Bob Rae
Encyclopedia
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC
, OC
, OOnt
, QC
, MP
(born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian
politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre
and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada
.
Rae was a New Democratic Party
(NDP) Member of Parliament
from 1978 to 1982. Then he moved to provincial politics, becoming leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party
from February 7, 1982 to June 22, 1996. He served as the 21st Premier of Ontario
from October 1, 1990 to June 26, 1995, and was the first person to have led a provincial NDP government east of Manitoba
. While in office, he brought forward a number of initiatives that were unpopular with many traditional NDP supporters, such as the Social Contract
. Rae's subsequent disagreement with the leftward direction of the NDP led him to resign his membership and join the Liberals
.
In 2006, he was a candidate for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada
, finishing in third place on the third ballot. He had originally been a Liberal in the 1970s before joining the NDP. Rae returned to the Canadian House of Commons
on March 31, 2008 as a Liberal MP after winning a March 17, 2008 by-election holding the riding that had previously been held by Liberal Bill Graham
. He was re-elected in the 2008 general election
. Rae ran again as a candidate for the party leadership but withdrew on December 12, 2008. He was re-elected in the Toronto Centre riding in the 2011 general election and was named interim leader of the Liberal Party weeks later, replacing Michael Ignatieff.
, Ontario
. His parents were Lois Esther George and Saul
, an eminent Canadian career diplomat who had postings in Washington, Geneva, New York, Mexico and The Hague. Rae's father was of Jewish and Scottish
descent (raised as an Anglican).
Rae's brother John is a Vice-President of Power Corporation and a prominent member of the Liberal Party. He was also an adviser to Jean Chrétien
from 1993 until Chrétien retired in 2003. Rae's younger brother, David, was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1987. Despite a bone marrow transplant from his brother, he died of leukemia
in 1989 at age 32.
Rae's sister, Jennifer, worked for many years for the IMAX
Corporation but has now retired. She dated Pierre Trudeau
for a time in the late 1960s.
Upon his marriage to Arlene, Rae agreed to raise his children in his wife's Jewish faith, though he himself is an Anglican.
Rae is not related to Kyle Rae
, the former Toronto City Council
lor for a ward within Bob Rae's current federal riding.
in Ottawa, Horace Mann Public School and Gordon Junior High School in Washington, D.C.
, and the International School of Geneva
, Switzerland. His first job was a paper route delivering the Evening Star
newspaper, which he later described as "one of the worst newspapers in the history of modern journalism". His customers included Richard Nixon
and Estes Kefauver
. Rae later joked that Kefauver gave him a $20 tip one Christmas
, whereas Pat Nixon
only gave him a quarter and made him more sympathetic to Democrats
from that moment.
He graduated with honours from University College
, University of Toronto
, where he also later received his law degree. Michael Ignatieff
, who later became Rae's rival for the Liberal Party leadership, was his roommate for a time. He first became involved in politics by volunteering on Trudeau's 1968 Liberal leadership campaign, and later worked on Liberal Charles Caccia
's campaign in the 1968 federal election
. Rae and Caccia have remained personal friends through their political careers. During his final year as an undergraduate, Rae was a student representative on the Bissell Commission on University Government.
As a result of his strong student record, Rae was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship
to the University of Oxford
, where he studied at Balliol College, Oxford
under Isaiah Berlin
. His Bachelor's thesis criticized the cultural imperialism
of early Fabian socialists in the United Kingdom
, such as Sidney and Beatrice Webb
. During his period in Britain he became involved with social work, helping squatters find rental accommodation in London. He attributes the experience with helping him develop a deepened commitment to social justice and, on his return to Canada in 1974 Rae joined the social democratic
NDP. He worked in labour law
during the mid-1970s.
in a 1978 by-election
, defeating Progressive Conservative
Tom Clifford
by 420 votes in the Toronto
riding
of Broadview
. Rae won the NDP nomination over former MP John Paul Harney
and activist Kay Macpherson.
He was re-elected in the new riding of Broadview—Greenwood in the 1979 federal election
, and gained national prominence as the NDP's finance critic. In December 1979, Rae attached a rider
to a budget bill proposed by the government of Joe Clark
, declaring that "this House has lost confidence
in the government." It was this motion's passage that toppled Clark's government after only eight months.
Rae was elected to parliament for a third time in the 1980 federal election
, and married Arlene Perly days later. In caucus, he sided with party leader Ed Broadbent
in supporting patriation of the Canadian Constitution with a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He also articulated his party's policy on the Canadian Bank Act, and criticized the Bank of Canada
's high interest rate policy.
was suffering from internal disunity under the leadership of Michael Cassidy
. Cassidy resigned as leader after a poor performance in the 1981 provincial election
, and a movement began to draft Rae as his replacement. Rae initially declined a request from a provincial delegation led by Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Dave Cooke
, but reconsidered after further entreaties from former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis
and many others.
Eleven of the party's 21 MPPs endorsed his candidacy, as did much of the labour movement. Rae's supporters in caucus were Marion Bryden
, Brian Charlton
, Dave Cooke
, Odoardo Di Santo
, Tony Grande
, Donald C. MacDonald
, Robert Mackenzie, Elie Martel
, Ed Philip
, George Samis
and Mel Swart
. He was the most centrist candidate in the contest, and easily defeated Richard Johnston
and Jim Foulds
at a leadership convention in early 1982.
When Rae won the NDP leadership, the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party had governed Ontario since 1943 and was widely regarded as unbeatable. Rae was strongly critical of the Bill Davis
government's approach to social issues, and used his acceptance speech to describe the PC Party's Ontario as "Toryland", "essentially a country club in which women and people of colour were not welcome". His comments were criticized by some in the media, though Rae himself would later write that his words seemed "particularly apt" in retrospect and "certainly aroused an angry response which often means a target has been hit".
to enter the Ontario legislature
. Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) Jim Renwick
, Marion Bryden
and Tony Grande
all declined to relinquish their seats, before former party leader Donald C. MacDonald
agreed to stand down in the York South constituency. Rae defeated Liberal
candidate John Nunziata
, a York
councillor in a by-election on November 4, 1982. Counting the leadership contest, this was his fifth election in just over four years.
The opposition Liberals were led by the inexperienced David Peterson
. Many senior NDP strategists believed their party could surpass the Liberals for second place, and Rae and Peterson became frequent rivals for media attention and public support between 1982 and 1985. The NDP took two seats from the Liberals in late 1984 by-elections, and polling by Decima Research
from this period put them slightly ahead of the Liberals, although still well behind the PCs.
. They won 25 seats out of 125, only a modest improvement from their 1981 showing. The Progressive Conservatives lost support after Davis retired and right-wing candidate Frank Miller
was chosen as their new leader. However, it was the Liberals rather than the NDP who were able to reposition themselves in the political centre and reap the benefits of this change.
Rae nonetheless played a pivotal role in bringing the Progressive Conservative Party's 42-year dynasty to an end. The 1985 election resulted in a minority parliament, in which the Tories held four more seats than David Peterson's Liberals, but were eleven seats short of a majority. Rae entered into negotiations with both Premier Miller and Peterson, the latter begun by a phone call from Rae to Peterson shortly after election day. Rae and Peterson signed a "Liberal-NDP Accord" in which the NDP agreed to support a Liberal government in office for two years. The Liberals, in turn, agreed to implement some policies favoured by the NDP. Rae had personally supported a full coalition, but did not strongly argue this case with other members of his party. Peterson later indicated that he would not have accepted a coalition in any event.
The Progressive Conservatives were defeated in a no-confidence motion on June 18, 1985, and Lieutenant-Governor John Black Aird
asked Peterson to form a new government. Rae himself moved the motion of non-confidence, as he had done in the defeat of Joe Clark's government six years earlier. With support from Rae, Peterson's government implemented socially progressive legislation on matters such as pay equity, brought an end to extra-billing by doctors, and established campaign spending limits. Rae often criticized Peterson's approach to specific issues, but never moved to bring down the government.
Rae advocated pension reform in early 1986, following revelations that some corporate leaders in Ontario had been given permission to withdraw money from their employees' pension funds. He was especially critical of Conrad Black
, who then held a controlling interest in Dominion Stores Ltd., for withdrawing $62 million at a time when many laid off company workers were unable to receive severance pay. During a legislative debate, Rae described Black as "that most symbolic representative of bloated capitalism at its worst". The Liberal government declined to act on the matter. Later in the same year, Rae argued that the Peterson government should reform the Ontario Human Rights Code to include provisions for group defamation and systematic discrimination.
Some members of the NDP disapproved of the party's accord with the Liberals. Party activist Ian Orenstein
challenged Rae for the provincial leadership in 1986 in a symbolic protest against the party's centrist tilt. Rae won without difficulty.
, called after the conclusion of the Liberal-NDP accord. The NDP was reduced to nineteen seats and Rae was nearly defeated in his own riding, defeating high-profile Liberal challenger Alan Tonks
by only 333 votes. The Progressive Conservatives under Larry Grossman
suffered an even more serious defeat, falling to only sixteen seats. As a result, Rae became Leader of the Opposition
once the legislature resumed.
In September 1989, Rae took part in a highly-publicized protest in support of native land claims in the middle of the Temagami Forest in Northern Ontario
. Following discussions with Chief Gary Potts, Rae agreed to participate in a road sit-in to protect a strand of old pine, a key aspect of the native claim. After the protest, Rae was escorted to a police wagon by members of the Ontario Provincial Police
and driven to the nearby town of Elk Lake. He was not charged with an offense.
There was considerable speculation that Rae would seek the federal NDP leadership in 1989, after the resignation of Ed Broadbent
. High-profile party members such as former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis, Allan Blakeney
and Roy Romanow
of Saskatchewan
, Gary Doer
of Manitoba
and Alexa McDonough
of Nova Scotia
all encouraged him to run, as did several representatives of organized labour. Expecting Rae to resign, Bud Wildman
, Ruth Grier
and Richard Johnston began preparing campaigns to succeed him as leader of the Ontario NDP. On October 5, 1989, however, Rae announced that he would not return to federal politics and would remain as provincial leader. Several of Rae's associates, including Arlene Perly Rae, declared their support for Howard McCurdy
, and later moved to Audrey McLaughlin
after McCurdy was dropped from the ballot at the leadership convention. Rae declined to endorse a candidate.
Rae was an international observer for Lithuania
's first multi-party elections in early 1990. A lifelong opponent of communism
, he later wrote that he was impressed by the spirit of the opposition Sajudis
party, which won the election. He was also very critical of the Kremlin
's harsh response to the opposition's victory.
for 1990
. The NDP entered the campaign with low expectations, as the Liberals still held a significant lead in opinion polls and all signs indicated that they would win another majority government. Rae later acknowledged that he did not expect to win the election, and planned to leave electoral politics at some point in the next sitting of the legislature. A number of prominent MPPs, including Richard Johnston
, Marion Bryden
and David Reville
, chose not to seek re-election. Floyd Laughren
was also planning to retire, but had not finalized his plans when Peterson dropped the writ.
Contrary to expectations, the Liberal Party's support base declined significantly in mid-campaign. The snap election was interpreted by many voters as a sign of arrogance, while lingering effects from an earlier scandal involving Liberal fundraiser Patti Starr
undermined public confidence in the government. Also, while Peterson and Rae both supported the Meech Lake Accord
for constitutional reform, which became unpopular in Ontario, Peterson's prominent role in drafting the accord proved a particular liability. There were also signs of an economic downturn by this time and some believed that Peterson had called the snap election to avoid its full impact. The Progressive Conservatives were led by the inexperienced Mike Harris
, who ran a narrow campaign focused on tax issues and was unable to capitalize on the Liberal slide. As such, Rae's NDP was the primary beneficiary. Rae himself was more confident than in the 1985 and 1987 campaigns, and took a more aggressive stance against the Peterson government. A poll taken late in the campaign showed the NDP holding a slight lead over the Liberals.
