He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 1990, and was a cabinet minister in the government of David Peterson.
Fontaine acknowledged his mistake, saying that he had forgotten to disclose the shares as required be Peterson's conflict-of-interest guidelines.
He resigned both his portfolio and his seat in the legislature on June 26, stating that he wanted to be exonerated by the people of his riding in a by-election.
Fontaine easily defeated a spread of minor candidates; he was not immediately re-appointed to cabinet, but served as a parliamentary assistant in the first part of 1987.
[3] Peterson's Liberals won a landslide majority government in the 1987 provincial election, and Fontaine was re-elected by almost 4,000 votes over Len Wood of the NDP.