[7] Gerrard became active with the Liberal Party of Canada while working on his undergraduate degree, impressed with Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson's positions on social and international issues.

Gerrard indicated that his plan would be targeted toward creating jobs, reinforcing Canada's cultural identity, and ensuring universal internet access at affordable rates.

[14] He officially launched an $80 million action plan on January 30, 1995, providing funding for online applications in the fields of business, research, health care and education.

[16] Speaking to an interviewer in 2007, he said that the highlight of his political career was convincing the Chrétien government to include a reference to the information highway in its first throne speech.

He indicated that the Chrétien government would "apply pro-competition policies wherever ... they make sense"[18] and added: Traditionally, firms in telecommunications, broadcasting, cable and information industries have operated in separate markets enjoying neither competition nor collaboration.

This process had three aspects: an internal review, an independent assessment from the National Advisory Board on Science and Technology, and a series of consultations with interested Canadians.

He oversaw the expansion of the Community Futures Development Corporation Network throughout Western Canada, and worked with Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy to ensure a secure transition of the Port of Churchill rail line from Canadian National to OmniTRAX.

Gerrard ran in the new riding of Selkirk—Interlake, and lost to Reform Party candidate Howard Hilstrom by 66 votes in a very close three-way contest.

[31] Gerrard set modest goals for his party in the 1999 provincial election, saying that the Liberals could win between ten and fifteen seats to hold the balance of power in a minority government.

[36] On election day, Gerrard personally defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Mike Radcliffe in the upscale Winnipeg division of River Heights, which Carstairs had previously represented, but the Liberals won no other seats.

[44][45] Liberal support declined in the final stage of the campaign,[46] and the party ultimately polled a slightly lower percentage of votes relative to its 1999 result.

Gerrard was nevertheless returned without difficulty in River Heights, and former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Kevin Lamoureux gave the party a second seat by retaking his old division of Inkster.

Gerrard said in interview after his defeat that he got "caught in an orange wave" with strategic voting and anger towards the governing Conservatives denying him another term.

[55] He later called for changes to Manitoba's adult heart surgery program, after figures obtained through a freedom of information request showed an increasing number of fatalities.

[56] Gerrard wrote a Winnipeg Free Press column criticizing the Doer government for health-care delays in 2005,[57] and later argued that personal health information should be made more easily accessible to patients and their families.

[60] Shortly after the 1999 election, Gerrard took part in an all-party delegation to Ottawa to lobby the federal government for a cash bailout for struggling western farmers.

[61] In early 2004, Gerrard wrote a guest column in the Winnipeg Free Press calling on the federal government to test every beef and dairy cow over thirty months for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

[67] In early 2005, Gerrard wrote that the Doer government had not taken proper steps to regulate the province's burgeoning internet pharmaceutical industry.

This industry was popular with American customers, and Gerrard's column was written at a time when the federal government was seeking to impose greater control over the sector.

The bill was modeled after similar legislation in British Columbia, and was intended to allow medical professionals to apologize to patients without risking legal charges.

[70] Gerrard has also called for a public inquiry into the New Democratic Party government's alleged role in failing to prevent the financial collapse of the Crocus Investment Fund.

[74] He also criticized the Doer government's decision to build a Manitoba Hydro power line on the west side of Lake Winnipeg, and called for the public to be directly consulted on the issue through non-binding referendums.