The election results were nonetheless a surprise to political observers across the province, even to longtime NDP supporters. The NDP was elected to a strong majority government with 74 seats. The popular vote was very close, with the NDP outpolling the Liberals 37% to 34%. Several ridings were won by narrow margins. However, the NDP managed to take many seats from the Liberals in the Greater Toronto Area
, and also did better than ever before (or in some cases, since) in many other cities and rural areas. Due to the nature of the first-past-the-post electoral system, which ignores the popular vote and only awards power based on the number of ridings won, this decimated the Liberal caucus. The Liberals lost 59 seats, the worst defeat in their history and the second-worst defeat for a governing party in Ontario. The NDP even managed to unseat Peterson in his own riding.
He was very popular for his first six months as Premier, with a poll from March 1991 showing the NDP at 52% support. The federal NDP also received 56% support in Ontario in a January 1991 poll.
The government was unable to sustain its popularity, however, and by late 1992 had fallen to third place in public opinion polls. The party's popularity continued to ebb throughout 1993, followed by only a modest recovery in the next two years. This, among other factors, partially contributed to a significant decline in support for the federal NDP.
There are many reasons for the Rae government's loss of popularity between 1991 and 1993. The NDP had never governed Ontario before, and Ontario was experiencing its worst recession
since the Great Depression
. The government backtracked on several campaign promises, most notably the introduction of public auto insurance, which caused disagreements among the party and supporters, especially left-wingers such as cabinet ministers Howard Hampton
and Shelley Martel
. A number of scandals in cabinet and caucus also cut into the government's popularity.
In the 1993 federal election
, the NDP fell to a historic low of 6% support in Ontario. All 10 New Democrat MPs from Ontario lost their seats to Liberal challengers as the Liberals won all but one seat in the province. Besides many NDP supporters nationwide voting Liberal to ensure that the Conservatives would be defeated (to avoid the vote-splitting of the 1988 election), the Rae government's unpopularity was a major factor in the federal NDP's losses. On the day after the election, defeated MP Steven Langdon
called on Rae to resign. Langdon had openly campaigned against Rae's austerity measures. Although he lost by 13,000 votes to the Liberal candidate, he received a higher percentage of votes than any other NDP candidate in the province.
Notwithstanding its setbacks, the Rae government achieved some positive accomplishments during its time in office. It saved many jobs in northern Ontario through its bailout of Algoma Steel
, and negotiated a similar contract for workers in Kapuskasing. Other popular initiatives included the TTC Eglinton West subway line
in Toronto (even though the official transit plan only recommended a busway for current needs), support for public housing, and the Jobs Ontario job creation program
. Rae's decision to approve casino
gambling for the province was also opposed by many in the party but it provided a steady source of revenue.
Michael Wilson
was shifting the federal debt to the provinces.
The Rae government's first budget, introduced in 1991, increased social spending to mitigate the economic slowdown and projected a record deficit of $9.1 billion. Finance Minister Floyd Laughren
argued that Ontario made a decision to target the effects of the recession rather than the deficit, and said that the budget would create or protect 70,000 jobs. It targeted more money to social assistance, social housing and child benefits, and raised taxes for high-income earners while lowering rates for 700,000 low-income Ontarians.
The government changed its economic focus after 1991, and implemented budget cutbacks to control the province's mounting deficit. His government also brought in the Social Contract
, austerity legislation which reopened collective bargaining agreements with the province's public sector unions. This legislation imposed a wage freeze and introduced what became known as "Rae days", giving civil servants (including teachers, doctors, nurses, etc.) ten days off without pay per year. These cutbacks led to a falling-out with both the public sector unions, most notably Ontario Public Service Employees Union
(OPSEU), and the Canadian Auto Workers
(CAW) and its leader Buzz Hargrove
. Sid Ryan
, Ontario President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees
, referred to the Social Contract as the worst labour legislation he had ever seen.
This breach between the NDP and the labour movement
struck at the party's foundations. The NDP was founded as an alliance between the old Cooperative Commonwealth Federation and the labour movement, and Rae's policy decisions alienated many traditional NDP voters. Thousands of members resigned from the party, and several unions turned against the NDP and vowed to defeat the government in the next election. The Rae government later attempted to regain labour support by passing Bill 40, a measure which (among other things) introduced anti-scab provisions to the province. This was not enough to bridge the gap with organized labour, however, and the party was unable to regain significant union support.
in the 1987 and 1990 campaigns. After assuming office, Rae appointed Peter Kormos
, one of the most vocal proponents of public insurance, as the minister responsible for bringing forward the policy. With the onset of the recession, however, both business and labour groups expressed concern about layoffs and lost revenues. The government backtracked from the policy in 1991. Kormos, who had already been dropped from cabinet, became Rae's most vocal critic in the NDP caucus.
also withdrew their support.
The Rae government established an employment equity commission in 1991, and two years later introduced affirmative action
to improve the numbers of women, non-whites, aboriginals and disabled persons working in the public sector. This policy was controversial, and it cost the NDP support among its unionized working-class base of support.
In November 1990, the Rae government announced that it would restrict most rent increases to 4.6% for the present year and 5.4% for 1991. The provisions for 1990 were made retroactive. Tenants' groups supported these changes, while landlord representatives were generally opposed. Dave Cooke
, the minister responsible for implementing the policy, later announced that he would work to factor in the costs of legitimate building renovations.
When campaigning in 1990, Rae promised that he would eliminate food bank
s through anti-poverty initiatives. After taking office, however, his government committed a significant sum of money to support Ontario's existing food banks. Gerard Kennedy
, leader of the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto, criticized Rae for not targeting the money toward affordable housing and welfare reforms. In April 1991, Community and Social Services minister Zanana Akande
announced that food banks would have to remain open in light of changed economic circumstances. As the recession grew worse, they became an established feature of Ontario life.
Rae increased the basic social assistance allowance by 7% in 1991, and increased the maximum payment for shelter allowances by 10%.
gain reserve status, and called for self-government on the Akwesasne Indian Reserve
, in part to help the reserve leaders combat smuggling. Rae also pushed for native rights to be included in future constitutional reforms.
.
as a distinct society, and called for aboriginal and women's rights to be entrenched in the Canadian Constitution. Rae also supported the creation of a "social charter", to establish national standards for social programs such as medicare.
Early in his term, Rae indicated that his government would continue a long-standing development freeze in Toronto's Harbourfront area, to ensure the survival of cultural programs in the area.
Rae was initially one of the most prominent opponents of the North American Free Trade Agreement
in Canada. During a meeting with Mexican
President
Carlos Salinas de Gortari in 1991, he argued that any proposed North American free trade zone would have to incorporate common environmental and labour standards.
's successful bid to chair the Metro Toronto Police Services Board
in early 1991, over the opposition of several police officers. Rae later introduced policies requiring Ontario police services to hire more women, disabled people, native Canadians and members of visible minority groups.
by the Supreme Court of Ontario, meaning that many stores were allowed to open legally on Sundays
for the first time. Rae announced that his government planned to introduce legislation for a "common pause day" across Ontario, "to help strengthen family and community life while protecting small business and the rights of workers". In practice, this initiative would have required many retail establishments to close on Sundays, with exemptions for religious minority communities. The province also appealed the court ruling to a higher court, the Ontario Court of Appeal
, which restored the previous status quo.
However, many retail owners as well as members of the general public preferred Sunday shopping to be legal,
and in 1992 the Rae government yielded to the pressure and reversed its position, amending the Retail Business Holidays Act so that only statutory holidays, and not Sundays, would be common pause days.
and Monique Bégin
- which delivered its report and recommendations: "For the Love of Learning" in January 1995. Among the reports' more prominent recommendations were:
- the creation of a common curriculum for Ontario schools
- the equalization of funding per pupil
- the elimination of grade 13
- the creation of a College of Teachers (recommendation #58)
- the implementation of uniform testing of students at various grade levels.
for that year's provincial election
it was obvious that the NDP would not be re-elected.
The official opposition Liberals were expected to be the primary benefactors of the NDP's unpopularity, having recovered from their severe defeat of five years earlier, and leading in opinion polls since 1992. However, several unpopular policy reversals and mistakes by Liberal leader Lyn McLeod
allowed Mike Harris
and the Tories to benefit from the swing in support away from the NDP. During the leaders' debates, while Rae and McLeod traded barbs, Harris used his camera time to speak directly to the camera about the PC's platform. Several working-class ridings which had long voted NDP became disgruntled with the party due to the Social Contract and affirmative action, so they were attracted by Harris' populism and shifted to the Tories. While the NDP polled considerably better in northern Ontario than it did in 1990, it lost much of its support in rest of the province, especially the 905 region where they had won many seats five years earlier. In the end the Tories shot from third place to a landslide majority government, sweeping the NDP from power. The Liberals lost six seats, but retained their status as the official opposition, while the NDP fell to only seventeen seats and third place in the Legislative Assembly.
Rae himself was reelected in his own riding by over 3,000 votes. However, on February 29, 1996; he resigned as NDP leader and MPP for York South and moved to positions in law, academia and the private sector. He was eventually succeeded as party leader by Howard Hampton
, who was formerly Natural Resources Minister in Rae's cabinet and a longtime left-wing rival. Liberal Gerard Kennedy
succeeded Rae as MPP for York South.
. There was some speculation that Prime Minister
Jean Chrétien would have him appointed Governor-General in 1999, but he was passed over in favour of Adrienne Clarkson
. There was further speculation that Rae would return to the federal Liberals and run under their banner in the 2000 election
, though nothing came of this at the time.
Rae was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
in 2000, and in 2004 he was awarded the Order of Ontario
. He was appointed the sixth chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University
on July 2, 2003, and was installed at that school's fall convocation
in October. Rae also became a partner at Goodmans LLP
, a Toronto
-based corporate law firm, an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto
, and a Senior Fellow of Massey College
. He has written four books: From Protest to Power: Personal Reflections on a Life in Politics (1996), Three Questions: Prosperity and the Public Good (1998), Canada in the Balance (2006), and Exporting Democracy: The Risks and Rewards of Pursuing a Good Idea (2010). He was the national spokesperson for the Leukemia Research Foundation.
Rae helped the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
restructure following an extended strike by its musicians at the beginning of the 1999–2000 season.
Rae returned to active politics on April 16, 2002, two days after Mike Harris
announced his resignation as premier, with an opinion piece in the National Post
newspaper. In an article entitled, "Parting Company with the NDP", Rae strongly criticized what he perceived as a bias against Israel
in the federal party, and also criticized the NDP for rejecting Tony Blair
's Third Way
socialism and for refusing to accept globalization
and open markets. He suggested that the party's economic policies were insufficient for the 21st century, and that the party as a whole was no longer "worthy of support".
The Ontario NDP has distanced itself from Rae's policies under Hampton. During the 2003 provincial election
, Hampton argued that Rae was wrong to reverse the NDP's commitment to public auto insurance. The party's relations with the labour movement have not completely healed, although the situation has improved since 1993. Relations with the CAW remain especially fraught, and memories of the social contract have hurt the NDP's credibility with a new generation of public sector workers, despite the party's efforts to distance itself from the measure. Nonetheless, the Ontario NDP has never come close to the popularity it enjoyed in the early 1990s, and is still in third place in the Legislative Assembly, losing official party status
in the 2003 election.
Rae worked on the Red Cross tainted blood issue and also worked towards a resolution of the fishing conflict in Burnt Church, New Brunswick.
In 2005, Rae wrote a report for the Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty
on post-secondary education, commonly referred to as the Rae Report
. His report called for increased government funding to colleges and universities, and enhanced student aid especially for low-income students. The report also suggested that individual institutions ought to be able to determine what rate of tuition fees to charge, free from government controls, which generated controversy. Student groups including the Canadian Federation of Students
have objected, noting the significant recent increases in tuition fees in Ontario under the government of Mike Harris
, and the 57 per cent increase in tuition fees during Rae's own tenure as premier. Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton
also criticized the report. Rae defended his report, arguing that low income non-university individuals would not benefit from a tuition freeze/lowering, as well as being forced to bear the tax burden needed to enact it.
Rae has also become involved with international issues in recent years. In 2002 and 2003, as chair of the Forum of Federations he helped oversee constitutional discussions between the government of Sri Lanka
and Tamil Tiger rebels. On April 26, 2005, he was appointed to advise Deputy Prime Minister
Anne McLellan
on whether or not there should be a government inquiry into the 1985 Air India
disaster. On November 23, 2005, Rae recommended further inquiry into the investigation and prosecution.
