 In the provincial election of 1999, Cunningham narrowly defeated New Democratic Party Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Marion Boyd in the redistributed riding of London North Centre (the Harris government had previously reduced the number of provincial ridings from 130 to 103, forcing many MPPs to run against one another).Following the election, she was promoted to Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, and retained that portfolio for the next four years.She was also re-appointed as Minister responsible for Women's Issues on February 8, 2001.