the next four years. She was also re-appointed as Minister responsible for Women's Issues on February 8, 2001. In 2002, she supported Ernie Eves to replace Mike Harris as party leader. Cunningham was often criticized for the way her department managed the elimination of OAC levels from Ontario's high-school system. The decision reduced the standard high-school honours degree program from five years to four, and resulted in a "double cohort" of new university students when the policy first came into effect. University entrance marks were raised to what some considered high levels; for example, the University of Western Ontario raised their entrance cutoff to an 80% average. Because of this, many students were unable to attend the university of their choice, and poor departmental planning was frequently blamed. She ran for re-election in the 2003 election, but lost to Deb Matthews by over 6,000 votes in the landslide victory that brought the Ontario Liberal Party to power. Cabinet posts Later life After the election, she was appointed Director of the Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management. References External links 1939 births 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Politicians from London, Ontario Politicians from Toronto Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Women government ministers of Canada Women MPPs in Ontario