In July 2005, The Globe and Mail
and the National Post
both reported that Rae was again being considered for appointment to the position of Governor General. However, Rae was passed over again, this time in favour of Michaëlle Jean
.
In a July 2005 interview with Michael Valpy
, Rae indicated that he was still committed to public life and public service. Valpy's feature on Rae included a comment by Arlene Perly Rae that he could return to politics if there was a national unity
crisis.
On November 23, 2005, Rae presented his recommendations that there should be a formal but focused inquiry into the Air India disaster. Two days later, Deputy Prime Minister
Anne McLellan
announced Rae's appointment to conduct a limited inquiry into Air India under a government order-in-council
. Rae produced a comprehensive report outlining the key issues that could be addressed, leaving Air India Victims' families spokeswoman Lata Pada
"encouraged that demands for answers will be addressed".
On August 24, 2005, the Toronto Star
reported that Rae was under "mounting pressure" to run for the federal Liberals in the 2006 general election
. Though it was unclear how long the Air India inquiry was to last, Rae's appointment precluded any possibility of his running as a candidate in the January 23 election. A poll by SES Research suggested that Rae was tied for second place behind Frank McKenna
as a prospective candidate to lead the federal Liberals. McKenna decided afterwards not to contest the leadership.
The new government of Stephen Harper
appointed a judge to handle the Air India inquiry in March 2006 thus releasing Rae from his previous commitment and freeing him for a possible run for the Liberal Party leadership.
In a speech to the Canadian Club of Winnipeg
on March 13, 2006, Rae expressed his interest in uniting the 'progressive' forces of Canada
in order to regain a majority government in the Canadian House of Commons
. "There's a progressive record that's shared by a majority of Canadians, but so far, we have not succeeded in becoming a majority in the House of Commons, so we must think a bit about how that can happen."
. His candidacy for the federal party leadership was supported by Greg Sorbara
and George Smitherman
, former Chrétien aides Eddie Goldenberg
and Rae's brother John, as well as former top Martin advisor John Webster and others associated with the Martin camp. He announced his candidacy on April 24, 2006. At his campaign launch he responded to his critics by saying "I made mistakes before I was in politics, I made mistakes when I was in politics, I made mistakes as premier... I can only tell you I have learned from those mistakes and I am the wiser for them.
On May 12, 2006, venerable Trudeau
era cabinet minister Allan MacEachen
backed Rae's leadership bid becoming honorary campaign chair. On June 16, former Ontario Liberal Party leader and provincial treasurer Robert Nixon
, who sat as leader of the opposition to Rae's Ontario government for a time, endorsed Rae. He was also endorsed by MPs Irwin Cotler
, Ujjal Dosanjh
, Lawrence MacAulay
, Diane Marleau
and Brian Murphy
, as well as several Senators. Rival candidate Maurizio Bevilacqua
withdrew from the contest on August 14 to endorse Rae, and Carolyn Bennett
did the same on September 15, followed by Hedy Fry
on September 25 and John Godfrey
on October 20.
On the night of December 1 at the Convention, Rae spoke freely without notes rather than make a formal speech. Rival candidate Joe Volpe
announced his support for Rae after the speeches were concluded. On the morning of December 2, after finishing second on the first ballot, rival candidate Scott Brison
, moved to Rae and yet another rival candidate, Ken Dryden
, moved to him after the second ballot. However, Rae lost his bid for the leadership in the third round of Convention balloting, placing third behind both Michael Ignatieff
and Stéphane Dion
, who had leapfrogged into first after receiving the support of Gerard Kennedy
. Rae then freed his delegates and did not indicate whom he supported on the final ballot; Dion won the leadership.
Despite the loss of the Liberal leadership, Rae has indicated that he would like to run for a federal seat in the House of Commons in the next federal election. On March 7, 2007, Rae announced that he would seek the Liberal nomination in Toronto Centre
. On March 26, 2007, he won the party's nomination, defeating Toronto lawyer and human rights
advocate Meredith Cartwright with 532 votes to her 267.
Several days following his defeat at the leadership convention it was reported that Rae's wife, Arlene Perly Rae
was approached by a delegate who did not know who she was, and who told her that she should not vote for Rae because his wife is Jewish. A flyer was also sent electronically to convention delegates, stating that Rae's wife was a vice-president of the Canadian Jewish Congress
and that he was a supporter of Israeli apartheid. The Canadian Press reported that the flyer was produced by Ron Saba, the editor of a small Montreal journal. Newly-elected Liberal leader Stéphane Dion issued a press release condemning the "hateful comments" made against Rae and his wife, saying that they are "reprehensible and will not be tolerated within the Liberal Party of Canada", adding that "there is no room for abhorrent comments such as these within our Party".
Rae was named co-chair of the Liberals' platform development committee, with Scott Brison
. This was part of Dion's strategy to reunite the party by appointing his rivals for the leadership to key posts in the party.
, who was dropped due to disagreements with the party on social and urban issues. Rae had denounced the Tories' decision to drop Warner, calling it a "national disgrace."
Rae returned to Parliament on March 31, 2008 after a 25-year absence. He was immediately promoted to the Liberal shadow cabinet, and served as Foreign Affairs critic (shadow foreign minister). In that role he publicly supported Iraq War resisters seeking asylum in Canada before and during the 2008 election campaign. He was re-elected to his Commons' seat in the fall 2008 federal election. When Dion announced that he would resign the leadership in May 2009 after the party's poor results, Rae became a candidate in the ensuing Liberal leadership election.
Rae took part in negotiations for the Liberals to form a coalition with the NDP, with support from the Bloc Québécois. They planned to pass a motion of non-confidence in the Conservative government, not unlike what Rae had done in 1979 and 1985. After Prime Minister Harper convinced the Governor General to prorogue parliament on December 4, 2008, and with Dion pressured to resign immediately as party leader, Rae took on the role of coalition spokesman.
Rae found it more difficult to garner support than he had in the last leadership contest, with his 2006 campaign co-chair now supporting Ignatieff. As it was obvious that Ignatieff had lined up enough support to become the party's leader, Rae withdrew on December 9, 2008. He has since criticized Ignatieff's decision to withdraw from the coalition with the NDP.
He served as Foreign Affairs critic in the shadow cabinet
s of both Dion and Ignatieff.
In the aftermath of the 2011 federal election in which the Liberals were reduced to third place behind the NDP, Rae speculated on national television about the possibility of future co-operation between the two parties. Following Ignatieff's announcement that he would resigning as leader, Rae was touted as a possible successor. However, his advocacy of a possible Liberal-NDP merger caused consternation among some Liberals. Former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien reportedly called senior Liberals urging Rae's selection as interim leader for a two-year term. However, the Liberal National Board has announced that the interim leader position could only be held by an individual who pledged not to seek the permanent leadership and not to seek to change the party or merge it with another party during his tenure. On May 19, 2011, Rae declared that he would not be running for leadership for the Liberal Party, but would instead seek the interim leader
ship position. He assumed the interim leadership position on May 25, 2011.
|-
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="2"|Liberal
hold
|align="right"|Swing
|align="right"| +8.5%
|align="right"|
, Colombo, Sri Lanka
on grounds that he was "a threat to national security and sympathetic to the Tamil Tigers rebel group". Rae responded that "Sri Lanka is afraid of dialogue, afraid of discussion, afraid of engagement...If this is how they treat me, imagine how they treat people who can't speak out." Rae has described Sri Lanka as 'a very dangerous place to be a journalist. "It's a very dangerous place to be any kind of Tamil right now and this is nuts."
s from educational institutions around the world.
Queen's University
in Kingston, Ontario
(LL.D) on May 25, 2006 McMaster University
in Hamilton, Ontario
(LL.D) on June 8, 2006
Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...
, OC
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, OOnt
Order of Ontario
The Order of Ontario is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to...
, QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
, MP
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
(born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre
Toronto Centre
Toronto Centre is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1872 to 1925, and since 1935, under the names Centre Toronto , Toronto Centre , Rosedale and Toronto Centre—Rosedale .Toronto Centre covers the heart of...
and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
.
Rae was a New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
(NDP) Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
from 1978 to 1982. Then he moved to provincial politics, becoming leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party
Ontario New Democratic Party
The Ontario New Democratic Party or , formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its...
from February 7, 1982 to June 22, 1996. He served as the 21st Premier of Ontario
Premier of Ontario
The Premier of Ontario is the first Minister of the Crown for the Canadian province of Ontario. The Premier is appointed as the province's head of government by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and presides over the Executive council, or Cabinet. The Executive Council Act The Premier of Ontario...
from October 1, 1990 to June 26, 1995, and was the first person to have led a provincial NDP government east of Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
. While in office, he brought forward a number of initiatives that were unpopular with many traditional NDP supporters, such as the Social Contract
Social Contract (Ontario)
The Social Contract refers to a 1993 initiative of the provincial Ontario New Democratic Party government of Bob Rae to impose austerity measures on civil service...
. Rae's subsequent disagreement with the leftward direction of the NDP led him to resign his membership and join the Liberals
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
.
In 2006, he was a candidate for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
, finishing in third place on the third ballot. He had originally been a Liberal in the 1970s before joining the NDP. Rae returned to the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
on March 31, 2008 as a Liberal MP after winning a March 17, 2008 by-election holding the riding that had previously been held by Liberal Bill Graham
Bill Graham
William Carvel "Bill" Graham, PC QC is a former Canadian politician, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defence, and Leader of the Opposition and interim Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.-Personal life:...
. He was re-elected in the 2008 general election
Canadian federal election, 2008
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
. Rae ran again as a candidate for the party leadership but withdrew on December 12, 2008. He was re-elected in the Toronto Centre riding in the 2011 general election and was named interim leader of the Liberal Party weeks later, replacing Michael Ignatieff.
Family
Rae was born in OttawaOttawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. His parents were Lois Esther George and Saul
Saul Rae
Saul Forbes Rae was a Canadian diplomat during the Pearsonian era of Canadian foreign policy.Rae's father was born Goodman Cohen in Palanga, Lithuania. The Cohen family had moved to Scotland in the pogrom of the 1890s, and there Goodman met Helen McRae, the daughter of a draughtsman in the...
, an eminent Canadian career diplomat who had postings in Washington, Geneva, New York, Mexico and The Hague. Rae's father was of Jewish and Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
descent (raised as an Anglican).
Rae's brother John is a Vice-President of Power Corporation and a prominent member of the Liberal Party. He was also an adviser to Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
from 1993 until Chrétien retired in 2003. Rae's younger brother, David, was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1987. Despite a bone marrow transplant from his brother, he died of leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
in 1989 at age 32.
Rae's sister, Jennifer, worked for many years for the IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
Corporation but has now retired. She dated Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
for a time in the late 1960s.
Upon his marriage to Arlene, Rae agreed to raise his children in his wife's Jewish faith, though he himself is an Anglican.
Rae is not related to Kyle Rae
Kyle Rae
Kyle Rae is a former Canadian politician. He was a city councillor for Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale in Toronto, Ontario from 1991 to 2010. Rae is now a self-described consultant.-Politics:...
, the former Toronto City Council
Toronto City Council
The Toronto City Council is the governing body of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors....
lor for a ward within Bob Rae's current federal riding.
Early career
Rae attended Crichton Street Public SchoolCrichton Street Public School
Crichton Street Public School was an elementary school in the New Edinburgh neighbourhood of Ottawa, Canada.The first school in the village of New Edinburgh opened in 1838. The school moved to Crichton Street around 1875. In 1887, when New Edinburgh was annexed to Ottawa, this two-room school...
in Ottawa, Horace Mann Public School and Gordon Junior High School in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and the International School of Geneva
International School of Geneva
The International School of Geneva , also known as Ecolint, is a private international school based in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the oldest currently operating International School in the world...
, Switzerland. His first job was a paper route delivering the Evening Star
Washington Star
The Washington Star, previously known as the Washington Star-News and the Washington Evening Star, was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C. between 1852 and 1981. For most of that time, it was the city's newspaper of record, and the longtime home to columnist Mary McGrory and...
newspaper, which he later described as "one of the worst newspapers in the history of modern journalism". His customers included Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
and Estes Kefauver
Estes Kefauver
Carey Estes Kefauver July 26, 1903 – August 10, 1963) was an American politician from Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S...
