He was an NDP member of the provincial legislature from 1977 to 1997, and was a senior cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.
Cooke, as one of the party's most senior MPPs, was appointed Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs on October 1, 1990.
As Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, Cooke announced that the government would restrict most rent increases to 4.6% for the present year and 5.4% for 1991.
[10] A few days after the policy announcement, a landlord group placed a $25,000 advertisement in The Wall Street Journal suggesting that investors avoid Ontario.
[12] On February 3, 1993, Cooke was promoted to the high-profile position of Minister of Education, which he retained for the remainder of the Rae government's time in office.
[4][13] Cooke endorsed the Rae government's establishment of a casino in Windsor as a means of stimulating the city's economy during the recession of the early 1990s.
[18][19] In 2008, he was appointed by Windsor mayor Eddie Francis to chair a committee to examine the feasibility of a marina-canal plan in the city's downtown area.