Everything about Paul Martin totally explained
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin PC, MP (also known as
Paul Martin, Jr.) (born
August 28,
1938) was the twenty-first
Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the
Liberal Party of Canada.
On
November 14,
2003, Martin succeeded
Jean Chrétien as leader of the Liberal Party and became Prime Minister on
December 12,
2003. The
2004 election yielded a
minority government in which the Liberals under Martin remained in power. Forced by a
confidence vote, the
2006 general election produced a minority victory for the opposition
Conservative Party, making
Stephen Harper Prime Minister. Martin resigned as parliamentary leader after the election. He stayed on as party leader until
March 18, handing the reins to interim Liberal leader
Bill Graham.
Martin has served as the
Member of Parliament for the
riding of
LaSalle—Émard in
Montreal since the
1988 election. He served as
Minister of Finance from 1993 to 2002. He oversaw many changes in the financial structure of the Canadian government, and his policies had a direct effect on eliminating the country's chronic fiscal deficit by reforming various programs including social services.
According to Canadian protocol, as a former Prime Minister, he retains the title "
The Right Honourable" for life.
Early life
Paul Martin was born in
Windsor,
Ontario. His father,
Paul Joseph James Martin, a
Franco-Ontarian of half Irish and half French descent, served thirty-three years as a member of the
Canadian House of Commons, and was a
Cabinet minister in four Liberal governments. His mother, Eleanor "Nelly" Alice Adams, was of Scottish, Irish, and
Métis descent. He has one sister, Mary Anne. Martin grew up in Windsor and
Ottawa. To give him the opportunity to improve his French, his parents enrolled him in a private
French-language
middle school, École Garneau in Ottawa. He then briefly attended the
University of Ottawa.
Martin then went on to study at the
University of St. Michael's College at the
University of Toronto, and graduated with a BA in history and philosophy in 1961. He followed his father's path to the University of Toronto Law School where he received his LL.B in 1965. He was called to the Ontario bar in 1966.
In 1965, Martin married Sheila Ann Cowan, with whom he's three sons: Paul, Jamie and David.
Business career
Power Corporation
In 1963, a non-controlling share of CSL was purchased by Montreal-headquartered
Power Corporation, a Quebec industrial conglomerate with interests in electricity generation, pulp and paper, and oil and gas. CSL continued operating and expanding its great lakes shipping line and the Collingwood and Lauzon shipyards through the 1960s, and witnessed several labour disputes.
Board of directors
In 1969, Power Corporation took a controlling-share in CSL. On
December 2,
1970, Paul Martin, the 32-year old executive assistant to Power Corporation
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Maurice Strong, was appointed to the CSL board of directors. In 1971 CSL minority shareholders sold outstanding shares to Power Corporation, making CSL a Power Corporation subsidiary.
At this time, CSL was given elevated status, where in the words of Power Corporation "...in order to increase its [PowerCorporation's] own cash flow and take advantage of new federal tax regulations benefiting operating companies over holding companies, CSL took over most of Power’s investment portfolio at book value."
Presidency
CSL suffered losses in 1972 when forced to cover unexpected cost overruns in the construction of three 80,000-ton ocean-going
tankers at Davie Shipbuilding. On
November 22,
1973 Paul Martin was appointed President and CEO of the CSL Group. The global business and financial body listed Martin along with United States Secretary of State
Colin Powell and United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan as top world leaders.
Also during his tenure as finance minister, Martin coordinated a series of meetings between the finance ministers of all provinces to discuss how to address the pending crisis in the
Canada Pension Plan (CPP). Consequently, Martin oversaw the creation of a general public consultation process in February 1996 that eventually led to major structural reform of the CPP. The results of this public consultation process were collected and analyzed by the Finance ministry. Eventually, it led to a proposal for overhauling the CPP, which was presented to Parliament and was approved soon after, thereby averting a pension crisis if left unaddressed. It wasn't a "deal for a generation" as promised in the election, but it was a decade-long financial commitment that was expected to lower the heat in federal-provincial relations, which had worsened during Chrétien's time in office.
Martin also introduced changes to the equalization program, under which the Federal Government is constitutionally obligated to redistribute federal revenue to provinces having less ability to raise revenues through taxation than wealthier provinces. The goal in doing so is to ensure uniformity of public service provision across the nation. This was received positively in "have not" provinces, but
Nova Scotia and
Newfoundland and Labrador sought to retain income from natural resources on federal marine territory that would generally be taken, or 'clawed back' by the federal treasury in lieu of equalization payments. In the 2004 federal election campaign, Harper provided in writing a promise that the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia under a Conservative government would receive 100 per cent of the revenue generated from their natural resources without an equalization clawback, a promise he later reneged upon when elected as Prime Minister. NDP leader
Jack Layton followed suit soon after with a similar guarantee, and later Martin promised that under a Liberal government both provinces would receive the same deal, except only for oil resources. Negotiations over the agreement would be harsh, with
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams, at one point ordering all Canadian flags removed from provincial government buildings in December, 2004. The dispute was resolved when the federal government agreed to Martin's original campaign promise.
