She was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995 and served as a minister in the government of Bob Rae.
[3] In October 1991, a humorous incident occurred when Haslam was escorting Prince Charles on a tour of the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) when she caught her heel in a door sill and her shoe fell off.
In July 1992 the AGO was planning a three-month closure for a scheduled expansion but instead it closed for seven months and laid off half of its staff.
Later, she joined with maverick NDP MPPs Peter Kormos and Mark Morrow and former New Democrat Dennis Drainville to vote against the legislation.
[12] In 1999, Haslam supported Canadian Union of Public Employees workers in Stratford during a protracted strike in the city.
The following year, she scored an upset victory over incumbent Dave Hunt for mayor of the city,[13] winning by 6305 votes to 4228.
[citation needed] In October 2005, Haslam took on the position of Provincial Secretary of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party.