as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Energy, Jenny Carter. He was appointed to cabinet on March 18, 1991, as Minister of Financial Institutions. He was also named Minister Responsible for Auto Insurance. He was named acting Minister of Energy on February 14, 1992, finally being appointed to the full portfolio on September 23 of the same year. Following a cabinet shuffle on February 3, 1993, he was named Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet as well as government House Leader. After campaigning on a platform of publicly funded automobile insurance, the New Democrats backtracked due to the recession in the 1990s. Charlton took over management of the issue in 1991 and handled it through to the passing of Bill 164 in July 1993. The bill increased benefits for accident victims under the new no-fault system. As Chair of the Management Board, Charlton faced a broad range of issues that concerned the public. However, one issue in particular raised a few eyebrows. In 1993 the government published a job advertisement for a management board director. The ad read that competition was limited to, "...aboriginal peoples, francophones, persons with disabilities, racial minorities and women." Many read this to mean that "white males" would be excluded and that this was a broad-minded government policy. Charlton said, "Most of the backlash was in fact the impression that all government jobs were going to be handled in that way, which wasn't correct." The government pulled the ad after the ensuing controversy. In February 1995, Charlton suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized but returned to work three weeks later. He ran in the June 1995 provincial election but he finished third behind Liberal Marie Bountrogianni and the winner, Progressive Conservative Trevor Pettit. Cabinet positions Later life After leaving office, Charlton worked as an executive assistant to Howard Hampton, the Ontario NDP leader who followed Bob Rae. As of 2012, Charlton is the past chair of Green Venture, a non-profit group which focuses on sustainable living initiatives. and has chaired employment adjustment committees for the Hamilton Steelworkers Area Council and the Canadian Auto Workers. Electoral record References External links 1947 births Canadian socialists Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs Politicians from Hamilton, Ontario