Jenny Carter (born December 26, 1931) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, and served as a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.

Carter obtained a degree in French from the University of London and degrees in English and Canadian Studies from Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, and a post-graduate certificate from the Institute of Education.^[1] She worked as a secondary school teacher before entering political life.^[2]

Carter's husband Cyril, who once ran for the federal New Democratic Party, died in 1993. As of 2017, Trent University offers Cyril and Jenny Carter Scholarships in Environmental Studies and Mathematics.^[3]

In the 1990 provincial election she ran as the NDP candidate in the riding of Peterborough. She defeated Liberal incumbent Peter Adams by 134 votes.^[4][5]

She was appointed to Rae's first cabinet on October 1, 1990, as the provincial Minister of Energy.^[6] A self-confessed novice, she said that her husband knew more about the energy sector then she did.^[1] Shortly after her appointment her husband who was a member of the Peterborough Utilities Commission resigned his post. He said, "Legally, I have no conflict but I recognize the public perception of conflict of interest is wider than the strict legal definition of a specific pecuniary interest."^[7]

In November 1990, Carter announced that the government was putting a freeze on the construction of nuclear plants. She told Ontario Hydro to divert $240 million earmarked for site preparation for new nuclear plants to instead be used for energy conservation efforts. Carter who earlier said in a speech to the house that she was an anti-nuclear activist declared, "We cannot afford to keep building power stations at $25 billion each." She promised to give priority to new hydroelectric and natural gas projects.^[8] Rather than a total ban, she said that she would await the outcome of a study of Ontario's energy needs for the next 25 years.^[9]

In March 1991, Carter announced that the government would switch heating in public housing projects to gas from electricity. She said, "installing gas heating in new non-profit homes will save 100 megawatts."^[10]

In July 1991, Carter was dropped from cabinet. Critics said that she failed to establish herself as energy minister. She was replaced by Will Ferguson.^[11] For the remainder of her term, she served as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Citizenship.

In 1995 Carter lost to Progressive Conservative Gary Stewart in her bid for re-election.^[12]

Since leaving politics, Carter has contributed occasional articles to the Peterborough Collective and has served on the Peterborough NDP riding association executive. She married climate change activist Ken Ranney, co-founder of the Stop Climate Change political party.^[13]