Townsman, 1991-02, Page 7days over a two week period they
dealt with everything from handling
the stress of their new jobs to
hearing from veteran ,nembers who
brought home the realities of the
fact they can't solve all the pro-
blems they wanted to solve.
It was at the first of these
sessions that the change in Karen
Haslam's life set in for her family.
Her mother was watching on TV as
reporters interviewed the new
MPPs. One asked who she was and
she replied she was the MPP from
Perth and her mother was so
impressed watching her confident,
in -control daughter on television
that she realized how their world
had changed.
Her family life was one of the
constants of her life, Haslam re-
calls, despite the prospect of now
having two homes and spending so
much time away from home. "It
was a given fact that it was a time
for me to get involved at another
level." Her husband had encourag-
ed her to run, saying she was the
best candidate available. He has
made extra time since her win to
spend more time at home with their
teenage children while she's away.
Her son has been kidded, asked
what it's like to live in a single
parent family but he replies nothing
has really changed because his
mother has always been involved in
community activities.
The orientation sessions brought
the rookie MPPs together. The
Orientation sessions
brought rookies
together
number of women in the caucus
made it a different situation with
their unique problems of everything
from feeling alone living away from
their families, to daycare for child-
ren to feeling safe on the streets of
Toronto, she says.
Besides the party -sponsored
orientation there was an orientation
day put on by the Legislature itself
as rookie MPPs from all parties
were shown to their seats and senior
bureaucrats introduced themselves
and explained how the legislature
and government worked.
There were simple and practical
problems for the rookies. MPPs get
paid at the end of each month so by
the end of September with transpor-
tation costs and living costs in
Toronto, and having left their old
jobs behind, many were strapped
for cash.
Like Klopp, Haslam says her
phone started ringing the day after
the election and didn't stop for two
weeks. There was a problem finding
a place to set up a constituency
office in Stratford and for a month
and a half she worked off the
kitchen table in her home. There
was local constituency staff to be
hired and there was no help in the
Legislature and she did her own
typing and office work until staff
could be hired and an office set up.
Then Oct. 1 the reality of being
part of the government began when
So far, says Karen Haslam, there have been no reasons she's had to compromise her true beliefs to political
necessity.
TOWNSMAN/FEBRUARY-MARCH 1991 5