. Rae later joked that Kefauver gave him a $20 tip one Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
, whereas Pat Nixon
Pat Nixon
Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan Nixon was the wife of Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, and was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974. She was commonly known as Patricia or Pat Nixon.Born in Nevada, Pat Ryan grew up in Los Angeles, California...
only gave him a quarter and made him more sympathetic to Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
from that moment.
He graduated with honours from University College
University College, University of Toronto
University College is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, created in 1853 specifically as an institution of higher learning free of religious affiliation. It was the founding member of the university's modern collegiate system, and its secularism contrasted with contemporary...
, University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, where he also later received his law degree. Michael Ignatieff
Michael Ignatieff
Michael Grant Ignatieff is a Canadian author, academic and former politician. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011...
, who later became Rae's rival for the Liberal Party leadership, was his roommate for a time. He first became involved in politics by volunteering on Trudeau's 1968 Liberal leadership campaign, and later worked on Liberal Charles Caccia
Charles Caccia
Charles L. Caccia, PC was a Canadian politician.Caccia was a Liberal member of the Canadian House of Commons. He represented the Toronto riding of Davenport between 1968 and 2004.Caccia was born in 1930 in Milan, Italy...
's campaign in the 1968 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1968
The Canadian federal election of 1968 was held on June 25, 1968, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 28th Parliament of Canada...
. Rae and Caccia have remained personal friends through their political careers. During his final year as an undergraduate, Rae was a student representative on the Bissell Commission on University Government.
As a result of his strong student record, Rae was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
to the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, where he studied at Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
under Isaiah Berlin
Isaiah Berlin
Sir Isaiah Berlin OM, FBA was a British social and political theorist, philosopher and historian of ideas of Russian-Jewish origin, regarded as one of the leading thinkers of the twentieth century and a dominant liberal scholar of his generation...
. His Bachelor's thesis criticized the cultural imperialism
Cultural imperialism
Cultural imperialism is the domination of one culture over another. Cultural imperialism can take the form of a general attitude or an active, formal and deliberate policy, including military action. Economic or technological factors may also play a role...
of early Fabian socialists in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, such as Sidney and Beatrice Webb
Beatrice Webb
Martha Beatrice Webb, Lady Passfield was an English sociologist, economist, socialist and social reformer. Although her husband became Baron Passfield in 1929, she refused to be known as Lady Passfield...
. During his period in Britain he became involved with social work, helping squatters find rental accommodation in London. He attributes the experience with helping him develop a deepened commitment to social justice and, on his return to Canada in 1974 Rae joined the social democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
NDP. He worked in labour law
Labour law
Labour law is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents which address the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working people and their organizations. As such, it mediates many aspects of the relationship between trade unions, employers and employees...
during the mid-1970s.
Federal New Democrat MP
Rae was elected to the Canadian House of CommonsCanadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
in a 1978 by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
, defeating Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
Tom Clifford
Tom Clifford
Tom Clifford is a former municipal politician in the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.He served twenty-seven years as an elected official as School Trustee for the Toronto Board of Education and as a City of Toronto Councillor representing the East Toronto and Riverdale area.In a 1978 federal...
by 420 votes in the Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
riding
Electoral district (Canada)
An electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...
of Broadview
Broadview (electoral district)
Broadview was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1935 to 1979. This riding was created in 1933 from parts of Toronto East and Toronto—Scarborough ridings....
. Rae won the NDP nomination over former MP John Paul Harney
John Paul Harney
John Paul Harney is a professor and former Canadian politician.Harney ran as a candidate for the New Democratic Party throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He was the Provincial Secretary for the Ontario New Democratic Party from 1966 to 1970...
and activist Kay Macpherson.
He was re-elected in the new riding of Broadview—Greenwood in the 1979 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1979
The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...
, and gained national prominence as the NDP's finance critic. In December 1979, Rae attached a rider
Rider (legislation)
In legislative procedure, a rider is an additional provision added to a bill or other measure under the consideration by a legislature, having little connection with the subject matter of the bill. Riders are usually created as a tactic to pass a controversial provision that would not pass as its...
to a budget bill proposed by the government of Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
, declaring that "this House has lost confidence
Motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...
in the government." It was this motion's passage that toppled Clark's government after only eight months.
Rae was elected to parliament for a third time in the 1980 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1980
The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
, and married Arlene Perly days later. In caucus, he sided with party leader Ed Broadbent
Ed Broadbent
John Edward "Ed" Broadbent, is a Canadian social democratic politician and political scientist. He was leader of the federal New Democratic Party from 1975 to 1989. In the 2004 federal election, he returned to Parliament for one additional term as the Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre.-Life...
in supporting patriation of the Canadian Constitution with a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He also articulated his party's policy on the Canadian Bank Act, and criticized the Bank of Canada
Bank of Canada
The Bank of Canada is Canada's central bank and "lender of last resort". The Bank was created by an Act of Parliament on July 3, 1934 as a privately owned corporation. In 1938, the Bank became a Crown corporation belonging to the Government of Canada...
's high interest rate policy.
Ontario NDP leader
During the same period Rae was in Ottawa, the Ontario New Democratic PartyOntario New Democratic Party
The Ontario New Democratic Party or , formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its...
was suffering from internal disunity under the leadership of Michael Cassidy
Michael Cassidy
Michael Morris Cassidy is a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1984, and in the Canadian House of Commons from 1984 to 1988...
. Cassidy resigned as leader after a poor performance in the 1981 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1981
The Ontario general election of 1981 was held on March 19, 1981, to elect members of the 32nd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, and a movement began to draft Rae as his replacement. Rae initially declined a request from a provincial delegation led by Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Dave Cooke
Dave Cooke
Dave Cooke is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was an NDP member of the provincial legislature from 1977 to 1997, and was a senior cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.-Early career:...
, but reconsidered after further entreaties from former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis
Stephen Lewis
Stephen Henry Lewis, is a Canadian politician, broadcaster and diplomat. He was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party for most of the 1970s. During many of the those years as leader, his father David Lewis was simultaneously the leader of the Federal New Democratic Party...
and many others.
Eleven of the party's 21 MPPs endorsed his candidacy, as did much of the labour movement. Rae's supporters in caucus were Marion Bryden
Marion Bryden
Marion Helen Bryden is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1990.-Background:...
, Brian Charlton
Brian Charlton
Brian Albert Charlton is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1977 to 1995, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae....
, Dave Cooke
Dave Cooke
Dave Cooke is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was an NDP member of the provincial legislature from 1977 to 1997, and was a senior cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.-Early career:...
, Odoardo Di Santo
Odoardo Di Santo
Odoardo Di Santo is a politician and administrator in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1985, as a member of the New Democratic Party ....
, Tony Grande
Tony Grande
Anthony William Grande was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1987, as a member of the New Democratic Party .-Background:...
, Donald C. MacDonald
Donald C. MacDonald
Donald Cameron MacDonald, CM, O.Ont was a long time Canadian politician and political party leader and had been referred to as the "Best premier Ontario never had." He represented the provincial riding of York South in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1955 to 1982...
, Robert Mackenzie, Elie Martel
Elie Martel
Elie Walter Martel is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1967 to 1987, as a member of the New Democratic Party .-Personal life:...
, Ed Philip
Ed Philip
Edward Thomas Philip is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1995, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae....
, George Samis
George Samis
George Roy Samis is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1974 to 1985 as a member of the New Democratic Party ....
and Mel Swart
Mel Swart
Melvin Leroy Swart was a Canadian politician in Ontario. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a New Democrat from 1975 to 1988....
. He was the most centrist candidate in the contest, and easily defeated Richard Johnston
Richard Johnston
Richard Frank Johnston is a retired Canadian politician, educator and administrator.-Background:Johnston was educated at Trent University and worked there as an administrator and counsellor...
and Jim Foulds
Jim Foulds
James Francis Foulds is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1987 as a member of the New Democratic Party....
at a leadership convention in early 1982.
When Rae won the NDP leadership, the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party had governed Ontario since 1943 and was widely regarded as unbeatable. Rae was strongly critical of the Bill Davis
Bill Davis
William Grenville "Bill" Davis, was the 18th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the MPP for Peel in the 1959 provincial election where he was a backbencher in Leslie Frost's government. Under John Robarts, he was a cabinet minister overseeing the education...
government's approach to social issues, and used his acceptance speech to describe the PC Party's Ontario as "Toryland", "essentially a country club in which women and people of colour were not welcome". His comments were criticized by some in the media, though Rae himself would later write that his words seemed "particularly apt" in retrospect and "certainly aroused an angry response which often means a target has been hit".
First session
After Rae won the party leadership, there was a delay of several months before he was able to contest a by-electionBy-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
to enter the Ontario legislature
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
. Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) Jim Renwick
James Alexander Renwick
James Alexander Renwick was a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1964 until his death....
, Marion Bryden
Marion Bryden
Marion Helen Bryden is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1990.-Background:...
and Tony Grande
Tony Grande
Anthony William Grande was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1987, as a member of the New Democratic Party .-Background:...
all declined to relinquish their seats, before former party leader Donald C. MacDonald
Donald C. MacDonald
Donald Cameron MacDonald, CM, O.Ont was a long time Canadian politician and political party leader and had been referred to as the "Best premier Ontario never had." He represented the provincial riding of York South in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1955 to 1982...
agreed to stand down in the York South constituency. Rae defeated Liberal
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...
candidate John Nunziata
John Nunziata
John Nunziata is a Canadian politician. He served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1984 to 2000, initially as a Liberal and later as an independent member.-Background:...
, a York
York, Ontario
York is a dissolved municipality in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it is located northwest of Old Toronto, southwest of North York and east of Etobicoke, where it is bounded by the Humber River. Formerly a separate city, it was one of six municipalities that amalgamated in 1998 to form...
councillor in a by-election on November 4, 1982. Counting the leadership contest, this was his fifth election in just over four years.
The opposition Liberals were led by the inexperienced David Peterson
David Peterson
David Robert Peterson, PC, O.Ont was the 20th Premier of the Province of Ontario, Canada, from June 26, 1985 to October 1, 1990. He was the first Liberal premier of Ontario in 42 years....
. Many senior NDP strategists believed their party could surpass the Liberals for second place, and Rae and Peterson became frequent rivals for media attention and public support between 1982 and 1985. The NDP took two seats from the Liberals in late 1984 by-elections, and polling by Decima Research
Decima Research
Decima Research is a public opinion and market research company in Canada, founded in 1979 by Progressive Conservative Party of Canada strategist Allan Gregg....
from this period put them slightly ahead of the Liberals, although still well behind the PCs.
1985 election and the Liberal-NDP Accord
The NDP did not, however, make the anticipated gains in the 1985 provincial electionOntario general election, 1985
The Ontario general election of 1985 was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members of the 33rd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada...
. They won 25 seats out of 125, only a modest improvement from their 1981 showing. The Progressive Conservatives lost support after Davis retired and right-wing candidate Frank Miller
Frank Miller (politician)
Frank Stuart Miller, was a Canadian politician, who served as the 19th Premier of Ontario for four months in 1985.-Early life and political career:...
was chosen as their new leader. However, it was the Liberals rather than the NDP who were able to reposition themselves in the political centre and reap the benefits of this change.
Rae nonetheless played a pivotal role in bringing the Progressive Conservative Party's 42-year dynasty to an end. The 1985 election resulted in a minority parliament, in which the Tories held four more seats than David Peterson's Liberals, but were eleven seats short of a majority. Rae entered into negotiations with both Premier Miller and Peterson, the latter begun by a phone call from Rae to Peterson shortly after election day. Rae and Peterson signed a "Liberal-NDP Accord" in which the NDP agreed to support a Liberal government in office for two years. The Liberals, in turn, agreed to implement some policies favoured by the NDP. Rae had personally supported a full coalition, but did not strongly argue this case with other members of his party. Peterson later indicated that he would not have accepted a coalition in any event.
