MPs: 3 Scott Brison, Gurbax Malhi, Judy Sgro Date campaign launched: April 7, 2006 Date officially registered: May 2, 2006 Number of ballots: 4 Result: Lost to Stéphane Dion on the fourth and final ballot. Gerard Kennedy Gerard Kennedy, 46, was Minister of Education in the Ontario provincial government of Dalton McGuinty from 2003 until 2006 when he resigned to enter the federal Liberal leadership campaign. Kennedy was a key player in rebuilding the Ontario Liberal Party and bringing it to government in the 2003 provincial election. As Education Minister, he was widely viewed as having restored faith in the public education system after years of growing support for private schools. He resigned from cabinet on April 5 in order to enter the race. He was the runner-up in the 1996 Ontario Liberal leadership election, having finished in first place on the first four ballots, he was defeated by McGuinty on the fifth and final ballot. He was viewed by many journalists as being on the left wing of the party. High profile supporters Kennedy was backed by Senator Terry Mercer, former national director of the federal Liberal Party. He also enjoyed the support of former Premier of Prince Edward Island Keith Milligan and former Premier of New Brunswick Ray Frenette. While former cabinet minister Joe Fontana continued to support Kennedy, he resigned his seat in the House of Commons during the leadership campaign to run for Mayor of London. On November 25, The Globe and Mail reported that Justin Trudeau (who would win the 2013 convention and become Prime Minister in 2015) declared support for Kennedy's leadership bid. Supporters in caucus prior to first ballot: 19 MPs: 13 Omar Alghabra, Navdeep Bains, Brenda Chamberlain, Raymond Chan, Mark Holland, Gurbax Malhi, Dan McTeague, Bernard Patry, Mario Silva, Scott Simms, Brent St. Denis, Andrew Telegdi, Borys Wrzesnewskyj Senators: 6 Sen. Larry Campbell, Sen. Aurélien Gill, Sen. Sandra Lovelace Nicholas, Sen. Terry Mercer, Sen. Robert Peterson, Sen. Charlie Watt Date campaign launched: April 27, 2006 Date officially registered: May 17, 2006 Number of ballots: 2 Result: Placed fourth on second ballot. Withdrew to support Dion. Bob Rae Bob Rae, 58, was the Ontario New Democratic Party Premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995 and was a federal NDP MP for Broadview—Greenwood in the House of Commons from 1978 to 1982. Since leaving electoral politics, Rae worked on a number of contentious issues