Nathaniel Erskine-Smith

Nathaniel Erskine-Smith
MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Beaches—East York
Assumed office
October 19, 2015
Preceded by Matthew Kellway
Personal details
Born (1984-06-15) June 15, 1984
Toronto, Ontario
Political party Liberal
Spouse(s) Amy Symington
Children 1
Residence The Beaches, Toronto[1][2]
Alma mater Queen's University
Oxford University
Profession Lawyer

Nathaniel Erskine-Smith MP (born June 15, 1984) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is a Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada who was elected in 2015 to represent the Toronto riding of Beaches—East York. He is the youngest Member of Parliament in the Greater Toronto Area. Before politics, Erskine-Smith practiced as a lawyer.

Early life and career

Erskine-Smith was born on June 15, 1984 in Toronto, Ontario,[3] to two local teachers and was given a hyphenated surname comprising those of his parents.[4][2] He graduated from Malvern Collegiate Institute.[4] He earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a Juris Doctor in 2010 from Queen's University.[5][6] When he was a student at Queen's, he was an unsuccessful candidate for city council for Sydenham District in Kingston, Ontario in the 2006 municipal elections.[5]

Erskine-Smith studied political philosophy and constitutional law at Oxford,[7] where he earned a Master of Laws (BCL).[6][8] He also worked pro bono with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.[4][7] At the time of his election, Erskine-Smith was practicing at Kramer Simaan Dhillon LLP,[9] a commercial litigation firm in downtown Toronto.[4]

Politics

In the 2015 federal election Erskine-Smith ran as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Beaches—East York. He defeated New Democrat incumbent Matthew Kellway by 10,345 votes.[10] Erskine-Smith became the youngest MP elected from the Greater Toronto Area.[7]

Erskine-Smith is a member of the Public Safety and National Security Committee, as well as the Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics committee.[3] Over the first six months of the 42nd Parliament, he voted against his governing Liberal party 11 times out of 90 votes, significantly higher than the most rebellious MP of the previous Parliament, Michael Chong, who voted against his party 14 times out of 935 votes.[11]

In January 2016, he was acclaimed as the president of the Canadian group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union for a one-year term.[12] In that capacity, he delivered a speech about youth in politics at an IPU meeting in Zambia.[7]

In February 2016, Erskine-Smith represented the Canadian government's pro-marijuana legalization views to a joint United Nations/Inter-Parliamentary Union conference reviewing how different countries were dealing with illegal drugs. He partnered with Mexican Senator Laura Rojas in a debate against Herman Adranacus, an Indonesian MP, and Ibrahim Omer, the speaker of the National Assembly of Sudan, to argue that countries should seek alternatives to incarceration in cases where individuals have drugs solely for personal use.[13]

On February 22, 2016 he introduced a private member's bill, Bill C-246,[14] that seeks to ban the import of shark fins and make Canada's animal cruelty laws tougher.[7] Critics, such as Conservative MP Robert Sopuck, opposed it on the grounds that reclassifying animal cruelty laws by moving them into the public morals section of the Criminal Code from the property section would hurt groups such as farmers, hunters, and medical researchers.[14] The bill won support from the typically-Conservative leaning hockey commentator Don Cherry.[15] On October 6, 2016, the bill was defeated 198 to 84 at second reading.[14]

Personal life

Erskine-Smith was raised vegetarian, and is now vegan.[7] He has Crohn's disease.[16]

Erskine-Smith is married to Amy Symington, a prominent Toronto vegan chef and nutritionist,[7] who he met in an undergraduate film studies course at Queen's University.[5] They have one son together, Mackinlay, born in late 2016.[17][7]

Electoral record

Canadian federal election, 2015: Beaches—East York
Party Candidate Votes%∆%Expenditures
LiberalNathaniel Erskine-Smith 27,458 49.45 +18.7 –
New DemocraticMatthew Kellway 17,113 30.81 -10.83 –
ConservativeBill Burrows 9,124 16.43 -6.31 –
GreenRandall Sach 1,433 2.58 -2.02 –
IndependentJames Sears 254 0.46 – –
Marxist–LeninistRoger Carter 105 0.19 -0.08 –
IndependentPeter Surjanac 43 0.08 – –
Total valid votes/Expense limit 55,530100.0 $207,738.12
Total rejected ballots 216––
Turnout 55,746––
Eligible voters 75,169
Source: Elections Canada[18][19]

References

  1. ↑ Lavoie, Joanna (January 2, 2016). "Rookie MPs Julie Dabrusin and Nathaniel Erskine-Smith eager to get to work in 2016". Inside Toronto. Metroland Media. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Six questions for candidates in Beaches-East York". Beach Metro Community News. September 23, 2015. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  3. 1 2 "ERSKINE-SMITH, Nathaniel". Library of Parliament.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Hudson, Andrew; Muldoon, Jon; Lameira, Phil (October 20, 2015). "East End joins Liberal sweep in Toronto". Beach Metro Community News. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 MacAlpine, Ian (October 26, 2015). "Council run helps fuel new MP's success". Kingston Whig-Standard. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Queen's Law alumnus named Liberal candidate". law.queensu.ca. Queen's University Faculty of Law. 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Delacourt, Susan (September 6, 2016). "Beaches—East York MP is a different political animal: Delacourt". thestar.com. Toronto Star. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  8. ↑ Donovan, Dan (March 13, 2015). "Trudeau Needs More "Nate's"". www.ottawalife.com. Ottawa Life Magazine. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  9. ↑ Yosowich, Miriam (October 19, 2015). "Lawyers reflect on their campaigns on election day". Canadian Lawyer Magazine. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  10. ↑ Miller, Adam (October 19, 2015). "Nathaniel Erskine-Smith reclaims Beaches—East York for the Liberals". Global News.
  11. ↑ Wherry, Aaron (June 17, 2016). "The least predictable MP highlights a slightly unpredictable Parliament". CBC News. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Beaches-East York MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith represents Canada on the Inter-Parliamentary Union". www.insidetoronto.com. Inside Toronto. March 3, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Liberal MP brings government's pro-pot stance to world stage". iPolitics. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  14. 1 2 3 Maloney, Ryan (October 6, 2016). "Nathaniel Erskine-Smith's Animal Cruelty Bill Defeated". Huffington Post Canada. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  15. ↑ Warmington, Joe (September 29, 2016). "Don Cherry throws support behind animal cruelty bill". Toronto Sun. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  16. ↑ Domise, Andray (February 22, 2016). "Legal Weed is Bad for Poor People". Canadaland Commons (Podcast). Canadaland. Event occurs at 19:42. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Waiting game is over! Nate Erskine-Smith & Amy Syminton have a son". East York Chronicle. August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  18. ↑ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Beaches—East York, 30 September 2015
  19. ↑ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates
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