Same-sex marriage proved to be a
defining issue of Martin's mandate. Martin opposed same-sex marriage in a 1999 vote on the issue along with a majority of MPs, but changed his stance on the issue in 2004, citing recent court rulings and his personal belief that same sex marriage was primarily a human rights issue. In the midst of various court rulings in 2003 and 2004 that allowed for the legalization of same-sex marriages in seven provinces and one territory, the government proposed a bill to legalize
same-sex marriage across Canada. The House of Commons passed the
Civil Marriage Act in late June 2005 in a late night, last-minute vote before Parliament closed down, the
Senate passed it in July 2005, and it received
Royal Assent on
July 20 of the same year. This made Canada the fourth country in the world to allow same-sex marriages.
Martin also negotiated a ten year, $41 billion dollar plan to improve health care and reduce wait times. He signed agreements with all provinces to establish a national early learning and child care program.
In November 2005, the Martin government reached an historic consensus with Canada's provinces, territories, First Nations, Métis and Inuit people. Known as the Kelowna Accord, this aimed to eliminate the gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians in the areas of health, education, housing and economic opportunity.
2005 Budget
The
2005 federal budget was presented in the House of Commons on
February 23,
2005. The budget included an array of new spending for the
Armed Forces, the environment and for a national child care program.
Public hearings of the
Gomery Commission inquiry into the
sponsorship scandal involving alleged kickbacks and "donations" from
Quebec advertising agencies and corporations to Liberal Party operatives led to a drop in the Liberal Party's popularity. The security of the minority government came under fire as the Conservatives threatened to force an election by use of their "opposition day," when they get to set the Parliament's agenda. The Conservatives would use this time to hold a
vote of no confidence in order to topple Martin's government. To avoid this, Martin removed all opposition days from the schedule and made a televised appearance on
April 21,
2005, to attempt to gain support from the Canadian people to let the inquiry run its course before an election is called. In the rebuttal speeches by the opposition party leaders, Layton offered his party's support provided that they were given major concessions in the budget such as canceling the proposed corporate tax cuts. Days later, the Liberals took the NDP up on their offer and negotiated tax cut deferments and new spending initiatives. Among the new commitments was aid for
Sudan, which Sudan's officials turned down as Martin didn't consult them about it beforehand. This aid was attacked as a perceived attempt to win the vote of a single independent MP, former Liberal
David Kilgour. Kilgour nevertheless would vote against the government.
In May, Parliament passed a motion asking one of its committees to express a lack of confidence in the government. The Liberals dismissed this as a procedural matter, causing some to accuse them of governing unlawfully by ignoring parliamentary tradition. The Conservatives and Bloc interpreted it as a vote of no confidence, and they combined their votes to shut down the House of Commons early for two days in a row. The Speaker of the House of Commons later ruled in favour of the Liberal stance.
On
May 17,
2005,
MP Belinda Stronach crossed the floor from the Conservative Party and joined the Liberal Party to become
Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development. Martin claimed Stronach's move was due to concerns over the direction the Conservative Party was taking, while others accused Stronach of political opportunism. This event changed the balance of power in the
House of Commons in favour of the government. This, and the support of independent MP
Chuck Cadman, caused a tie during a May 2005 confidence vote, meaning that
Peter Milliken,
Speaker of the House needed to cast the deciding vote. He voted with the government, following the tradition that the Speaker votes to continue debate, and that allowed the budget to pass through the House on
May 19,
2005.
Foreign relations
On
February 24,
2005, Foreign Affairs Minister
Pierre Pettigrew told the House of Commons that Canada wouldn't participate in the
American National Missile Defense Program, and that he expected to be consulted in the case of a missile being launched over Canadian air space. Martin's decision came with much praise, but others saw that the government was distancing itself from the U.S. His government continued to cooperate with the United States on border control, refugee claimants, and defence, and he appointed seasoned Liberal politician
Frank McKenna as Canada's ambassador to Washington.
Martin was criticized for failing to reach a foreign-aid target of 0.7 per cent of
GDP, most notably by
Bono of Irish rock group
U2 (who claimed that he was going to "kick
[Martin's] butt," over the issue). Martin later responded that, in his view, many foreign leaders had made pledges that were too fanciful and that he'd only commit to targets that he knew his government could be held accountable for.
Martin promoted the expansion of the
G8 into a larger group of twenty nations
G20. He also forged a closer relationship with the
People's Republic of China by announcing the
strategic partnership initiative during PRC President
Hu Jintao's
state visit to Canada in September, 2005.
Appointment of Governor General
On
August 4,
2005, the government announced that Martin had advised
Queen Elizabeth II to appoint
Michaëlle Jean as
Governor General. The reception to the appointment was mixed: some, including Harper, applauded the move, while accusations that her husband had both dined with former members of the terrorist organization,
FLQ, and had been supportive of
Quebec separatism in the past surprised others. Subsequent to her appointment she reaffirmed her commitment to
federalism and the issue died down.