The Progressive Conservatives were defeated in a no-confidence motion on June 18, 1985, and Lieutenant-Governor John Black Aird
John Black Aird
John Black Aird, was the 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Canada, from 1980 to 1985.Born in Toronto, Ontario, the grandson of Canadian financier Sir John Aird, John Black Aird was educated at Upper Canada College, Trinity College and Osgoode Hall Law School. He was a Brother at the Toronto...
asked Peterson to form a new government. Rae himself moved the motion of non-confidence, as he had done in the defeat of Joe Clark's government six years earlier. With support from Rae, Peterson's government implemented socially progressive legislation on matters such as pay equity, brought an end to extra-billing by doctors, and established campaign spending limits. Rae often criticized Peterson's approach to specific issues, but never moved to bring down the government.
Rae advocated pension reform in early 1986, following revelations that some corporate leaders in Ontario had been given permission to withdraw money from their employees' pension funds. He was especially critical of Conrad Black
Conrad Black
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, OC, KCSG, PC is a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords, and a historian, columnist and publisher, who was for a time the third largest newspaper magnate in the world. Lord Black controlled Hollinger International, Inc...
, who then held a controlling interest in Dominion Stores Ltd., for withdrawing $62 million at a time when many laid off company workers were unable to receive severance pay. During a legislative debate, Rae described Black as "that most symbolic representative of bloated capitalism at its worst". The Liberal government declined to act on the matter. Later in the same year, Rae argued that the Peterson government should reform the Ontario Human Rights Code to include provisions for group defamation and systematic discrimination.
Some members of the NDP disapproved of the party's accord with the Liberals. Party activist Ian Orenstein
Ian Orenstein
Ian Julius Orenstein is a political activist. Orenstein is the younger son of Oscar Orenstein and Jean Orenstein. He first lived in Toronto until 1967. Orenstein has also lived from 1967 to 1972 in Schumacher and Timmins and Ottawa...
challenged Rae for the provincial leadership in 1986 in a symbolic protest against the party's centrist tilt. Rae won without difficulty.
Leader of the Opposition
The Peterson government was very popular during its first two years in office, and the Liberal Party won a landslide majority government in the 1987 provincial electionOntario general election, 1987
The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...
, called after the conclusion of the Liberal-NDP accord. The NDP was reduced to nineteen seats and Rae was nearly defeated in his own riding, defeating high-profile Liberal challenger Alan Tonks
Alan Tonks
Alan Tonks is a Canadian politician. He was the Liberal MP for the federal electoral district of York South—Weston in Toronto from 2000 to 2011, and was the final Metro Toronto Chairman before the amalgamation of Metro Toronto into the new City of Toronto.-Background:Tonks is the son of the late...
by only 333 votes. The Progressive Conservatives under Larry Grossman
Larry Grossman
Lawrence "Larry" Sheldon Grossman was a politician in Ontario, Canada.-Early years:Born in Toronto, Grossman was the son of Allan Grossman, who had represented a downtown Toronto riding in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for twenty years after defeating Ontario's last Communist Member of...
suffered an even more serious defeat, falling to only sixteen seats. As a result, Rae became Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition (Ontario)
The Leader of the Opposition in Ontario is usually leader of the largest party in the Ontario legislature which is not the government. The current official opposition is formed by the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, and Tim Hudak is the current Leader of the Opposition.Ontario's first...
once the legislature resumed.
In September 1989, Rae took part in a highly-publicized protest in support of native land claims in the middle of the Temagami Forest in Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...
. Following discussions with Chief Gary Potts, Rae agreed to participate in a road sit-in to protect a strand of old pine, a key aspect of the native claim. After the protest, Rae was escorted to a police wagon by members of the Ontario Provincial Police
Ontario Provincial Police
The Ontario Provincial Police is the Provincial Police service for the province of Ontario, Canada.-Overview:The OPP is the the largest deployed police force in Ontario, and the second largest in Canada. The service is responsible for providing policing services throughout the province in areas...
and driven to the nearby town of Elk Lake. He was not charged with an offense.
There was considerable speculation that Rae would seek the federal NDP leadership in 1989, after the resignation of Ed Broadbent
Ed Broadbent
John Edward "Ed" Broadbent, is a Canadian social democratic politician and political scientist. He was leader of the federal New Democratic Party from 1975 to 1989. In the 2004 federal election, he returned to Parliament for one additional term as the Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre.-Life...
. High-profile party members such as former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis, Allan Blakeney
Allan Blakeney
Allan Emrys Blakeney, PC, OC, SOM, QC, FRSC was the tenth Premier of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan from 1971 to 1982, and leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party .-Life and career:...
and Roy Romanow
Roy Romanow
Roy John Romanow, PC, OC, QC, SOM is a Canadian politician and the 12th Premier of Saskatchewan ....
of Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, Gary Doer
Gary Doer
Gary Albert Doer, OM is a Canadian diplomat and politician from Manitoba, Canada. Since October 19, 2009, he has served as Canada's Ambassador to the United States...
of Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
and Alexa McDonough
Alexa McDonough
Alexa Ann Shaw McDonough OC is a Canadian politician who became the first woman to lead a major, recognized political party in Canada, when she was elected the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party's leader in 1980...
of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
all encouraged him to run, as did several representatives of organized labour. Expecting Rae to resign, Bud Wildman
Bud Wildman
Charles Jackson "Bud" Wildman is a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a New Democratic Party Member of Provincial Parliament from 1975 to 1999, representing the riding of Algoma, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.-Background:He was...
, Ruth Grier
Ruth Grier
Ruth Anna Grier is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 1995, and served as a high-profile cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae....
and Richard Johnston began preparing campaigns to succeed him as leader of the Ontario NDP. On October 5, 1989, however, Rae announced that he would not return to federal politics and would remain as provincial leader. Several of Rae's associates, including Arlene Perly Rae, declared their support for Howard McCurdy
Howard McCurdy
Howard Douglas McCurdy is a retired Canadian politician and university professor.McCurdy studied at the University of Western Ontario, where he received a Bachelor of Arts, and later at Assumption University, where he received a Bachelor of Science. He was awarded a Master of Science and a Ph.D...
, and later moved to Audrey McLaughlin
Audrey McLaughlin
Audrey McLaughlin, PC, OC was leader of Canada's New Democratic Party from 1989 to 1995. She was the first female leader of a political party with representation in the Canadian House of Commons, as well as the first federal political party leader to represent an electoral district in a Canadian...
after McCurdy was dropped from the ballot at the leadership convention. Rae declined to endorse a candidate.
Rae was an international observer for Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
's first multi-party elections in early 1990. A lifelong opponent of communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, he later wrote that he was impressed by the spirit of the opposition Sajudis
Sajudis
Sąjūdis initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania, is the political organization which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was established on June 3, 1988 and was led by Vytautas Landsbergis...
party, which won the election. He was also very critical of the Kremlin
Kremlin
A kremlin , same root as in kremen is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there...
's harsh response to the opposition's victory.
Election victory
Peterson called a snap electionSnap election
A snap election is an election called earlier than expected. Generally it refers to an election in a parliamentary system called when not required , usually to capitalize on a unique electoral opportunity or to decide a pressing issue...
for 1990
Ontario general election, 1990
The Ontario general election of 1990 was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada....
. The NDP entered the campaign with low expectations, as the Liberals still held a significant lead in opinion polls and all signs indicated that they would win another majority government. Rae later acknowledged that he did not expect to win the election, and planned to leave electoral politics at some point in the next sitting of the legislature. A number of prominent MPPs, including Richard Johnston
Richard Johnston
Richard Frank Johnston is a retired Canadian politician, educator and administrator.-Background:Johnston was educated at Trent University and worked there as an administrator and counsellor...
, Marion Bryden
Marion Bryden
Marion Helen Bryden is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1990.-Background:...
and David Reville
David Reville
David Reville is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 1990, and was later an advisor to the government of Bob Rae. Reville is a member of the New Democratic Party....
, chose not to seek re-election. Floyd Laughren
Floyd Laughren
Floyd Laughren is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He sat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1998 as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, and served as Finance Minister and Deputy Premier in the government of Bob Rae.-Background:Laughren's childhood was far...
was also planning to retire, but had not finalized his plans when Peterson dropped the writ.
Contrary to expectations, the Liberal Party's support base declined significantly in mid-campaign. The snap election was interpreted by many voters as a sign of arrogance, while lingering effects from an earlier scandal involving Liberal fundraiser Patti Starr
Patti Starr
Patricia "Patti" Starr was the chair of Ontario Place from 1987 to 1989 and involved in a scandal that damaged the Liberal government of David Peterson in the late 1980s, contributing to its defeat in the 1990 provincial election...
undermined public confidence in the government. Also, while Peterson and Rae both supported the Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...
for constitutional reform, which became unpopular in Ontario, Peterson's prominent role in drafting the accord proved a particular liability. There were also signs of an economic downturn by this time and some believed that Peterson had called the snap election to avoid its full impact. The Progressive Conservatives were led by the inexperienced Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
, who ran a narrow campaign focused on tax issues and was unable to capitalize on the Liberal slide. As such, Rae's NDP was the primary beneficiary. Rae himself was more confident than in the 1985 and 1987 campaigns, and took a more aggressive stance against the Peterson government. A poll taken late in the campaign showed the NDP holding a slight lead over the Liberals.
The election results were nonetheless a surprise to political observers across the province, even to longtime NDP supporters. The NDP was elected to a strong majority government with 74 seats. The popular vote was very close, with the NDP outpolling the Liberals 37% to 34%. Several ridings were won by narrow margins. However, the NDP managed to take many seats from the Liberals in the Greater Toronto Area
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...
, and also did better than ever before (or in some cases, since) in many other cities and rural areas. Due to the nature of the first-past-the-post electoral system, which ignores the popular vote and only awards power based on the number of ridings won, this decimated the Liberal caucus. The Liberals lost 59 seats, the worst defeat in their history and the second-worst defeat for a governing party in Ontario. The NDP even managed to unseat Peterson in his own riding.
Premier
On October 1, 1990, Rae was sworn in as the first NDP premier of Ontario. He also took the Intergovernmental Affairs portfolio, giving himself a direct voice in future constitutional negotiations.He was very popular for his first six months as Premier, with a poll from March 1991 showing the NDP at 52% support. The federal NDP also received 56% support in Ontario in a January 1991 poll.
The government was unable to sustain its popularity, however, and by late 1992 had fallen to third place in public opinion polls. The party's popularity continued to ebb throughout 1993, followed by only a modest recovery in the next two years. This, among other factors, partially contributed to a significant decline in support for the federal NDP.
There are many reasons for the Rae government's loss of popularity between 1991 and 1993. The NDP had never governed Ontario before, and Ontario was experiencing its worst recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
since the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. The government backtracked on several campaign promises, most notably the introduction of public auto insurance, which caused disagreements among the party and supporters, especially left-wingers such as cabinet ministers Howard Hampton
Howard Hampton
Howard George Hampton, MPP is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He has served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, since 1987 as the Member of Provincial Parliament from the northern riding of Kenora—Rainy River. A member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, he was also the party's...
and Shelley Martel
Shelley Martel
Shelley Dawn Marie Martel is a Canadian politician. A former member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, she represented the riding of Sudbury East from 1987 to 1999, and Nickel Belt from 1999 until 2007, as a New Democrat....
. A number of scandals in cabinet and caucus also cut into the government's popularity.
In the 1993 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...
, the NDP fell to a historic low of 6% support in Ontario. All 10 New Democrat MPs from Ontario lost their seats to Liberal challengers as the Liberals won all but one seat in the province. Besides many NDP supporters nationwide voting Liberal to ensure that the Conservatives would be defeated (to avoid the vote-splitting of the 1988 election), the Rae government's unpopularity was a major factor in the federal NDP's losses. On the day after the election, defeated MP Steven Langdon
Steven Langdon
Steven W. Langdon is a Canadian academic, politician, economist, and former parliamentarian.Born in Stratford, Ontario, Langdon graduated from the University of Trinity College in the University of Toronto in 1969...
called on Rae to resign. Langdon had openly campaigned against Rae's austerity measures. Although he lost by 13,000 votes to the Liberal candidate, he received a higher percentage of votes than any other NDP candidate in the province.
