Carroll was educated at the University of Toronto, and worked as a high school teacher.
[2] He served as a backbench supporter of Mike Harris's government for the next four years, and was a parliamentary assistant from 1996 to 1999.
Several sitting MPPs were forced to run against one another, and Carroll was defeated by Liberal MPP Pat Hoy by 8,001 votes in the new riding of Chatham—Kent—Essex.
[3] During the election, the national media reported an extremely large demonstration against the Progressive Conservative government in Chatham.
Carroll supported the Reform Party at the federal level in the 1990s, and endorsed Tom Long's bid to lead the Canadian Alliance in 2000.