Nate Erskine-Smith

Nate Erskine-Smith served as the MP for Beaches-East York from 2015-26 and as a Minister in 2025-26. He earned a reputation for principled independence, effective advocacy, and working across party lines. Before politics, he practised law in Toronto and earned degrees from Queen's (BA, JD) and Oxford (BCL).

In Ottawa, Nate co-founded and chaired a parliamentary animal welfare caucus. He also introduced animal protection legislation, sponsored the Jane Goodall Act, and worked on several successful initiatives, including efforts to ban shark finning and cetacean captivity, strengthen laws against animal abuse, ban cosmetic testing on animals and phase out animal toxicity testing.

Nate is now running for city council in Beaches-East York. He believes that public service through politics is the most important way to make a difference, and he will champion affordable housing, better transit, clean energy infrastructure, reliable and responsive city services, healthy school food, and stronger animal protections.

Sessions:

Effective Political Advocacy for Animals Workshop

Welcome Reception - Keynote Speaker