In the 2010 Ontario municipal election, Nater was elected to the West Perth council as a representative for the Mitchell Ward. During his time on municipal council Nater served as chair of the Environmental Services Committee. In 2014 the committee began a project to build a new water tower in Mitchell.[6]
He did not run for re-election in the subsequent municipal election, as he planned to seek the Conservative nomination for Perth—Wellington, vacated due to the impending retirement of long-serving MP Gary Schellenberger.
On March 23, 2017, Nater made an intervention in the House of Commons on the Question of Privilege raised a day earlier by his Conservative colleague Lisa Raitt. Nater argued there was sufficient grounds for a prima faciequestion of privilege. On April 6, SpeakerGeoff Regan ruled there was. However, during debate on the motion following the ruling the Liberal MP Alexandra Mendès moved a motion to proceed to orders of the day, ending the debate and with it the opportunity to address a violation of Members' rights.[12]
On April 7, 2017, Nater made another intervention asking the Speaker to revive the previous motion. Citing extensively from previous speakers rulings and the rules of parliamentary procedure Nater argued that the Government's motion to move to orders of the day during a debate on a motion of privilege "is an extremely dangerous precedent that denies members their fundamental right to vote" [13]
On September 19, 2017, Nater became a member of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.
On January 28, 2019, Nater introduced a bill to amend the Criminal Code of Canada. Inspired by a criminal incident in Stratford, the intention of the bill was to better protect young people and people with disabilities from sexual exploitation.[16]
2019 election
In the 2019 Canadian federal election Nater was re-elected with 25,622 votes, finishing more than 10,000 votes ahead of the second-placed Liberal candidate.[17]
On September 8, 2020, O'Toole named Nater to be Shadow Minister for Rural Economic Development.[19] During this time Nater was actively critical of the Liberal record on rural internet service.[20]
2021 election
Nater won his second re-election campaign in the 2021 Canadian federal election, again increasing his share of the vote.
44th Canadian Parliament
On November 9, 2021, Nater was named Shadow Minister for Canadian Heritage.[21] During this time Nater was critical of the Liberal Government's Online Streaming Act. Nater was also involved in the Heritage Committee work on the Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal.
Brock, Kathy L.; Burbidge, Matthew P.J.; Nater, John L. (2010). "13: A Resilient State: The Federal Public Service, Challenges, Paradoxes, and a New Vision for the Twenty-First Century". In Dunn, Christopher (ed.). The Handbook of Canadian Public Administration (2nd ed.). Toronto: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19542983-1.
