Rae ministry

The Rae ministry was the combined cabinet that governed Ontario from October 1, 1990, to June 26, 1995. It was led by the 21st Premier of Ontario, Bob Rae. The ministry was made up of members of the Ontario New Democratic Party, which commanded a majority in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
The ministry replaced the Peterson ministry following the 1990 Ontario general election. The ministry governed through all of the 35th Parliament of Ontario.
After the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario secured a majority in the 1995 Ontario general election, Rae resigned, and was succeeded as Premier of Ontario by Mike Harris.

History

The Rae Ministry is formed

There were 28 portfolios at the beginning of the Rae ministry. There was only one instance of ministerial portfolio reorganisation as Rae took over from Peterson: Solicitor General and Ministry of Correctional Services were combined into "Solicitor General and Minister of Correctional Services".

Early Changes

The first big change to come to the Rae ministry was the departure of Peter Kormos as Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations and Minister of Financial Institutions on April 18, 1991, just past the six month mark of the mandate. Kormos had been tasked to implement a public auto insurance system, one of the promises of the recent election campaign, but partly because Kormos was such a disruptive presence in the ministry, and partly because the party would soon abandon that promise, Kormos was dismissed from the ministry. He was succeeded at Consumer and Commercial Relations by Marilyn Churley and at Financial Institutions by Brian Charlton, both newly appointed cabinet ministers.
A month later, on April 18, 1991, Evelyn Gigantes became the second high-profile departure, stepping down after violating the confidentiality of an Ontarian seeking treatment outside of Canada. She was replaced as Minister of Health by Frances Lankin, who surrendered her Ministry of Government Services portfolio to newly appointed cabinet minister Fred Wilson.
There were two instances of ministerial portfolio reorganisation:

Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing was divided into a "Ministry of Municipal Affairs", and a "Ministry of Housing".
Ministry of Northern Development and Ministry of Mines were combined into the "Ministry of Northern Development and Mines".

Alas, in the months to come, more members were step down: Zanana Akande resigned in a conflict of interest scandal October 10, 1991; newly appointed cabinet minister William Ferguson resigned February 12, 1992 from his post a Minister of Energy from her post as Minister of Community and Social Services amid allegations of having committed a sexual assault while working as a correctional officer at a girl's reform school in the 1970s ; and Peter North resigned on November 13, 1992, from his post as Minister of Tourism and Recreation amid allegations of having offered a job to a person he was hoping to start a relationship with.

The Last Days of Rae

Only eleven cabinet members held their seats and the NDP caucus shrank from 74 to 17.

Summary

33 people served in the Rae ministry. Thirteen were women.
Zanana Akande was the only person of colour to serve; she was Minister of Community and Social Services from October 1, 1990, to October 10, 1991.
Everyone who served in the cabinet was culturally Christian; this was the last time Ontario had an all-Christian ministry. Bob Rae has strong family ties to the Jewish faith, and he is a member of Holy Blossom Temple, a Reform Jewish congregation in Toronto, but he was raised Anglican and has never formally converted to Judaism.
The Rae ministry began with 26 cabinet members and ended with 22; it began with 27 portfolios and ended with 21. It is unusual for ministries to shrink in size in either respect.