His parents were Lois Esther (George) and Saul Rae,[12] an eminent Canadian career diplomat who had postings in Washington, Geneva, New York, Mexico, and The Hague.

Rae's supporters in caucus were Marion Bryden, Brian Charlton, Dave Cooke, Odoardo Di Santo, Tony Grande, Donald C. MacDonald, Robert Mackenzie, Elie Martel, Ed Philip, George Samis and Mel Swart.

Rae was strongly critical of the Bill Davis government's approach to social issues, and used his acceptance speech to describe the PC Party's Ontario as "Toryland", "essentially a country club in which women and people of colour were not welcome".

Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) Jim Renwick, Marion Bryden and Tony Grande all declined to relinquish their seats, before former party leader Donald C. MacDonald agreed to stand down in the York South constituency.

[41] With support from Rae, Peterson's minority government implemented socially progressive legislation on matters such as pay equity, brought an end to extra-billing by doctors, and established campaign spending limits.

He was especially critical of Conrad Black, who then held a controlling interest in Dominion Stores Ltd., for withdrawing $62 million at a time when many laid off company workers were unable to receive severance pay.

Following discussions with Chief Gary Potts, Rae agreed to participate in a road sit-in to protect a strand of old pine, a key aspect of the native claim.

High-profile party members such as former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis, Allan Blakeney and Roy Romanow of Saskatchewan, Gary Doer of Manitoba and Alexa McDonough of Nova Scotia all encouraged him to run, as did several representatives of organized labour.

Due to the nature of the first-past-the-post electoral system, which ignores the popular vote and only awards power based on the number of ridings won, this decimated the Liberal caucus.

Richard Walkom suggested it was a sudden panic of an NDP party aware of the stereotype it could not manage a budget, using the crisis as an opportunity to demonstrate it would use extreme measures in the appropriate circumstances.

[citation needed] The Rae government established an employment equity commission in 1991,[75] and two years later introduced affirmative action to improve the numbers of women, non-whites, aboriginals and disabled persons working across the private and public sectors.

Gerard Kennedy, leader of the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto, criticized Rae for not targeting the money toward affordable housing and welfare reforms.

During a meeting with Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari in 1991, he argued that any proposed North American free trade zone would have to incorporate common environmental and labour standards.

[92] Rae later introduced policies requiring Ontario police services to hire more women, disabled people, native Canadians and members of visible minority groups.

Rae announced that his government planned to introduce legislation for a "common pause day" across Ontario, "to help strengthen family and community life while protecting small business and the rights of workers".

However, several unpopular policy reversals and mistakes by Liberal leader Lyn McLeod allowed Mike Harris and the Tories to benefit from the swing in support away from the NDP.

Several working-class ridings which had long voted NDP became disgruntled with the party due to the Social Contract and affirmative action, so they were attracted by Harris' populism and shifted to the Tories.

[citation needed] Rae also became a partner at Goodmans LLP, a Toronto-based corporate law firm, an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, and a Senior Fellow of Massey College.

[2] Rae returned to active politics on April 16, 2002, two days after Mike Harris announced his resignation as premier, with an opinion piece in the National Post newspaper.

Relations with the CAW remain especially fraught, and memories of the social contract have hurt the NDP's credibility with a new generation of public sector workers, despite the party's efforts to distance itself from the measure.

Rae defended his report, arguing that low income non-university individuals would not benefit from a tuition freeze/lowering, as well as being forced to bear the tax burden needed to enact it.

[citation needed] Rae has also become involved with international issues; in 2002 and 2003, as chair of the Forum of Federations he helped oversee constitutional discussions between the government of Sri Lanka and Tamil Tiger rebels.

Two days later, Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan announced Rae's appointment to conduct a limited inquiry into Air India under a government order-in-council.

[citation needed] The new government of Stephen Harper appointed a judge to handle the Air India inquiry in March 2006 thus releasing Rae from his previous commitment and freeing him for a possible run for the Liberal Party leadership.

However, Rae lost his bid for the leadership in the third round of Convention balloting, placing third behind both Michael Ignatieff and Stéphane Dion, who had leapfrogged into first after receiving the support of Gerard Kennedy.

After Prime Minister Harper convinced the Governor General to prorogue parliament on December 4, 2008, and with Dion pressured to resign immediately as party leader, Rae took on the role of coalition spokesman.

[132] On June 19, 2013, Rae announced that he would be leaving parliament[133] in order to serve as chief negotiator and counsel for the Matawa First Nations in Northern Ontario's Ring of Fire;[8] his resignation took effect on July 31.

[citation needed] After stepping down, Rae has also become a public speaker focusing on Canada's role in the world, Aboriginal issues, human rights, healthcare, and education.

He also has a mandate "to promote accountability for alleged crimes perpetrated against vulnerable populations, including the Rohingya Muslim community, other religious and ethnic minorities, and women and girls".

[142] After the killing of Russia military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in April 2023, Rae made a statement on Twitter describing him as a "vitriolic propagandist" for his support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.