 From 1934 to 1941, he was the Minister of Lands and Forests in the provincial government of Mitchell Hepburn.Heenan was charged with promoting Hepburn's policies on natural resource development, including the aggressive position with respect to timber licenses in Northern Ontario that were being held by companies that would not (or could not) cut wood on them.In that regard, in 1936 the "Forest Resources Regulation Act" was passed that granted the government broad powers for mandating minimum production quotas, maximum limits in line with good forestry practice, reducing licensed acreages where they were in excess of requirements, and increasing stumpage fees on companies "operating or carrying on business in a manner detrimental to the public interest."