Newman was elected to the Ontario legislature in the
provincial election of 1995, defeating
Liberal Mary Anne Plimbett and incumbent
New Democrat Steve Owens in the riding of
Scarborough Centre. The Tories won a majority government and Newman served as a
backbench supporter of
Mike Harris's government. He was re-elected in the
provincial election of 1999, defeating Liberal candidate
Adrian Heaps and New Democrat Michael Yorke in the re-distributed riding of
Scarborough Southwest. On March 3, 2000, Newman was appointed to cabinet as
Minister of the Environment. This appointment occurred just before a serious outbreak of
E. coli poisoning in
Walkerton, Ontario, in which several people died following the contamination of the town's water supply. Many blamed the Harris government's privatization of water inspection for the tragedy. Newman, as Environment Minister, bore the brunt of this criticism and was forced to defend his government's policies before an increasingly skeptical public. In the aftermath of the tragedy, he announced a public investigation and stricter standards for municipal water treatment. On February 8, 2001, Newman was appointed as
Minister of Northern Development and Mines. When
Ernie Eves replaced Harris as
Premier on April 15, 2002, he named Newman as
Associate Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Newman was defeated in the
2003 provincial election, losing to Liberal
Lorenzo Berardinetti by almost 6,000 votes.
Cabinet positions ==References==