 She left Cornwall to attend the University of Toronto.Returning at age 20, MacDonald ran in the 1999 provincial election as the New Democratic Party candidate in the electoral district of Stormont—Dundas—Charlottenburgh.Facing two redistributed incumbents (Liberal John Cleary and Tory Noble Villeneuve) for a single seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, she was given next to no chance to win the election.