Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith said it’s “impossible not to feel disrespected” after he was
left out of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet
announcement Tuesday.
“The way it played out doesn’t sit right,” he wrote in a statement posted to X. “But I’m mostly disappointed that my team and I won’t have the chance to build on all we accomplished with only a short runway.”
Erskine-Smith was appointed housing minister in former prime minister
Justin Trudeau’s last cabinet
, which was announced in December 2024. When Carney took over as Liberal leader and prime minister in March, he
kept Erskine-Smith in housing
. But on Tuesday, he was replaced by former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson, and did not receive another portfolio.
Erskine-Smith’s statement drew some criticism. Being in cabinet “is a privilege, not an entitlement,” Sharan Kaur, the former deputy chief of staff for Bill Morneau, reminded the MP in a post on social media platform X.
No one is guaranteed a cabinet post. Running again with that expectation is misguided — and saying it out loud raises real questions about motives. You serve in Cabinet at the pleasure of the Prime Minister. You don’t run to be in cabinet, it is a privilege, not an entitlement. https://t.co/imxmwLzcnR
— Sharan Kaur (@msSharanKaur) May 13, 2025
In January 2024, Erskine-Smith said he planned to leave federal politics and would not run in the next election. But after he was named to Trudeau’s cabinet he said he had decided to run again. In 2023, he ran for the Ontario Liberal leadership but lost to Bonnie Crombie.
Erskine-Smith is known for being an outspoken MP and has even voted against his own party. He said he will be “returning to Parliament with a renewed sense of freedom.”
Read the full text of his statement:
Congratulations to new and old colleagues who were sworn in today. This moment calls for a capable team ready to get to work quickly.
It’s nice to see a number of colleagues receive overdue recognition and I’m hopeful we’ll see a lot accomplished in the coming months.
I ran again because of the opportunity to make an even bigger difference around the cabinet table and to help fix the housing crisis. I’m not back in any role, unfortunately, so it may not surprise you to learn that it’s been a strange day on my end.
It’s impossible not to feel disrespected and the way it played out doesn’t sit right. But I’m mostly disappointed that my team and I won’t have the chance to build on all we accomplished with only a short runway.
Our ambitious housing plan is bigger than one person, of course. I wish the new minister well and hope we’ll see fast action to unleash the market, double down on building community housing, address chronic homelessness, and treat housing as a home first (and investment 2nd).
You never know what the future holds. But for now, I’ll be working hard for my neighbours here in Beaches—East York, restarting the
#uncommonspod
, and returning to Parliament with a renewed sense of freedom.
Thanks to everyone who I’ve had the luck to work with in the housing and infrastructure role. Thanks to everyone who has had my back and reached out with kind words. Thanks to Justin Trudeau for the opportunity to make a bigger difference.
Also I went for a run today and this was my view, so life’s still good.
Also I went for a run today and this was my view, so life’s still good pic.twitter.com/ECQMdJBJ4Z
— Nate Erskine-Smith (@beynate) May 13, 2025
