Philip was elected to the Ontario legislature in the
provincial election of 1975, defeating incumbent
Liberal Leonard Braithwaite by 1,256 votes in the
Toronto riding of
Etobicoke. He was re-elected by a greater margin in the
election of 1977, and fended off a stronger challenge from
Progressive Conservative Aileen Anderson in the
1981 election. In the elections of
1985,
1987 and
1990, he was elected without difficulty. Philip supported
Bob Rae for the
provincial NDP leadership in 1982. During his time in opposition, he held various critic portfolios including transportation, housing, rent review and government services. He was also chairman of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.
Government In the
1990 provincial election, the NDP won and formed a majority government under the leadership of Bob Rae. Philip had been his party's Transport Critic for the previous three years and was appointed Ontario's
Minister of Transport on October 1, 1990. and
Minister of Municipal Affairs on February 3, 1993. He was also the interim
Minister of Tourism and Recreation from November 13, 1992 to February 3, 1993. Philip was on the right wing of the NDP. He recommended greater privileges for multinational pharmaceutical companies while in government, and rejected a global warming strategy while in the Transportation portfolio. Notwithstanding this, he was generally supportive of progressive legislation and was regularly endorsed by left-leaning groups in Toronto. The NDP were defeated in the
1995 provincial election and Philip lost the riding of Etobicoke-Rexdale to Progressive Conservative
John Hastings by fewer than 900 votes. This was considered a major upset, and Philip was regarded as a favoured candidate for re-election when he ran in the redistributed seat of
Etobicoke North in the
1999 provincial election. The character of the riding had changed since the 1980s, however, and many in the riding's large community of recent immigrants had no history of supporting the NDP. Philip finished third, and Hastings was re-elected by what most considered to be a vote-split among the Liberals and NDP.
Cabinet positions ==References==