The Ontario Liberal leadership race has its first declared candidate

Nate is first out of the gate.

Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith will become the first official candidate in the Ontario Liberal leadership race when he submits his entry paperwork Tuesday.

In a three-minute video to party members, the federal representative for Beaches-East York said the provincial Grits “need generational and grassroots renewal” to unseat Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives in the 2026 election.

“Our province needs serious leadership to meet the big challenges we face,” said Erskine-Smith, who turns 39 next month.

An MP since 2015, he said the Ontario Liberals should follow the playbook to power used by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is pictured in the video.

“I left law for politics almost 10 years ago now because of that drive to make a difference, faced with a Liberal party in need of generational change and a cynical Conservative government in Ottawa,” he said.

“We built a team, a grassroots organization, and won a competitive nomination and three elections since 2015 — and we’ve made a real difference.”

In an interview Monday, Erskine-Smith said he “thought long and hard” about running provincially in the upcoming Scarborough-Guildwood byelection that will be triggered when MPP Mitzie Hunter resigns Wednesday to run for the Toronto mayoralty.

“But I am incredibly focused on building up the party in 124 ridings,” he said, adding “there are some strong local candidates who want to run” in the byelection Ford could call as early as this month.

Not seeking a seat in the legislature now would free him up to criss-cross the province as leader, rebuilding a party now mired in third place in the legislature and lacking official status despite governing Ontario from 2003 until 2018.

The next Ontario Liberal leader will be announced Dec. 2.

Candidates must pay a $100,000 entry fee plus a $25,000 refundable deposit. Voting will take place Nov. 25-26 using a new one-member, one-vote ranked-ballot system similar to how the Tories elect their leaders.

Erskine-Smith, who has already visited more than 50 ridings and will hold a rally in Scarborough on Tuesday night, will spend the next few months enlisting members to vote.

He added he would “decide over the summer” when to step down as a member of Parliament and noted his constituency assistant, Tanveer Shahnawaz, is keen on running when the federal seat is vacated.

While Erskine-Smith will be the first to officially enter the Liberal leadership race, there are other hopefuls seriously considering bids.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, a former Liberal MP, is thinking about running, as is Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi (Ottawa Centre), a former provincial cabinet minister and Ontario Liberal Party president.

Also pondering runs are rookie MPPs Stephanie Bowman (Don Valley West), Ted Hsu (Kingston and the Islands) and Adil Shamji (Don Valley East).

All six were busily drumming up support at the federal Liberal convention in Ottawa last weekend.

Robert Benzie is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie