be freed up for housing development. He made mention of an approach the United Church is taking. They have created a Housing Corporation and poured $10 million into it. Their plan is to merge churches that have small congregations and use the property they have to build affordable housing. Nate has seen this at work in his riding.
Nate Erskine – Smith: The province does not have a Climate Change Plan
While Nate doesn’t claim to have the answer to the affordable housing problem – he believes there is an answer and that the people of the province can work together to solve the problem.
He is certain the approach the current provincial government has decided to take is just plain wrong and takes offence at the way the Premier continually breaks his promises.
Well educated and well connected with the Bay Street crowd where he toiled for a number of years until he decided that he could serve society as a politician.
He sees the trouble facing Ontario with the current Ford government is a challenge that has to be met. And will tell you that the race is between him and current Mayor of Mississauga Bonnie Crombie. He has figured out how many seats the Liberals need to win and where the wins need to take place.
Nate with Lisa Mayeski , president of the Burlington Provincial Liberal Association
This is an intelligent man on a mission
He made one statement about Long Term Care – the province is building Long Term Care facilities in places no one wants to live in.
He said the province does not have a Climate Change Plan
Nate Erskine – Smith wants to empower community and is travelling across the province to meet and talk to as many people is as possible – if you find yourself in a room with him be prepared for a man who has a lot to say.
He also listens. If he is chosen to lead the party the hope is that he can grow it from the nine members it has to at least the Leader of the Opposition.
There is no clear sense yet is as to what the top Nate Erskine – Smith issue is going to be. He knows this – the affordability problem has to be resolved.
If he is elected leader by the Liberal Party before the end of the year he will probably have to bump Mary-Margaret McMahon, the current MPP for Beaches East York and run for that seat in 2026.
If Nate Erskine-Smith is, indeed, a fiscal conservative, then he may be well-positioned to lead the provincial Liberals to victory. The last few provincial Liberal governments were spendthrifts, and the federal Liberals never met a dollar they couldn’t spend, a consultant they couldn’t hire, and a cause they couldn’t support.
At the very Erskine-Smith deserves credit for being one of the few in the federal Liberal caucus for having the guts to stand up and challenge his boss. That’s probably why he was destined to rot and die on the backbenches. Leading a third party in the Legislature is probably preferable to withering away in the federal caucus. With Justin crashing and burning in the polls, and his government in total free-fall, it’s likely a matter of time before the big money donors who bankroll the federal Liberals say “enough” and put pressure on Trudeau to resign and call a leadership convention.