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Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) was the twenty-first Premier of Ontario, and the first to represent the New Democratic Party in that role. He served as premier from October 1, 1990 to June 28, 1995.
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| Rank: | 21st |
| Term of Office: | October 1, 1990 - June 28, 1995 |
| Predecessor: | David Peterson |
| Successor: | Mike Harris |
| Spouse: | Arlene Perly Rae |
| Date of Birth: | August 2, 1948 |
| Place of Birth: | Ottawa, Ontario |
| Profession: | Lawyer |
| Political Party: | NDP |
Rae was born in Ottawa and attended the University of Toronto where he received his law degree. His father, Saul, was a career diplomat.
As a result of his strong student record Bob Rae was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, where he studied under Isaiah Berlin.
Before becoming premier of Ontario, Rae had a long career in both federal and provincial politics and was one of the best-known faces of the NDP. He was elected to the federal Parliament in 1978 and became nationally known as the NDP's finance critic. It was the vote on his Motion of No Confidence that brought down the Progressive Conservative government of Joe Clark in December 1979. In 1982 he made the move to provincial politics and was elected leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party.
Rae played a pivotal role in bringing the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party's 42 year reign to an end. The 1985 election resulted in a minority legislature in which the Tories had only four more seats than David Peterson's Liberals. After a series of negotiations Rae and Peterson signed the Liberal-NDP Accord in which the New Democrats agreed to support a Liberal government for two years in exchange for the implementation of certain NDP policies.
Rae became Leader of the Opposition as a result of the 1987 election which saw the NDP become the second largest party in the legislature.
His surprising win of the 1990 election resulted in the Ontario New Democratic Party's first (and so far only) government in Ontario. Liberal premier David Peterson had called an early election only three years into his mandate due to his confidence of re-election. The early call was interpreted as a sign of arrogance by the electorate at large, and combined with a weak campaign and the recent Patti Starr Affair and Harbourfront Scandal, resulted in Rae and the NDP being vaulted into office with just 37 per cent of the popular vote.
The NDP had never governed Ontario before, and North America was in the depth of the worst recession since the Great Depression. The NDP quickly backtracked on a number of campaign promises, most notably the introduction of public auto insurance. In addition, a number of cabinet scandals quickly cut into the government's popularity.
As the recession wore on, Rae implemented government cutbacks in an attempt to control the mounting budgetary deficit. His government also brought in the Social Contract which reopened collective bargaining agreements with the province's public sector unions and impose a wage freeze and "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 OPSEU, as well as the Canadian Auto Workers union and its leader Buzz Hargrove. This breach between the NDP and the labor 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 alienated the 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 government also introduced unpopular revenue-raising initiatives such as photo-radar which hurt its electoral prospects.
In 1995 the party faced re-election and lost. Rae resigned and moved to positions in academia and the private sector.
Rae resigned from the New Democratic Party in the late 1990s due to his appointment to Security Intelligence Review Committee. He has since written an opinion piece in the National Post stating that the New Democratic Party is no longer a party worthy of support due to its position on the Middle East and its rejection of the free market system.
The Ontario NDP has distanced itself from Rae's policies under the leadership of Howard Hampton particularly during the 2003 provincial election with Hampton stating that Rae was wrong to reverse the NDP's commitment to public auto insurance during the 1990-1995 goverment. The party's relations with the labour movement have not completely healed to this day, relations with the Canadian Auto Workers remain especially fraught, and memories of the Social Contract have hurt the NDP's credibility with a generation of public sector workers despite the party's efforts to distance itself from the measure.
Bob Rae was appointed the sixth chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University on July 2, 2003, and was installed at that school's fall convocation in October.
He is still a popular figure, and there are rumours that the the federal Liberal party has tried to recruit him.
Rae's brother John is Vice-President of Power Corporation, is a prominent member of the Liberal Party of Canada, and had been an advisor to Jean Chretien since the 1970s.
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Preceded by: David Peterson | List of Ontario premiers |
Succeeded by: Mike Harris |
