Federal New Democratic MP Rae was elected to the
House of Commons of Canada in a 1978 He won a full term in the
1979 federal election from the renamed riding of
Broadview—Greenwood, 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. 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".
First session After Rae won the party leadership, there was a delay of several months before he was able to contest a by-election 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.
1985 election and the Liberal–NDP accord The NDP did not make the anticipated gains in the
1985 provincial election held on May 2, 1985. 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" 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 minority 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.
Leader of the Opposition Peterson's minority government was very popular during its two years in office, and the Liberal Party won a landslide majority government in the
1987 provincial election, 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
Sąjūdis party, which won the election. He was also very critical of the
Kremlin's harsh response to the opposition's victory.
Election victory Peterson called a
snap election 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. 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 also took the
Intergovernmental Affairs portfolio, giving himself a direct voice in future constitutional negotiations. Bob Rae was in power for 1650 days, the longest term for an Ontario premier since the
Second World War. He became one of the few Ontario premiers who could speak French. 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 from members of the progressive wing of the party such as cabinet ministers
Howard Hampton and
Shelley Martel. A number of scandals in cabinet and caucus due to the large number of rookie MPPs 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 paper mill 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.
Rae's government policies 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 Minister
Michael Wilson was shifting the federal debt to the provinces. The Rae government's first budget, introduced in 1991, increased social spending
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. Rae claims he faced a true emergency in the spring of 1993 a crisis of government on which he had to act. Upon returning from Davos, Rae gave a speech on 9 February describing international business leaders' despair over government deficits and inefficiencies in Europe, where they stressed "the worldwide trend to redesign organizations, downsizing wherever possible and trying to make their organizations more responsive". Rae left Davos convinced that major changes in Ontario public services were needed, where these changes were of the kind long-proposed by the more conservative and business leaders of Ontario. As a result, his government 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", requiring civil servants to take up to twelve days off without pay per year. These measures generated nearly 2 billion dollars in savings for Ontario, without laying off any public sector workers.
Macleans reported that Rae had been delivered "a secret ultimatum" "by Canadian and international bond dealers". If he didn't get the deficit under $10 billion, they would demand junk-bond interest rates in order to finance Ontario's debt. Richard Walkom suggested it was a sudden panic of an NDP party aware of the stereotype it could not manage a budget, using the crisis as an opportunity to demonstrate it would use extreme measures in the appropriate circumstances. Regardless of whether Davos visit provided an epiphany, pressure or panic, this event is agreed as the beginning of the Ontario government's concessions to international corporations. The Rae government also delisted
home care from OHIP coverage but introduced a new comprehensive program to deliver the service mostly on a non-profit basis by publicly run, regional multi-service agencies and passed the Home Care and Community Services Act, 1994 to facilitate this. The Harris government subsequently rejected this model for a brokerage model in which Community Care Access Centres would hire a home care provider to service a region rather than provide the service directly and lifted the 10% limit on the use of for-profit service delivery that the Rae government had imposed.
Auto insurance The New Democratic Party campaigned on a promise to introduce
public auto insurance 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.
Social policy at the 2008
Pride Toronto parade 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 McLeod 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 across the private and public sectors. 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 banks 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. Rae increased the basic social assistance allowance by 7% in 1991, and increased the maximum payment for shelter allowances by 10%. Rae supports abortion rights, saying "The rights of women to choose, to have control over their own bodies, is not a right which is going to be taken away by the Parliament of Canada, and it is not a right which should be subject to some private member's bill which is going to affect the rights of women to have choice, to have genuine equality and to have full and complete access to the medicare and the health care that they need."
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 Ontario 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.
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 Hydro.
Intergovernmental affairs and Quebec status 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
Quebec 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.
Law enforcement Rae endorsed
Susan Eng'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.
Sunday shopping in Toronto, circa 1990, at a time when the issue of Sunday shopping was being debated in Ontario When Rae assumed office, the Retail Business Holidays Act of Ontario had recently been found unconstitutional 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.
Education – A Royal Commission The Rae government created a Royal Commission on Learning – co-chaired by
Gerald Caplan 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 appointment of pupil representatives on Ontario school boards • 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 dropped 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 joined the law firm of Goodmans LLP. 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 appointed to 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 a number of 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),
Exporting Democracy: The Risks and Rewards of Pursuing a Good Idea (2010), and ''What's Happened to Politics?'' (2016). 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. The Ontario NDP 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 remained in third place in the Legislative Assembly, and would not win more than 20 seats in the legislature until 2014 under Hampton's successor,
Andrea Horwath. It would not come out of the political wilderness until 2018, when it won 40 seats–its most since 1990–and opposition status. 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. 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.
Return to politics as a Liberal 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 to regain a majority government in the
House of Commons of Canada. "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." 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." Rae's predecessor as premier,
David Peterson, who was supporting
Michael Ignatieff, criticized Rae's entry into the race due to his record as NDP provincial premier, though insisting that he did not hold a personal grudge against Rae. On May 12, 2006,
Trudeau-era Deputy Prime 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 had 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. Rae returned to Parliament on March 31, 2008, after a 25-year absence. He was immediately promoted to the Liberal shadow cabinet 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 cabinets of both Dion and Ignatieff. On June 9, 2009, Rae was denied entry by Sri Lankan Immigration officials at the
Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo,
Sri Lanka on grounds that he was "a threat to national security and sympathetic to the
Tamil Tigers rebel group". Rae responded, "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." In November 2009, Rae sponsored a motion for Canada to recognize
Black Ribbon Day to commemorate the victims of Nazi and Communist regimes.
Interim Liberal leader 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 be 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. However, the Liberal National Board announced that the interim leader position could only be held by an individual who agreed 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 leadership position. He was chosen over Quebec MP
Marc Garneau for the interim leadership on May 25, 2011. While Rae had been widely expected to resign the post of interim leader and make a bid for the permanent leadership he announced on June 13, 2012, that he would not be a candidate in the
Liberal leadership election. Earlier in 2011, Rae was voted ''
Maclean's'' Parliamentarian of the Year by members of the
41st Parliament. Journalist Carol Goar viewed Rae as the de facto leader of the Opposition in the six months between the death of NDP leader
Jack Layton in August 2011 and the election of
Thomas Mulcair in March 2012. When
Justin Trudeau was elected the new permanent leader in April 2013, When Justin Trudeau won the 2015 elections and became Prime Minister, Rae was given considerable credit for laying the foundations for the turnaround in the fortunes of the Liberal Party. == Post-political career ==