He served as a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1971 to 1986, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Howard Pawley.
Rose, called after the sitting MLA, former Liberal leader Gildas Molgat, was appointed to the Senate of Canada.
[1] Although the NDP had never won the seat before, Adam scored a convincing victory over his Liberal and Progressive Conservative opponents, and provided Edward Schreyer's government with a functioning majority.
The NDP under Pawley returned to government in the election of 1981, although Adam ironically faced the toughest re-election challenge of his career, defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Ivan Traill by fewer than 200 votes.
He was relieved of the latter position on August 20, 1982, and of the former on November 4, 1983, when he was named Minister of Government Services in a cabinet shuffle.