In the
1990 provincial election, she ran as the NDP candidate in the riding of
Peterborough. She defeated
Liberal incumbent
Peter Adams by 134 votes. She was appointed to Rae's first cabinet on October 1, 1990, as the provincial
Minister of Energy. A self-confessed novice, she said that her husband knew more about the energy sector then she did. In November 1990, Carter announced that the government was putting a freeze on the construction of nuclear plants. She told Ontario Hydro to divert $240 million earmarked for site preparation for new nuclear plants to instead be used for energy conservation efforts. Carter, who earlier said in a speech to the house that she was an
anti-nuclear activist, declared, "We cannot afford to keep building power stations at $25 billion each." She promised to give priority to new hydroelectric and natural gas projects. Rather than a total ban, she said that she would await the outcome of a study of Ontario's energy needs for the next 25 years. In March 1991, Carter announced that the government would switch heating in public housing projects to gas from electricity. She said, "installing gas heating in new non-profit homes will save 100 megawatts." In July 1991, Carter was dropped from cabinet. Critics said that she failed to establish herself as energy minister. She was replaced by
Will Ferguson. For the remainder of her term, she served as
parliamentary assistant to the
Minister of Citizenship. In
1995, Carter lost to
Progressive Conservative Gary Stewart in her bid for re-election.
Cabinet positions ==After politics==