Notwithstanding its setbacks, the Rae government achieved some positive accomplishments during its time in office. It saved many jobs in northern Ontario through its bailout of Algoma Steel
Algoma Steel
See also Algoma Essar Steel Algoma is an integrated primary steel producer located on the St. Marys River in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Its products are sold in Canada and the United States as well as overseas. Algoma Steel was founded in 1902 by Francis Clergue, an American entrepreneur...
, and negotiated a similar contract for workers in Kapuskasing. Other popular initiatives included the TTC Eglinton West subway line
Eglinton West subway
The Eglinton West subway was a proposed east-west subway line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was to start from the existing Eglinton West station on the Toronto Transit Commission's Yonge-University-Spadina line. Work began in 1994, but was halted in 1995 when the newly-elected Government of...
in Toronto (even though the official transit plan only recommended a busway for current needs), support for public housing, and the Jobs Ontario job creation program
Job creation program
Job Creation Programs are programs or projects undertaken by a government of a nation to assist unemployed members of the population in securing employment. A cornerstone of Keynesian economics, they are especially common during time of high unemployment...
. Rae's decision to approve casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
gambling for the province was also opposed by many in the party but it provided a steady source of revenue.
Economic policy
Ontario's economic forecast was bleak when Rae took office in October 1990. The Liberal government had forecast a small surplus earlier in the year, but a worsening North American economy led to a $700 million deficit before Rae took office. In October, the NDP projected a $2.5 billion deficit for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 1991. Some economists projected soaring deficits for the upcoming years, even if the Rae government implemented austerity measures. Rae himself was critical of the Bank of Canada's high interest rate policy, arguing that it would lead to increased unemployment throughout the country. He also criticized the 1991 federal budget, arguing the Finance MinisterMinister of Finance (Canada)
The Minister of Finance is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible each year for presenting the federal government's budget...
Michael Wilson
Michael Wilson (politician)
Michael Holcombe Wilson, PC, CC is a Canadian diplomat, politician and business leader.Born in Toronto, Ontario, Wilson attended Upper Canada College, Trinity College at the University of Toronto where he joined The Kappa Alpha Society...
was shifting the federal debt to the provinces.
The Rae government's first budget, introduced in 1991, increased social spending to mitigate the economic slowdown and projected a record deficit of $9.1 billion. Finance Minister Floyd Laughren
Floyd Laughren
Floyd Laughren is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He sat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1998 as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, and served as Finance Minister and Deputy Premier in the government of Bob Rae.-Background:Laughren's childhood was far...
argued that Ontario made a decision to target the effects of the recession rather than the deficit, and said that the budget would create or protect 70,000 jobs. It targeted more money to social assistance, social housing and child benefits, and raised taxes for high-income earners while lowering rates for 700,000 low-income Ontarians.
Labour policy
In April 1991, the government introduced a one-year program to protect the pay of workers whose firms had shut down due to the recession. Labour Minister Bob Mackenzie estimated that the plan would help 56,000 workers.The government changed its economic focus after 1991, and implemented budget cutbacks to control the province's mounting deficit. His government also brought in the Social Contract
Social Contract (Ontario)
The Social Contract refers to a 1993 initiative of the provincial Ontario New Democratic Party government of Bob Rae to impose austerity measures on civil service...
, austerity legislation which reopened collective bargaining agreements with the province's public sector unions. This legislation imposed a wage freeze and introduced what became known as "Rae days", giving civil servants (including teachers, doctors, nurses, etc.) ten days off without pay per year. These cutbacks led to a falling-out with both the public sector unions, most notably Ontario Public Service Employees Union
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union is a trade union that represents about 120,000 employees in the broader public service of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The current president of OPSEU is Warren "Smokey" Thomas. Prior to Thomas OPSEU was headed by Leah Casselman. Casselman was the...
(OPSEU), and the Canadian Auto Workers
Canadian Auto Workers
The Canadian Auto Workers is one of Canada's largest and highest profile social unions. While rooted in Ontario's large auto plants of Windsor, Brampton, Oakville, St...
(CAW) and its leader Buzz Hargrove
Buzz Hargrove
Basil Eldon "Buzz" Hargrove, OC is the former National President of the Canadian Auto Workers trade union...
. Sid Ryan
Sid Ryan
Patrick Cyril "Sid" Ryan is president of the Ontario Federation of Labour and a longtime Canadian labour union leader and politician.-Biography:...
, Ontario President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees
Canadian Union of Public Employees
The Canadian Union of Public Employees is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector - although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well...
, referred to the Social Contract as the worst labour legislation he had ever seen.
This breach between the NDP and the labour movement
Labour movement
The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...
struck at the party's foundations. The NDP was founded as an alliance between the old Cooperative Commonwealth Federation and the labour movement, and Rae's policy decisions alienated many traditional NDP voters. Thousands of members resigned from the party, and several unions turned against the NDP and vowed to defeat the government in the next election. The Rae government later attempted to regain labour support by passing Bill 40, a measure which (among other things) introduced anti-scab provisions to the province. This was not enough to bridge the gap with organized labour, however, and the party was unable to regain significant union support.
Health policy
As Premier, Rae placed a cap on enrollment into medical schools.Auto insurance
The New Democratic Party campaigned on a promise to introduce public auto insurancePublic auto insurance
Public auto insurance is a government owned and operated system of automobile insurance operated in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec. According to studies by the Consumers' Association of Canada, rates charged for auto insurance in these four provinces...
in the 1987 and 1990 campaigns. After assuming office, Rae appointed Peter Kormos
Peter Kormos
Peter Kormos is a politician in Ontario, Canada. A former lawyer, he was first elected as an Ontario New Democratic Party Member of Provincial Parliament to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the Welland constituency in a 1988 provincial by-election. He replaced veteran NDP legislator Mel...
, one of the most vocal proponents of public insurance, as the minister responsible for bringing forward the policy. With the onset of the recession, however, both business and labour groups expressed concern about layoffs and lost revenues. The government backtracked from the policy in 1991. Kormos, who had already been dropped from cabinet, became Rae's most vocal critic in the NDP caucus.
Social policy
Rae's government attempted to introduce a variety of socially progressive measures during its time in office, though its success in this field was mixed. In 1994, the government introduced legislation, Bill 167, which would have provided for same-sex partnership benefits in the province. At the time, this legislation was seen as a revolutionary step forward for same-sex recognition. It was defeated, however, when twelve NDP MPPs (including two junior ministers) voted against it, while the opposition Liberals led by Lyn McLeodLyn McLeod
Lyn McLeod is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 2003. McLeod was a cabinet minister in the Liberal government of David Peterson from 1987 to 1990, and served as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 1992 to 1996.-Background - Pre...
also withdrew their support.
The Rae government established an employment equity commission in 1991, and two years later introduced affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
to improve the numbers of women, non-whites, aboriginals and disabled persons working in the public sector. This policy was controversial, and it cost the NDP support among its unionized working-class base of support.
In November 1990, the Rae government announced that it would restrict most rent increases to 4.6% for the present year and 5.4% for 1991. The provisions for 1990 were made retroactive. Tenants' groups supported these changes, while landlord representatives were generally opposed. Dave Cooke
Dave Cooke
Dave Cooke is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was an NDP member of the provincial legislature from 1977 to 1997, and was a senior cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.-Early career:...
, the minister responsible for implementing the policy, later announced that he would work to factor in the costs of legitimate building renovations.
When campaigning in 1990, Rae promised that he would eliminate food bank
Food bank
A food bank or foodbank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes mostly donated food to a wide variety of agencies that in turn feed the hungry. The largest sources of food are for-profit growers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers who in the normal course of business have...
s through anti-poverty initiatives. After taking office, however, his government committed a significant sum of money to support Ontario's existing food banks. Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Michael Kennedy is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's Minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada...
, leader of the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto, criticized Rae for not targeting the money toward affordable housing and welfare reforms. In April 1991, Community and Social Services minister Zanana Akande
Zanana Akande
Zanana L. Akande is a former Canadian politician. She was the first black woman elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and the first black woman to serve as a cabinet minister in Canada....
announced that food banks would have to remain open in light of changed economic circumstances. As the recession grew worse, they became an established feature of Ontario life.
Rae increased the basic social assistance allowance by 7% in 1991, and increased the maximum payment for shelter allowances by 10%.
Aboriginal issues
Soon after assuming office in 1990, Rae announced his support for native Canadians' "inherent right to self-government". He later worked to help six aboriginal bands in Northern OntarioNorthern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...
gain reserve status, and called for self-government on the Akwesasne Indian Reserve
Akwesasne
The Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne is a Mohawk Nation territory that straddles the intersection of international and provincial borders on both banks of the Saint Lawrence River. Most of the land is in what is otherwise the United States...
, in part to help the reserve leaders combat smuggling. Rae also pushed for native rights to be included in future constitutional reforms.
Energy policy
In November 1990, the Rae government announced an indefinite moratorium on the construction of new nuclear plants in Ontario. He consistently opposed plans to privatize Ontario HydroOntario Hydro
Ontario Hydro was the official name from 1974 of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario which was established in 1906 by the provincial Power Commission Act to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity generated by private companies already operating at Niagara...
.
Intergovernmental affairs
In March 1991, Rae announced that he would support a new round of constitutional negotiations between the federal government and the provinces, which ultimately proved to be unsuccessful. He indicated that Ontario was willing to recognize QuebecQuebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
as a distinct society, and called for aboriginal and women's rights to be entrenched in the Canadian Constitution. Rae also supported the creation of a "social charter", to establish national standards for social programs such as medicare.
Early in his term, Rae indicated that his government would continue a long-standing development freeze in Toronto's Harbourfront area, to ensure the survival of cultural programs in the area.
Rae was initially one of the most prominent opponents of the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
in Canada. During a meeting with Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
President
President of Mexico
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
Carlos Salinas de Gortari in 1991, he argued that any proposed North American free trade zone would have to incorporate common environmental and labour standards.
Law enforcement
Rae endorsed Susan EngSusan Eng
Susan Eng, LL.B. is a Toronto lawyer and former chair of the Metro Toronto Police Services Board from 1991 to 1995.Eng, the daughter of immigrants from China, studied at Jarvis Collegiate Institute and received a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1975...
's successful bid to chair the Metro Toronto Police Services Board
Toronto Police Services Board
The Toronto Police Services Board is the civilian oversight of the Toronto Police Service. It was called the Metropolitan Toronto Police Services Board from 1990 until 1998 and the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission from 1955 until 1990 when the name of the body was changed as a result of...
in early 1991, over the opposition of several police officers. Rae later introduced policies requiring Ontario police services to hire more women, disabled people, native Canadians and members of visible minority groups.
Sunday shopping
When Rae assumed office, the Retail Business Holidays Act of Ontario had recently been found unconstitutionalby the Supreme Court of Ontario, meaning that many stores were allowed to open legally on Sundays
Sunday shopping
Sunday shopping refers to the ability of retailers to operate stores on Sunday, a day that Christian tradition typically recognizes as the Sabbath, a "day of rest". Rules governing shopping hours, such as Sunday shopping, vary around the world but some European nations continue to ban Sunday shopping...
for the first time. Rae announced that his government planned to introduce legislation for a "common pause day" across Ontario, "to help strengthen family and community life while protecting small business and the rights of workers". In practice, this initiative would have required many retail establishments to close on Sundays, with exemptions for religious minority communities. The province also appealed the court ruling to a higher court, the Ontario Court of Appeal
Ontario Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal for Ontario is headquartered in downtown Toronto, in historic Osgoode Hall....
, which restored the previous status quo.
However, many retail owners as well as members of the general public preferred Sunday shopping to be legal,
and in 1992 the Rae government yielded to the pressure and reversed its position, amending the Retail Business Holidays Act so that only statutory holidays, and not Sundays, would be common pause days.
Education - A Royal Commission
The Rae government created a Royal Commission on Learning — co-chaired by Gerald CaplanGerald Caplan
Gerald Lewis Caplan, PhD is a Canadian academic, public policy analyst, commentator and political activist. He has had a varied career in academia, as a political organizer for the New Democratic Party, in advocacy around education, broadcasting and African affairs and as a commentator in various...
and Monique Bégin
Monique Bégin
Monique Bégin, PC, OC, FRSC is an academic and former Canadian politician.Begin was born in Rome and raised in France and Portugal before immigrating to Canada at the end of World War II...
