Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine Smith makes his way to caucus on Parliament Hill on Feb 4.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith says he is ready to go toe to toe with Premier Doug Ford in the legislature as he looks to make the leap to provincial politics.
Mr. Erskine-Smith ran for leader of the Ontario Liberals in 2023 and is recruiting a team as he explores another run. First, though, he is focused on winning the Ontario Liberal nomination for a yet-to-be called provincial by-election in the Toronto riding of Scarborough Southwest. The Ontario Liberals will name their next leader on Nov. 21.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Mr. Erskine-Smith, a 41-year-old former lawyer and father of two, discussed his plans to enter the provincial arena and take on Mr. Ford, who has won three back-to-back majority governments for the Progressive Conservatives.
The Ontario Liberals, who held government for 15 years, have struggled to regain their electoral footing since Mr. Ford first took office in 2018. The party has gone through two leadership races since 2020 and only regained official party status under former leader Bonnie Crombie in 2025. The party remains in third place in the legislature.
Erskine-Smith says he’ll resign as MP when Ford calls provincial by-election
Mr. Erskine-Smith – who has said he’ll resign as a federal MP as soon as Mr. Ford calls the Scarborough by-election – accused the Premier of delaying the vote to avoid having another Liberal in the legislature.
“I’d like to get in the House, in the legislature, as fast as possible to hold Ford accountable and show Ontarians what we’ve been able to show our community over the last decade,” Mr. Erskine-Smith said.
“I’m happy to go toe to toe with Doug Ford on absolutely any issue, any time. There’s not a debate I will lose to that guy.”
If Mr. Erskine-Smith officially runs for Liberal leader – as expected – it would be his second attempt. He came second in the 2023 contest with 46.6 per cent of the points in the party’s ranked-ballot system, behind Ms. Crombie’s 53.4 per cent.
Mr. Erskine-Smith said he’s had “really constructive conversations” with Prime Minister Mark Carney about his decision to enter Ontario politics.
The MP accused Mr. Ford of bluster and incompetence, using the example of the Premier recently calling Chinese electric-vehicles “spy cars.” Mr. Ford made the comment while criticizing the Prime Minister’s announcement that Canada would allow nearly 50,000 Chinese-made EVs into Canada at a low tariff rate in return for reductions in levies on canola and other products.
Mr. Erskine-Smith said the Prime Minister had to talk the Premier “off the ledge,” noting Mr. Ford later came out in support of Ottawa’s plan. Mr. Carney and Mr. Ford have met privately several times since the Prime Minister took office, and appear to have a friendly professional relationship.
“You have a Premier who should be leading the way on an auto strategy, given the jobs at risk in Ontario, and instead it’s up to the federal government to lead because we have a lack of leadership in Ontario,” Mr. Erskine-Smith said.
“What do we know about Mark Carney? He’s a serious, smart, thoughtful guy. I think that’s the kind of leadership that he wants to see across the province, across the country.”
Mr. Ford’s office declined comment.
Mr. Erskine-Smith still has to beat other Liberals for the Scarborough Southwest nomination. He said his current east Toronto federal riding of Beaches-East York shares many similarities, including concerns over housing affordability, reliable transit, education and health care.
The provincial seat was vacated when former Ontario NDP deputy leader Doly Begum quit in February to run as the federal Liberal candidate.
Qadira Jackson, a lawyer and former social worker, ran for the Ontario Liberals in the riding in 2025 and came third. She said she, too, will be seeking the nomination to run in the by-election.
She called Mr. Erskine-Smith’s decision to run in Scarborough “opportunistic” and said he doesn’t have deep roots in the area.
“He wants to use it as a stepping stone, which he doesn’t deny at all, to become leader of the party,” she said.
After the 2025 provincial campaign, Mr. Erskine-Smith was highly critical of Ms. Crombie, saying the Liberals “lacked vision” and failed to unite progressives.
In the interview, he said that the party needs to continue working between elections to build up riding associations, and that candidates need to come together after the leadership race, suggesting this didn’t happen with Ms. Crombie’s team.
“There was sort of an open offer to say, ‘How do we build this together?’ and there was a feeling that … ‘We’ve got this,’” he said.
Others considering a run for the Ontario Liberal leadership are MPPs Rob Cerjanec and Lee Fairclough, as well as housing advocate Eric Lombardi.
Known in Ottawa circles as a bit of a maverick, Mr. Erskine-Smith has voted against party lines, including recently opposing the federal government’s Bill C-5 to fast-track major projects. He’s also supported decriminalizing all drug use and possession.
Mr. Erskine-Smith said he’s unafraid to defend his past positions, be in on carbon pricing or treating addiction as a health issue.
“When it’s a personal demon, that should be a public health approach,” he said.
After announcing in 2024 that he would not run again federally, he changed his mind when former prime minister Justin Trudeau named him housing minister. He was shuffled out of cabinet by Mr. Carney last May, later saying it was “impossible not to feel disrespected.”
As party leader, Mr. Erskine-Smith said he would require unity on platform promises and confidence matters but would also respect independence for his members to voice new issues or express disagreement.
“If people have a perception of me as someone who isn’t a team player, I think they’re going to be pleasantly surprised.”