The Ontario Liberal Party tossed out nearly 1,800 memberships ahead of t nomination vote. More than 1,200 of those were declared "invalid" thanks to the party's clunky new email verification system.
And whose supporters got hammered the hardest? Nathaniel Erskine–Smith's.
Here's what the old guard inside the OLP doesn't want you to know: they're terrified of Nate. Not because he's unelectable—quite the opposite. The latest polls show the Ontario Liberals sitting in first place, ahead of the Ford PC's. The party that got crushed to third place under Steven Del Duca is suddenly competitive again.
And Nate Erskine–Smith is the reason.
He's the one drawing crowds of young people who've never given the Liberals a second look. He's the one talking about actually building things—housing, transit, infrastructure—instead of just forming another commission to study the problem. He's the one who looks at the McGuinty/Wynne playbook and says, "That's exactly what we should not do." And the establishment hates him for it.
They spent fifteen years running Ontario on cautious talking points, backroom deals, and a style of governance that pleased no one. They lost to Doug Ford not because Ford was great, but because voters were desperate for anything different.
Now they've got a chance at real renewal, and instead of embracing it, they're purging memberships and telling Zoomers our votes don't count. Think about that. The party's future—if it even has one—depends on young people.
Gen Z is sick of being ignored. We don't trust politicians who talk down to us or ask us to wait our turn. Nate doesn't do that. He shows up. He listens. He wants to build shit. That's why we love him.
But the OLP establishment would rather lose their own way than win Nate's way. So they make it harder for young members to vote. They slap on a two‑step verification that older, connected insiders can navigate but first‑time volunteers can't. Then they shrug and say "duplicates."
Give me a break.
If the Ontario Liberals had any sense, they'd be begging Nate to run for leader tomorrow. With him at the helm, a landslide wouldn't just be possible, it'd be likely. Instead, they're tripping over themselves to make sure that never happens. Because a Liberal party that actually builds things, that listens to kids, that tells the old guard to sit down? That terrifies them more than losing another election.
So here's my message to the good people of Scarborough Southwest: Don't let them get away with it.
On Saturday, show up. Vote for "Nate the Great" to be your next Liberal MPP. He's undoubtedly the best man for the job, not because he refuses to play the losing game. The OLP establishment will keep throwing up roadblocks. Ignore them. This is your nomination, not theirs.
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