- which delivered its report and recommendations: "For the Love of Learning" in January 1995. Among the reports' more prominent recommendations were:
- the creation of a common curriculum for Ontario schools
- the equalization of funding per pupil
- the elimination of grade 13
- the creation of a College of Teachers (recommendation #58)
- the implementation of uniform testing of students at various grade levels.
1995 election
Rae's popularity had recovered somewhat by 1995, but by the time the writs were droppedDropping the writ
Dropping the writ is the informal term for a procedure in some parliamentary government systems, where the head of government goes to the head of state and formally advises him or her to dissolve parliament...
for that year's provincial election
Ontario general election, 1995
The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...
it was obvious that the NDP would not be re-elected.
The official opposition Liberals were expected to be the primary benefactors of the NDP's unpopularity, having recovered from their severe defeat of five years earlier, and leading in opinion polls since 1992. However, several unpopular policy reversals and mistakes by Liberal leader Lyn McLeod
Lyn McLeod
Lyn McLeod is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 2003. McLeod was a cabinet minister in the Liberal government of David Peterson from 1987 to 1990, and served as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 1992 to 1996.-Background - Pre...
allowed Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
and the Tories to benefit from the swing in support away from the NDP. During the leaders' debates, while Rae and McLeod traded barbs, Harris used his camera time to speak directly to the camera about the PC's platform. Several working-class ridings which had long voted NDP became disgruntled with the party due to the Social Contract and affirmative action, so they were attracted by Harris' populism and shifted to the Tories. While the NDP polled considerably better in northern Ontario than it did in 1990, it lost much of its support in rest of the province, especially the 905 region where they had won many seats five years earlier. In the end the Tories shot from third place to a landslide majority government, sweeping the NDP from power. The Liberals lost six seats, but retained their status as the official opposition, while the NDP fell to only seventeen seats and third place in the Legislative Assembly.
Rae himself was reelected in his own riding by over 3,000 votes. However, on February 29, 1996; he resigned as NDP leader and MPP for York South and moved to positions in law, academia and the private sector. He was eventually succeeded as party leader by Howard Hampton
Howard Hampton
Howard George Hampton, MPP is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He has served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, since 1987 as the Member of Provincial Parliament from the northern riding of Kenora—Rainy River. A member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, he was also the party's...
, who was formerly Natural Resources Minister in Rae's cabinet and a longtime left-wing rival. Liberal Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Michael Kennedy is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's Minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada...
succeeded Rae as MPP for York South.
Out of politics, out of the NDP
Rae resigned from the New Democratic Party in 1998 due to his appointment to the Security Intelligence Review CommitteeSecurity Intelligence Review Committee
The Security Intelligence Review Committee is an independent agency of the government of Canada empowered to oversee and review the operations of Canada's security service, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and investigate complaints against CSIS...
. There was some speculation that Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Jean Chrétien would have him appointed Governor-General in 1999, but he was passed over in favour of Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Louise Clarkson is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 26th since Canadian Confederation....
. There was further speculation that Rae would return to the federal Liberals and run under their banner in the 2000 election
Canadian federal election, 2000
The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada....
, though nothing came of this at the time.
Rae was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
in 2000, and in 2004 he was awarded the Order of Ontario
Order of Ontario
The Order of Ontario is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to...
. He was appointed the sixth chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University
Wilfrid Laurier University
Wilfrid Laurier University is a university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It also has campuses in Brantford, Ontario, Kitchener, Ontario and Toronto, Ontario and a future proposed campus in Milton, Ontario. It is named in honour of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the seventh Prime Minister of Canada....
on July 2, 2003, and was installed at that school's fall convocation
Convocation
A Convocation is a group of people formally assembled for a special purpose.- University use :....
in October. Rae also became a partner at Goodmans LLP
Goodmans
For the Canadian law firm, see Goodmans LLPGoodmans is a British consumer electronics company which is part of Harvard International plc....
, a Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
-based corporate law firm, an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, and a Senior Fellow of Massey College
Massey College
Massey College is a postgraduate residential college at the University of Toronto, established in 1963 with an endowment by the Massey Foundation. Similar to All Souls College, Oxford, members of Massey College are nominated from the university community, and are elected by and as fellows of the...
. He has written four books: From Protest to Power: Personal Reflections on a Life in Politics (1996), Three Questions: Prosperity and the Public Good (1998), Canada in the Balance (2006), and Exporting Democracy: The Risks and Rewards of Pursuing a Good Idea (2010). He was the national spokesperson for the Leukemia Research Foundation.
Rae helped the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario.-History:The TSO was founded in 1922 as the New Symphony Orchestra, and gave its first concert at Massey Hall in April 1923. The orchestra changed its name to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927. The TSO...
restructure following an extended strike by its musicians at the beginning of the 1999–2000 season.
Rae returned to active politics on April 16, 2002, two days after Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
announced his resignation as premier, with an opinion piece in the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
newspaper. In an article entitled, "Parting Company with the NDP", Rae strongly criticized what he perceived as a bias against Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in the federal party, and also criticized the NDP for rejecting Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
's Third Way
Third way (centrism)
The Third Way refers to various political positions which try to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of right-wing economic and left-wing social policies. Third Way approaches are commonly viewed from within the first- and second-way perspectives as...
socialism and for refusing to accept globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
and open markets. He suggested that the party's economic policies were insufficient for the 21st century, and that the party as a whole was no longer "worthy of support".
The Ontario NDP has distanced itself from Rae's policies under Hampton. During the 2003 provincial election
Ontario general election, 2003
The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the 38th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, Hampton argued that Rae was wrong to reverse the NDP's commitment to public auto insurance. The party's relations with the labour movement have not completely healed, although the situation has improved since 1993. Relations with the CAW remain especially fraught, and memories of the social contract have hurt the NDP's credibility with a new generation of public sector workers, despite the party's efforts to distance itself from the measure. Nonetheless, the Ontario NDP has never come close to the popularity it enjoyed in the early 1990s, and is still in third place in the Legislative Assembly, losing official party status
Official party status
Official party status refers to the Canadian practice of recognizing political parties in the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures. The type of recognition and threshold needed to obtain it varies...
in the 2003 election.
Rae worked on the Red Cross tainted blood issue and also worked towards a resolution of the fishing conflict in Burnt Church, New Brunswick.
In 2005, Rae wrote a report for the Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty
Dalton McGuinty
Dalton James Patrick McGuinty, Jr., MPP is a Canadian lawyer, politician and, since October 23, 2003, the 24th and current Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario....
on post-secondary education, commonly referred to as the Rae Report
Rae Report
The Rae Report was the result of a provincial review of post-secondary education led by former Ontario Premier Bob Rae. After the Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty brought in a fully funded tuition fee freeze at public colleges and universities in April 2004, it announced a sweeping review of...
. His report called for increased government funding to colleges and universities, and enhanced student aid especially for low-income students. The report also suggested that individual institutions ought to be able to determine what rate of tuition fees to charge, free from government controls, which generated controversy. Student groups including the Canadian Federation of Students
Canadian Federation of Students
The Canadian Federation of Students is the largest student organization in Canada. Founded in 1981, the stated goal of the CFS is to work at the federal level for high quality, accessible post-secondary education.-Structure:...
have objected, noting the significant recent increases in tuition fees in Ontario under the government of Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
, and the 57 per cent increase in tuition fees during Rae's own tenure as premier. Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton
Howard Hampton
Howard George Hampton, MPP is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He has served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, since 1987 as the Member of Provincial Parliament from the northern riding of Kenora—Rainy River. A member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, he was also the party's...
also criticized the report. Rae defended his report, arguing that low income non-university individuals would not benefit from a tuition freeze/lowering, as well as being forced to bear the tax burden needed to enact it.
Rae has also become involved with international issues in recent years. In 2002 and 2003, as chair of the Forum of Federations he helped oversee constitutional discussions between the government of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
and Tamil Tiger rebels. On April 26, 2005, he was appointed to advise Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
The Deputy Prime Minister of Canada is an honorary position in the cabinet, conferred at the discretion of the prime minister. There is currently, , no deputy prime minister....
Anne McLellan
Anne McLellan
|-...
on whether or not there should be a government inquiry into the 1985 Air India
Air India Flight 182
Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Montreal–London–Delhi route. On 23 June 1985, the airplane operating on the route a Boeing 747-237B named after Emperor Kanishka was blown up by a bomb at an altitude of , and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while in Irish airspace.A...
disaster. On November 23, 2005, Rae recommended further inquiry into the investigation and prosecution.
In July 2005, The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
and the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
both reported that Rae was again being considered for appointment to the position of Governor General. However, Rae was passed over again, this time in favour of Michaëlle Jean
Michaëlle Jean
Michaëlle Jean is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 27th since Canadian Confederation, from 2005 to 2010....
.
Return to politics as a Liberal
Michael Valpy
Michael Granville Valpy is an award-winning Canadian journalist and author. He writes for the Globe and Mail newspaper where he made his reputation on both political and human interest stories...
, Rae indicated that he was still committed to public life and public service. Valpy's feature on Rae included a comment by Arlene Perly Rae that he could return to politics if there was a national unity
Canadian federalism
Canada is a federation with two distinct jurisdictions of political authority: the country-wide federal government and the ten regionally-based provincial governments. It also has three territorial governments in the far north, though these are subject to the federal government...
crisis.
On November 23, 2005, Rae presented his recommendations that there should be a formal but focused inquiry into the Air India disaster. Two days later, Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
The Deputy Prime Minister of Canada is an honorary position in the cabinet, conferred at the discretion of the prime minister. There is currently, , no deputy prime minister....
Anne McLellan
Anne McLellan
|-...
announced Rae's appointment to conduct a limited inquiry into Air India under a government order-in-council
Order-in-Council
An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, typically those in the Commonwealth of Nations. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the Queen by the Privy Council , but in other countries the terminology may vary.-Assent:Although the Orders are...
. Rae produced a comprehensive report outlining the key issues that could be addressed, leaving Air India Victims' families spokeswoman Lata Pada
Lata Pada
Lata Pada, CM is a Canadian choreographer and Bharatanatyam dancer of Indian descent. Pada is the Founder and Artistic Director of Sampradaya Dance Creations, a dance Company that performs South Asian dance...
"encouraged that demands for answers will be addressed".
On August 24, 2005, the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
reported that Rae was under "mounting pressure" to run for the federal Liberals in the 2006 general election
Canadian federal election, 2006
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...
. Though it was unclear how long the Air India inquiry was to last, Rae's appointment precluded any possibility of his running as a candidate in the January 23 election. A poll by SES Research suggested that Rae was tied for second place behind Frank McKenna
Frank McKenna
Francis Joseph "Frank" McKenna, PC, OC, ONB, QC is a Canadian businessman and former politician and diplomat. He is currently Deputy Chairman of the Toronto-Dominion Bank. He served as Canadian Ambassador to the United States from 2005 to 2006...
as a prospective candidate to lead the federal Liberals. McKenna decided afterwards not to contest the leadership.
The new government of Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
appointed a judge to handle the Air India inquiry in March 2006 thus releasing Rae from his previous commitment and freeing him for a possible run for the Liberal Party leadership.
In a speech to the Canadian Club of Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
on March 13, 2006, Rae expressed his interest in uniting the 'progressive' forces of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in order to regain a majority government in the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
. "There's a progressive record that's shared by a majority of Canadians, but so far, we have not succeeded in becoming a majority in the House of Commons, so we must think a bit about how that can happen."
2006 leadership election
On April 5, 2006, Rae applied for membership in the Liberal Party of CanadaLiberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
. His candidacy for the federal party leadership was supported by Greg Sorbara
Greg Sorbara
Gregory Sam "Greg" Sorbara, MPP a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for Vaughan. Sorbara served as the Minister of Finance in the Ontario Liberal Party government of Premier Dalton McGuinty from 2003 to 2007.He resigned on October 11, 2005, following a police investigation involving...
and George Smitherman
George Smitherman
George Smitherman is a Canadian politician and broadcaster. He represented the provincial riding of Toronto Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2010, when he resigned to contest the mayoralty of Toronto in the 2010 municipal election...
