Links to the Breadcrumb trail
- News
- Canadian politics
- Canada
“There is no doubt that I am interested in helping to rebuild the party.”
Publication date:
June 9, 2022 • 13 hours ago • 3 minutes reading • 93 comments Liberal Nathaniel Erskine-Smith watched during a press conference in Toronto on July 22, 2016. Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS / Colin Perkel
Content of the article
OTTAWA – Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith says he is “seriously considering” running for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party as the party begins recovery after two devastating provincial elections.
Advertising 2
This ad is not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
“There is no doubt that I am interested in helping rebuild the party and I am looking seriously at the leadership,” Erskine-Smith said in an interview Thursday morning. “It’s all undeniably true.”
“I expect sooner or later, I will make a decision,” he added.
Two sources with direct or indirect knowledge of the campaign told the National Post that the announcement of Erskine-Smith’s leadership could come as early as the weekend. Sources were given anonymity to discuss internal discussions freely.
Erskine-Smith said the final decision would depend on receiving the green light from his wife and two children. He also said he wanted to clarify certain rules for the leadership race before jumping into the race.
Advertising 3
This ad is not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
“Understanding the time of the race and the rules of the race is also important in terms of details and some things with the family, because it can change things in terms of balance in our own lives. So I will probably keep exploring the possibility until I understand the rules better, “he said.
Numerous sources told the National Post on Thursday that Erskine-Smith had already begun setting up a campaign team and liaising with fellow Liberal MPs and officials to boost the candidacy for leadership as soon as possible.
The Ontario Liberals were left devastated and without a leader after last week’s devastating loss in the provincial election, which left the party’s quintuple eight seats in Queen’s Park, just one more than it won in 2018. It was the party’s second consecutive election. managed to elect enough deputies to maintain official party status and the funding that comes with it.
Advertising 4
This ad is not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
“I am very interested in the idea of helping to rebuild the party and shape the party and engage the mass liberals,” he said.
One source explained that the Erskine-Smith campaign wanted him to be the first candidate announced and to leave the gate to create a “pliers movement”, a reference to a military maneuver in which forces strangle opponents by flanking them on all sides.
The idea is to gather “staff and members of the group to remove key opponents early” and give the MP a solid starting position in the campaign, they said.
“The minute you go early, the minute people start helping you, you start taking pieces from the table and so you start denying organizers and other people’s money,” the source said.
Advertising 5
This ad is not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
“If you wait too long, you’re transmitting some of that momentum.”
In an interview, Erskine-Smith agreed that it is very useful to be the first candidate to come out strong. But he said he hoped the leadership organizers would “take the time” and allow a longer race to attract more candidates.
“I think a longer race for leadership will encourage more people to get involved, and I think that can only benefit the party in terms of hiring new people and rebuilding the mass population,” he said. “I think the lesson from the last round is that you just don’t want to rush things.
Erskine-Smith was first elected with the Federal Liberals in the Greater Toronto area, riding the 2015 Beech-East York MP.
Advertising 6
This ad is not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
Since then, the MP has become best known as one of the few “crooks” in the liberal bench who will occasionally speak – and even vote against – the party line.
He apologized in particular in 2017, when the Liberals renounced their promise against electoral reform, voted against his party in 2019 in favor of the Ethics Commissioner testifying before the committee on the cursed report on Justin Trudeau, and said in a speech in february that he was not convinced his government had to invoke the emergency law to deal with the freedom convoy.
If he decides to run for provincial leadership, Erskine-Smith did not say whether he will remain a federal MP during the campaign.
He said he “needs to figure out how to do it and be a good father and husband first before I understand this logistics.”
It happens that the provincial ride in his area, which bears the same name Beaches-East York, was one of the only new seats won by the Liberals in last week’s election. One source said that Erskine-Smith was good friends with the new Liberal MP Mary-Margaret McMahon.
Erskine-Smith even hosted an event in support of McMahon on the eve of the last provincial election.
One strategist theorizes that if Erskine-Smith quits her job as an MP and wins the leadership of the Liberals in Ontario, he may eventually indirectly try to “swap” seats with McMahon through by-elections.
Share this article on your social network
Advertising
This ad is not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
NP Published
Sign up to receive daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
By clicking the register button, you agree to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300
Thank you for registering!
Email is welcome. If you don’t see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of NP Posted will be in your inbox soon.
There was a problem registering with you. Please, try again
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civic discussion forum and encourages all readers to share their views on our articles. It can take up to an hour to moderate comments before they appear on the site. Please keep your comments up to date and respectful. We have enabled email notifications – you will now receive an email if you receive a response to your comment, there is an update on the thread for comments you follow, or if a user you follow comments on a comment. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
Add Comment