Outsider disruptors are making their mark in the United States.
Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, recently beat out the billionaire establishment’s pick to become the new mayor of New York, riding a promise of making daily life more affordable.
Fellow New Yorker and congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders drew giant crowds at rallies this year, where their main message was that billionaires and their oligopolies were destroying democracy.
Here in Canada, the self-styled outsiders aren’t as prolific but they do exist, with Beaches-East York Liberal backbencher Nate Erskine-Smith among them. His message is similar: strong action is needed to break the hold that oligopolies have on Canadians.
Erskine-Smith’s 10 years in government have been colourful. As part of the Industry committee, he’s dressed down telecom CEOs, dropped F-bombs in Parliament and critiqued his own party.
He hosts his own podcast, Uncommons, was briefly in cabinet as Housing minister, and nearly became leader of the Ontario Liberal party – a job he’s considering running for again. He joins the Do Not Pass Go podcast to discuss runaway prices on just about everything, plus the giant mess that is Blue Jays playoff tickets.
