Federal Election 2025: Nathaniel Erskine-Smith returned for fourth time as MP for Beaches-East York

By ALAN SHACKLETON

Liberal Nathaniel Erskine-Smith has been re-elected as the MP for Beaches-East York for the fourth straight time.

Erskine-Smith took 67.7 per cent of the votes in the riding in the Monday, April 28, federal election.

In second place with 23.5 per cent of the vote was Conservative Jocelyne Poirier. Third place went to NDP candidate Shannon Devine with 6.9 per cent of the vote.

Other candidates in the riding were Green Party candidate Jack Pennings with 1.3 per cent; followed by Independent Diane Joseph with 0.3 per cent; and Communist Party candidate Elizabeth Rowley with 0.2 per cent; and Marxist-Leninist candidate Steve Rutchinski with 0.1 per cent. Voter turnout in the Beaches-East York riding was 72.12 per cent. The above numbers are from Elections Canada with all 206 polls reporting.

Celebrating his win before an enthusiastic crowd of Liberal supporters at The Stone Lion on Queen Street East, Erskine-Smith thanked his campaign workers for efforts over the past five weeks.

When he spoke to the crowd shortly before 11:30 p.m., it was still not clear whether the Liberals would form Canada’s next government as a minority or a majority.

“I know that we are all glued to the screen and it is way closer than any of us are comfortable with, but it is called in Beaches-East York and I am lucky to be your next Member of Parliament,” he said to cheers.

As of the time of writing this story, the Liberals had 164 seats and the Conservatives 147. A total of 172 seats or more are needed for a majority government.

In his speech, Erskine-Smith also thanked his wife Amy Symington for her support during and before the campaign. “She’s way busier than I am,” he said, letting the crowd know they only had their babysitter booked until 11:30 p.m.

In an interview with Beach Metro Community News after his speech, Erskine-Smith said he had three priorities as he returns to Ottawa as member of the ruling government for the fourth time.

“For me, this election’s been about three things. It’s about making sure we stand up to Donald Trump and protect our national economic interests. Secondly, about protecting and building on our progress, and about ensuring we have strong local representation,” he said.

In December of 2024, Erskine-Smith was named Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities and it was a cabinet position he held until the federal election was called in late March.

He said it was important that Canada keeps building the housing he needs, but would not speculate if he would be returned as a minister in the next Liberal government formed by Prime Minister Mark Carney. In the meantime, he will continue to serve as strong and independent voice in the party whether in cabinet or not.

“I’m going to push my party and government to be the best version of itself,” he said.

Erskine-Smith said during the campaign, the key issue he heard was Canada’s relationship with President Donald Trump and how we would stand up to American threats to our economy and sovereignty.

“The ballot question was who was going to stand up to Donald Trump for our economic interests. I think Canadians overwhelmingly recognized that we need serious leadership and that’s exactly what we’ve got with Prime Minister Carney,” he said.

While the race was close between the Liberals and Conservatives at the national level, Erskine-Smith said the results are a rejection from the majority of Canadians regarding the populist style of Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre.

“Look, if there was a progressive Conservative leader in this campaign, this would have been an even more challenging landscape. We’ve got a Reform Party populist leader there and it was a choice between cartoon slogans and serious leadership,” he said.

Conservative candidate Poirier gathered with her supporters at her campaign office on Woodbine Avenue on Monday night.

The event saw supporters and campaign volunteers and staff feeling hopeful about the results early in the night as they mingled over sliders, sushi and drinks while watching the results.

On a national level, Poirier said she was disappointed with the results indicating another Liberal government would be elected.

“We saw for a very long time that the Conservatives were in the lead. We saw the message really resonating with people across the country. So, I think it’s disappointing because our platform aligned with the issues that people were concerned about,” she said.

Poirier said that positive response to the Conservative platform and its issues held true for the Beaches-East York riding as well. A lot of issues that voters in this riding were concerned about, “aligned very closely with our platform. Affordability and governance from the Liberal Party in the last nine years have been the most pressing issues for this riding,” Poirier said.

She added she heard from a lot of voters who were fed up with Liberals being the government in power since 2015. Poirier said the issue of “frustration with the last nine years from the Liberal government came up more often than not” when she was talking to voters during the campaign.

While she did not win the election, Poirier said, “(There’s) lots of Conservative support across the riding. I really enjoyed connecting with everyone. I really want to be their voice.”

NDP candidate Shannon Devine was joined by her supporters at Local 1794 on Danforth Avenue on election night.

Devine told Beach Metro Community News she wasn’t surprised by the outcome of the local and national races and felt it aligned with what she had expected.

“We’ve been out campaigning hard because we think that, particularly in the case of a Liberal minority, having a strong NDP opposition is important. It’s really important to push the government to do the right thing for people,” she said.

Devine noted that U.S. tariffs had been a major concern among voters in the riding, but the rising cost of living was also top of mind.

“So, when we were out talking to people about building more affordable housing and rent control and putting a cap on groceries, all of those ideas were very appealing to people here,” said Devine.

However, she said a lot of the Liberal vote was generated by people’s fears surrounding President Trump and his threats towards Canada.

“I think a lot of people voted out of fear. They voted liberal out of fear,” said Devine.

She also shared that many voters she talked to said they were reluctant to support the Conservatives due to parallels with American politics. “Pierre Poilievre is being compared to Trump and for good reason in many cases,” said Devine.  “And so people are voting Liberal, and they’re calling that strategic voting, but it’s not. It’s not a good strategy at all.”

• With files by Rhea Lodhiya and Shreejit Shelar.