If Nate Erskine-Smith has become a political punchline, he's only got himself to blame
Politics can be a blood sport, which is why most politicians learn to roll with the punches.
Not Nate Erskine-Smith, who has become a punchline in the halls of power.
People are always taking shots at politicians. But when they're laughing at you, it hurts.
Erskine-Smith has been the butt of jokes ever since being booted from the federal cabinet this month. To be clear, there is no dishonour in being dropped, but when he complained about feeling 'disrespected,' it became all about him.
'The way it played out doesn't sit right and it's impossible not to feel disrespected,' he posted on social media and in a bloviating blog.
By playing the victim in his own political game, the Beaches—East York MP scored an 'own goal.' Yet he was hardly alone in being bounced from cabinet.
The Liberals elected 170 MPs in last month's election, including many promising new arrivals competing for the two or three dozen spots available in any cabinet. Few are called to serve — and any can be culled at any time.
Even the most deserving ministers serve at the pleasure of the crown. They serve the people, not themselves.
More than a mere blood sport, politics is a team sport. That's why so many Canadians were bemused by his mewling — everyone understands that a soccer or hockey coach has to cut players, because the team needs the right mix of defenders and wingers.
In total, 10 ministers were dropped by Prime Minister
Mark Carney
this time. Several more didn't make it into Carney's short-lived March cabinet.
None griped. All were gracious.
None dissented or felt disrespected. All departed with dignity.
Only Erskine-Smith felt entitled about his title in cabinet.
'I ran again because of the opportunity to make an even bigger difference around the cabinet table and to help fix the housing crisis,' the former housing minister complained bitterly
By his logic, any other Liberal backbenchers who didn't make it into cabinet were equally 'disrespected.' Yet Erskine-Smith never complained about the cruelty of the cut when he cheerfully accepted a ministerial appointment in the dying days of Justin Trudeau's government late last year.
Until then, the Beaches backbencher had made the most of being passed over for cabinet in his first 10 years as an MP. He remade himself into the voice of the Liberal grassroots, a maverick in his own mind.
And yet, when Trudeau ultimately fell out of favour with the party rank and file — after Erskine-Smith had already announced his retirement from politics — he suddenly made his peace with Trudeau. Belatedly offered the ministerial post he'd long coveted, just in time for Christmas last year, Erskine-Smith trampled on the grassroots on his way into the cabinet room, cheerfully reversing his announced retirement.
So why did Carney drop him from cabinet after just a few months on the job? After all, Erskine-Smith insists he was poised to single-handedly solve Canada's housing crisis.
But he has long suffered from the insufferable trait of acting like the smartest man in the room, which can be a career-limiting move if you're outsmarted by a boss who is widely deemed the smartest guy in the room. Also, when Erskine-Smith touts his Oxford education, it may not impress a prime minister who made his mark at Oxford.
Erskine-Smith's liabilities became apparent in 2023, when he took time off from his all-important duties as an MP to run for the Ontario Liberal leadership. After finishing second to Bonnie Crombie — and dissing her along the way — he retreated to Ottawa without making much of a contribution to the provincial election effort, as he'd once promised.
Having burned bridges with both federal and provincial Liberals, will he still try to find cracks in Crombie's leadership in a bid to replace her? It's hard to imagine the Ontario Liberals opting for an outsider without a safe provincial seat, given the perils faced by high-profile party leaders of late.
In any case, Erskine-Smith 'is really hurting right now, so let's leave it at that,' Crombie said in a tone of icy mockery last week after his public self-immolation.
All that said, his legacy after a limited run of less than five months in cabinet suggests he's more about hubris than humility. When his post-cabinet temper tantrum played out poorly, Erskine-Smith did what he does best — blaming everyone else, or at least 'those who only read a headline,' for misinterpreting his musings.
'It was a tweet in a thread and should be read in the context of the thread. Or read in bad faith. Your choice,' the MP lectured his critics on social media.
They say it's never a bad thing when people are talking about you, or taking shots at you, as long as they spell your name correctly. But when they're laughing about you and your choice of words, that's a lot less fun.
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