, former Chrétien aides Eddie Goldenberg
Eddie Goldenberg
Edward "Eddie" Goldenberg served as a senior political advisor to Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, considered among the most influential, with Jean Pelletier and Aline Chrétien. Goldenberg served as then Prime Minister Chrétien's Chief of Staff during his term in office, before leaving to...
and Rae's brother John, as well as former top Martin advisor John Webster and others associated with the Martin camp. He announced his candidacy on April 24, 2006. At his campaign launch he responded to his critics by saying "I made mistakes before I was in politics, I made mistakes when I was in politics, I made mistakes as premier... I can only tell you I have learned from those mistakes and I am the wiser for them.
On May 12, 2006, venerable Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
era cabinet minister Allan MacEachen
Allan MacEachen
Allan Joseph MacEachen, PC, OC is a retired Canadian politician, a many-time Cabinet minister, a retired Senator, one of Canada's elder statesmen, and was the first Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, serving from 1977 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984.-Early life:Born in Inverness on Nova Scotia's Cape...
backed Rae's leadership bid becoming honorary campaign chair. On June 16, former Ontario Liberal Party leader and provincial treasurer Robert Nixon
Robert Nixon
Robert Fletcher Nixon is a retired politician in the province of Ontario, Canada. The son of former Premier of Ontario Harry Nixon, he was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in a 1962 by-election following his father's death...
, who sat as leader of the opposition to Rae's Ontario government for a time, endorsed Rae. He was also endorsed by MPs Irwin Cotler
Irwin Cotler
Irwin Cotler, PC, OC, MP was Canada's Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada from 2003 until the Liberal government of Paul Martin lost power following the 2006 federal election. He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons for the constituency of Mount Royal in a by-election...
, Ujjal Dosanjh
Ujjal Dosanjh
Ujjal Dev Singh Dosanjh, PC, QC, is a Sikh Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as 33rd Premier of British Columbia from 2000 to 2001 and as a Liberal Party of Canada Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2011 including a stint as Minister of Health from 2004 until 2006 when the party lost...
, Lawrence MacAulay
Lawrence MacAulay
Lawrence A. MacAulay, PC is a Canadian politician.MacAulay is a current member of the Liberal Party of Canada in the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Cardigan, Prince Edward Island since 1988. MacAulay is a former farmer...
, Diane Marleau
Diane Marleau
Diane Marleau, PC, MP is a Canadian politician. She represented the riding of Sudbury in the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 2008, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Jean Chrétien...
and Brian Murphy
Brian Murphy (politician)
Brian J. Murphy is a former mayor of Moncton and was the Liberal Member of the Canadian House of Commons from Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe. After his term as mayor, he was succeeded by Lorne Mitton....
, as well as several Senators. Rival candidate Maurizio Bevilacqua
Maurizio Bevilacqua
Maurizio Bevilacqua, PC, is a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal Member of Parliament from 1988 to 2010 and was of eleven candidates for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada but dropped out of the race on August 14, 2006...
withdrew from the contest on August 14 to endorse Rae, and Carolyn Bennett
Carolyn Bennett
Carolyn Ann Bennett, PC, MP is the Member of Parliament for the riding of St. Paul's, a constituency located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, and was formerly a candidate for its leadership....
did the same on September 15, followed by Hedy Fry
Hedy Fry
Hedy Fry, PC, MP is a Canadian politician and physician. She is the Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre.-Early life:Fry was born into poverty in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago...
on September 25 and John Godfrey
John Godfrey
John Ferguson Godfrey, PC is a Canadian educator, journalist and former Member of Parliament.- Education :He was born in Toronto, Ontario. His father, Senator John Morrow Godfrey , was a Canadian pilot, lawyer and politician. John Godfrey graduated from Upper Canada College in 1960...
on October 20.
On the night of December 1 at the Convention, Rae spoke freely without notes rather than make a formal speech. Rival candidate Joe Volpe
Joe Volpe
Giuseppe Joseph "Joe" Volpe, PC, was a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 until the 2011 federal election, being surpassed by the conservative member Joe Oliver Joe Oliver, and held two senior positions in Prime Minister Paul Martin's Cabinet...
announced his support for Rae after the speeches were concluded. On the morning of December 2, after finishing second on the first ballot, rival candidate Scott Brison
Scott Brison
Scott A. Brison, PC, MP is a Canadian politician from Nova Scotia, Canada. Brison has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Kings-Hants since the 1997 federal election. Brison was originally elected as a Progressive Conservative but crossed the floor to join the Liberal Party in 2003...
, moved to Rae and yet another rival candidate, Ken Dryden
Ken Dryden
Kenneth Wayne Dryden, PC, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, businessman, author, and former NHL goaltender. Dryden is married with two children and four grandchildren and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame...
, moved to him after the second ballot. However, Rae lost his bid for the leadership in the third round of Convention balloting, placing third behind both Michael Ignatieff
Michael Ignatieff
Michael Grant Ignatieff is a Canadian author, academic and former politician. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011...
and Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Maurice Dion, PC, MP is a Canadian politician who has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Saint-Laurent–Cartierville in Montreal since 1996. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and the Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 2006 to 2008...
, who had leapfrogged into first after receiving the support of Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Michael Kennedy is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's Minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada...
. Rae then freed his delegates and did not indicate whom he supported on the final ballot; Dion won the leadership.
Despite the loss of the Liberal leadership, Rae has indicated that he would like to run for a federal seat in the House of Commons in the next federal election. On March 7, 2007, Rae announced that he would seek the Liberal nomination in Toronto Centre
Toronto Centre
Toronto Centre is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1872 to 1925, and since 1935, under the names Centre Toronto , Toronto Centre , Rosedale and Toronto Centre—Rosedale .Toronto Centre covers the heart of...
. On March 26, 2007, he won the party's nomination, defeating Toronto lawyer and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
advocate Meredith Cartwright with 532 votes to her 267.
Several days following his defeat at the leadership convention it was reported that Rae's wife, Arlene Perly Rae
Arlene Perly Rae
Arlene Perly Rae is a Canadian journalist, author and arts patron. She is married to Canadian politician Bob Rae.- Background :Educated at the University of Toronto, Perly Rae was a longtime reviewer of children's literature for the Toronto Star...
was approached by a delegate who did not know who she was, and who told her that she should not vote for Rae because his wife is Jewish. A flyer was also sent electronically to convention delegates, stating that Rae's wife was a vice-president of the Canadian Jewish Congress
Canadian Jewish Congress
The Canadian Jewish Congress was one of the main lobby groups for the Jewish community in the country, although it often competed with the more conservative B'nai Brith Canada in that regard. At its dissolution, the president of the CJC was Mark Freiman. Its past co-presidents were Sylvain Abitbol...
and that he was a supporter of Israeli apartheid. The Canadian Press reported that the flyer was produced by Ron Saba, the editor of a small Montreal journal. Newly-elected Liberal leader Stéphane Dion issued a press release condemning the "hateful comments" made against Rae and his wife, saying that they are "reprehensible and will not be tolerated within the Liberal Party of Canada", adding that "there is no room for abhorrent comments such as these within our Party".
Rae was named co-chair of the Liberals' platform development committee, with Scott Brison
Scott Brison
Scott A. Brison, PC, MP is a Canadian politician from Nova Scotia, Canada. Brison has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Kings-Hants since the 1997 federal election. Brison was originally elected as a Progressive Conservative but crossed the floor to join the Liberal Party in 2003...
. This was part of Dion's strategy to reunite the party by appointing his rivals for the leadership to key posts in the party.
Federal Liberal MP
In the by-election held on March 17, 2008, Rae won handily. Toronto Centre had historically been one of the few ridings in the former Metro Toronto where the old Progressive Conservatives had a realistic chance of winning. However, since 1993, the Liberals have dominated the riding (as has been the case with most Toronto ridings), carrying it by 10,000 votes or more. Rae kept this tradition going; he finished almost 11,000 votes ahead of his closest opponent and with more than 4,400 votes than his five opponents combined (14,187 to 9,764). Rae's candidacy was endorsed by the former Conservative candidate Mark WarnerMark Warner (Canadian politician)
Mark A. A. Warner is a Canadian international trade and competition lawyer previously with the Toronto firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin and with the Government of Ontario....
, who was dropped due to disagreements with the party on social and urban issues. Rae had denounced the Tories' decision to drop Warner, calling it a "national disgrace."
Rae returned to Parliament on March 31, 2008 after a 25-year absence. He was immediately promoted to the Liberal shadow cabinet, and served as Foreign Affairs critic (shadow foreign minister). In that role he publicly supported Iraq War resisters seeking asylum in Canada before and during the 2008 election campaign. He was re-elected to his Commons' seat in the fall 2008 federal election. When Dion announced that he would resign the leadership in May 2009 after the party's poor results, Rae became a candidate in the ensuing Liberal leadership election.
Rae took part in negotiations for the Liberals to form a coalition with the NDP, with support from the Bloc Québécois. They planned to pass a motion of non-confidence in the Conservative government, not unlike what Rae had done in 1979 and 1985. After Prime Minister Harper convinced the Governor General to prorogue parliament on December 4, 2008, and with Dion pressured to resign immediately as party leader, Rae took on the role of coalition spokesman.
Rae found it more difficult to garner support than he had in the last leadership contest, with his 2006 campaign co-chair now supporting Ignatieff. As it was obvious that Ignatieff had lined up enough support to become the party's leader, Rae withdrew on December 9, 2008. He has since criticized Ignatieff's decision to withdraw from the coalition with the NDP.
He served as Foreign Affairs critic in the shadow cabinet
Shadow Cabinet
The Shadow Cabinet is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government...
s of both Dion and Ignatieff.
In the aftermath of the 2011 federal election in which the Liberals were reduced to third place behind the NDP, Rae speculated on national television about the possibility of future co-operation between the two parties. Following Ignatieff's announcement that he would resigning as leader, Rae was touted as a possible successor. However, his advocacy of a possible Liberal-NDP merger caused consternation among some Liberals. Former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien reportedly called senior Liberals urging Rae's selection as interim leader for a two-year term. However, the Liberal National Board has announced that the interim leader position could only be held by an individual who pledged not to seek the permanent leadership and not to seek to change the party or merge it with another party during his tenure. On May 19, 2011, Rae declared that he would not be running for leadership for the Liberal Party, but would instead seek the interim leader
Interim leader
An interim leader, in Canadian politics, is a party leader appointed by the party's legislative caucus or the party's executive to temporarily act as leader when a gap occurs between the resignation or death of a party leader and the election of a formal successor...
ship position. He assumed the interim leadership position on May 25, 2011.
Electoral record
**as compared to the 2006 General Election|-
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="2"|Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
hold
|align="right"|Swing
|align="right"| +8.5%
|align="right"|
Detained in Sri Lanka
On June 9, 2009, Rae was denied entry by Sri Lankan Immigration officials at the Bandaranaike International AirportBandaranaike International Airport
Bandaranaike International Airport is Sri Lanka's only international airport at the moment. Mattala International Airport, when it gets built will be the second International Airport of Sri Lanka. It is located in Katunayake, north of Colombo...
, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
on grounds that he was "a threat to national security and sympathetic to the Tamil Tigers rebel group". Rae responded that "Sri Lanka is afraid of dialogue, afraid of discussion, afraid of engagement...If this is how they treat me, imagine how they treat people who can't speak out." Rae has described Sri Lanka as 'a very dangerous place to be a journalist. "It's a very dangerous place to be any kind of Tamil right now and this is nuts."
Honorary degrees
Rae has received several Honorary degreeHonorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
s from educational institutions around the world.
Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
in Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
(LL.D) on May 25, 2006 McMaster University
McMaster University
McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
in Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
(LL.D) on June 8, 2006
- Law Society of Upper CanadaLaw Society of Upper CanadaThe Law Society of Upper Canada is responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1797, it is known in French as "Le Barreau du Haut-Canada"...
: LLD (hcHonorary degreeAn honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
) - Assumption University (Windsor): LLD (hcHonorary degreeAn honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
)
External links
- Astonishing victory for the NDP
- Hour.ca – Bob versus the students
- Personal website
- Western News – Western Applauds Rae Report