A Conversation with Nate Erskine-Smith
Chair: Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, Emma Bloomberg Associate Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Welcome Remarks: Thomas Mete, Prime Minister, Harvard College Canadian Club
Nate Erskine-Smith is the Liberal Member of Parliament for Beaches—East York and previously served as Minister of Housing, Infrastructure, and Communities in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first Cabinet, as well as under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. During his time in Cabinet, he focused on removing restrictive policies that hinder homebuilding, advancing a homes first investment second approach to housing, and delivering federal support to double social and community housing across the country.
First elected in 2015 to his Toronto-area riding, and re-elected three times since, Erskine-Smith has helped shape the government’s agenda by strengthening the Canada Workers Benefit, protecting children’s privacy online, and increasing federal funding for pediatric cancer research. His work has earned him recognition as one of Canada’s most thoughtful and outspoken legislators, emerging as a key figure shaping the future of progressive politics within the Liberal Party and across the country.
Justin de Benedictis-Kessner is an Emma Bloomberg Associate Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. His current research focuses on some of the most important policy areas that concern local governments, such as housing, transportation, and economic development. His research also examines how citizens hold elected officials accountable, how representation translates the public's interests into policy, and how policy opinions are formed and swayed.
He currently teaches in the MPP program on politics and ethics, and leads courses on urban politics and policy, including an experiential field lab that partners student teams with cities and towns to work on applied urban policy problems. His work has received the Clarence Stone Emerging Scholar Award and the Norton Long Young Scholar Award from the American Political Science Association.
LOCATION:Bowie Vernon Room (Room K262), CGIS Knafel STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20260217T170000Z DTEND:20260217T183000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR