Karen Haslam - Provincial Politics

Provincial Politics

She first ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1990 provincial election, and was elected over her Liberal opponent by almost 3,000 votes in the southwestern Ontario riding of Perth. The NDP under Rae won a majority government in this election, and Haslam was initially appointed as a Deputy Speaker. On July 31, 1991, she was promoted to cabinet as Minister of Culture and Communications.

Haslam's cabinet performance was criticized in some circles, particularly for her controversial management of the Art Gallery of Ontario. On February 3, 1993 she was appointed to the cabinet position of minister without portfolio responsible for health serving as Associate Minister of Health to Minister of Health Ruth Grier.

She subsequently emerged as a prominent opponent of the Rae government's Social Contract austerity legislation, which revised labour contracts and mandated unpaid leave days for many provincial workers. After the government decided to move forward with the legislation, Haslam resigned her cabinet position on June 14, 1993. She was the only cabinet minister in the Rae government to resign on principle over this matter. Later, she joined with maverick NDP MPPs Peter Kormos and Mark Morrow and former New Democrat Dennis Drainville to vote against the legislation.

Haslam's decision won her the respect of many dissidents within the party. The NDP were defeated in the 1995 provincial election, and Haslam lost her own seat to Progressive Conservative Bert Johnson, but she managed a credible second-place finish in a riding where the NDP had little historical support.