Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Officially Quits as Liberal MP

Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith takes questions from reporters as he arrives for a meeting of the Liberal caucus, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 5, 2024. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

Nathaniel Erskine-Smith formally resigned as Liberal MP for Beaches—East York on July 7, ending a decade-long career in the House of Commons and setting in motion the leadup to a federal byelection in the east Toronto riding.

The Liberal Party says it will be holding an open nomination contest on July 18 where Liberals in the riding can select their candidate, noting that eligible voters must have been registered as a Liberal by July 7.

The party’s choice to have an open nomination contest for Beaches—East York stands in contrast to byelections earlier this year in University—Rosedale and Scarborough Southwest in which the party directly appointed the candidates.

Frustrated Provincial Ambitions

Erskine-Smith was first elected to represent Beaches—East York in 2015 and subsequently re-elected in 2019, 2021, and 2025.

He also briefly served as federal minister of Housing, Infrastructure, and Communities after being appointed in December 2024 by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Erskine-Smith said he felt “disrespected” when he was dropped from the position by Prime Minister Mark Carney in May 2025 after serving under five months in the role.

In the 2025 federal election, Erskine-Smith won his seat with 67.7 percent of ballots cast, compared to the second place Conservative candidate Jocelyne Poirier at 23.5 percent.

Erskine-Smith’s decision to leave federal politics comes after unsuccessful attempts to become a member of provincial Parliament at Queen’s Park and to lead the Ontario Liberal Party.

He ran to lead the Ontario Liberals in 2023, reaching the final ballot before narrowly losing to former Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie.

Crombie announced plans to resign after receiving only 57 percent support in a September 2025 leadership review. The review came after a provincial election where the Ontario Liberals came third and Crombie failed to win a seat at Queen’s Park. She formally stepped down from her role as party leader in January 2026, leaving Erskine-Smith the possibility of running again.

Before doing so, he ran to get the nomination for an expected byelection coming up in the provincial riding of Scarborough Southwest, hoping to get a seat at Queen’s Park and bolster his chances of then winning leadership of the party.

However, Erskine-Smith was defeated at the May 9 nomination meeting by business owner Ahsanul Hafiz, who won by only 19 votes on the final ballot.

Erskine-Smith appealed the result saying there had been mistakes made and irregularities that could have impacted the vote. However, his appeal was rejected on May 2 by the Ontario Liberal Party’s arbitration committee, who said they had found no irregularities or improprieties.

With his route to a seat ruled out, Erskine-Smith announced late last month that he would not seek to lead the Ontario Liberals, and he subsequently also announced his departure from federal politics on July 7.

Who’s Running?

Five candidates have entered the race to replace Erskine-Smith as the Liberal candidate so far, namely social worker Summer Nudel, lawyer Claire Seaborn, former Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament Arthur Potts, former manager of Erskine-Smith’s constituency office Tanveer Shahnawaz, and John Tory Jr., whose father used to serve as mayor of Toronto.

For his part, Erskine-Smith has thrown his endorsement behind Shahnawaz, who says his experience working in Erskine-Smith’s office has left him well prepared to be MP for the riding.

Seaborn, meanwhile, has responded with approval to the party’s decision to have an open nomination contest, and says she would be a significant asset for the Liberals in Parliament, while Tory Jr. said his campaign is about improving the economy, making life more affordable, and public safety.

Potts has said the short time period doesn’t give candidates enough time to pitch themselves to Liberals in the riding, and has said his past provincial political experience sets him apart.

Byelections

Under federal law, a byelection must be announced sometime between the 11th and 180th day after the chief electoral office is given notice by the speaker of the House that a seat has been vacated.

This means that the byelection for Beaches—East York will be announced sometime between July 18 and Jan. 3, with the campaign itself required to last between 36 and 50 days.

This means that the earliest possible voting day to select a new MP for Beaches—East York will be Aug. 24 of this year.

Along with Beaches—East York, a number of other federal ridings are also vacant or soon-to-be-vacant.

These include the riding of North Vancouver—Capilano, vacated on June 19 by former Liberal cabinet minister Jonathan Wilkinson to accept a post serving as Canada’s next ambassador to the European Union.

Quebec could have as many as four byelections. Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay said May 28 that he planned to step down from the Bloc caucus to seek election provincially for the Parti Québécois and formally resigned as MP for the riding of Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton on June 19.

The riding of Chicoutimi—Le Fjord became vacant on July 7, when Conservative MP Richard Martel resigned from the House of Commons after Carney announced his appointment to the Senate that day.

Two other Montreal MPs have also said they will vacate their seats, namely NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice, who said in April that he will be leaving to run for Québec solidaire in the provincial election. He has said he will resign when the Quebec election is called but has not specified a date.

Liberal MP Steven Guilbeault also announced on May 27 that he was resigning as MP for Laurier—Sainte-Marie once Parliament rose for the summer, citing disillusionment with the Carney government’s direction on environmental files.

In addition, Tory MP Cathay Wagantall of Saskatchewan said June 17 that she plans to retire from Parliament, listing Aug. 31 as the effective date of resignation for representing her erstwhile riding of Yorkton—Melville.

As of July 10, the Liberals hold a majority with 172 seats in Parliament, with the Conservatives at 139, the Bloc Québécois at 21, the NDP at five, the Green Party at one, a sole independent seat, and four vacant seats.