Fall of government
The first volume of the Gomery Report, released on
November 1 2005, cleared Martin of any wrong doing while placing some blame for the scandal on former Prime Minister
Jean Chrétien for lack of oversight, although it acknowledged that Chrétien had no knowledge of the scandal. However, many have criticized the Gomery Inquiry as not having the scope to assign criminal responsibility for the Scandal or to investigate Martin's role, and indeed some have accused Martin of purposely "tying Gomery's hands." Gomery specifically said that Martin "is entitled, like other ministers from the Quebec caucus, to be exonerated from any blame for carelessness or misconduct", as the Department of Finance's role wasn't oversight, but setting the "fiscal framework".
A Canadian judge issued a gag order that barred Canadian media from covering the hearings of the
Gomery Inquiry. Despite this ban, leaked information circulated after being published in an American
blog.
After the Gomery findings, NDP leader
Jack Layton notified the Liberals of conditions for the NDP's continued support, one of which included a ban on private health care. Martin turned down the offer, as well as rejecting an opposition proposal schedule an election for February 2006, in return for passing several pieces of legislation. The Conservatives, supported by the other two opposition parties (the NDP and Bloc Québécois), introduced a
motion of non confidence against the Martin government. The motion passed on
November 28 by a count of 171–133, defeating the government, after which the Governor General issued the
election writs for a
vote to be held on
January 23 2006.
The motion was notable in that it was the first time a ruling government had been defeated on a non-confidence motion not associated with any legislation; previous defeats of minority governments in Canada had occurred in connection with the failure of financial legislation, such as budget bills in the case of
Joe Clark and
Pierre Trudeau or supply in the case of
Arthur Meighen.
According to Jordan Glass, Canadian political scientist, Paul Martin is seen as the epitome of neo-liberalism as a CSL CEO and Prime Minister. Other commentators described his tenure as Prime Minister as unfocused and indecisive, with the
The Economist referring to him as "Mr. Dithers".
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2006 Federal election
For Martin and the Liberals, the 56-day campaign entailed an emphasis on choosing a vision of Canada different from that of the Conservatives, centering on issues of health care, daycare, tax cutting, and national autonomy. Instead, the campaign focused on the perception of corruption within the Liberal Party, stemming from revelations of details regarding the
Sponsorship Scandal.
Martin became involved in a diplomatic row with the United States administration after accusing, with
Bill Clinton, the US of not listening to
global environmental concerns. Martin rejected the US Ambassador
David Wilkins' rebuke and stated that he was standing up for Canada's interests over softwood and other issues. Wilkins, Conservative Leader
Stephen Harper, and NDP leader
Jack Layton accused Martin of orchestrating a row with the US in order to garner public support during an election campaign, and noted that Canada's record in cutting
carbon dioxide emissions is worse than that of the US.
Prior to the campaign and upon
dropping of the writs,
opinion polling indicated the Liberals were ahead of the Conservatives by 2-10% popular support (
November 30,
2005: Liberals 35%, Conservatives 30%). However, the Liberal lead didn't last. They didn't plan much serious campaigning during December, allowed the Conservatives to take the initiative in rolling out policy ideas. Several early gaffes were picked up by an
unsympathetic media. One notable gaffe was Liberal Party strategist
Scott Reid's suggestion that parents might buy beer and popcorn with the Conservative's child care subsidy, although Martin declined to apologize. Martin was also criticized for portraying himself as the defender of Canadian unity; some opponents pointed that this election wasn't a referendum while others pointed to the Sponsorship Scandal.
Near the end of December, the Liberals were rocked by a
Royal Canadian Mounted Police criminal investigation into the leaking of news of a federal tax change for
income trusts. This again brought the Sponsorship Scandal into public attention, at the time when Martin planned to make important policy announcements. Under constant campaign pressure by all opposition parties casting Martin and the Liberals as corrupt, Liberal support fell to as low as 26% in the early weeks of January 2006.
Martin didn't put in a strong performance during the televised campaign debates. While appearing passionate in his message, he stuttered in making statements and appeared somewhat flustered.
(External Link)(External Link) During one debate, Martin made a surprise pledge that he'd eliminate the
notwithstanding clause, while the Conservatives pointed out that this wasn't one of the announced Liberal campaign promises.
(External Link) Political analyst Dave Docherty indicated that Harper appeared most prime ministerial in the debates.
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In an attempt to sway voter sentiment in the final two weeks of the campaign, the Liberals prepared a series of
attack ads. One unreleased ad was seen widely as disrespectful of the military, and it not only overshadowed the other ads, but also forced Martin to defend the controversial ad, instead of releasing new policies. During the last week, Martin was forced to defend Harper after the latter was called a separatist by
Canadian Auto Workers union leader
Buzz Hargrove. In another tactic similar to the 2004 campaign, Hargrove urged all progressive voters to unite under the Liberal banner in English Canada and the Bloc Québécois in Quebec to stop the Conservatives, hoping to attract voters who were leaning towards the NDP, but New Democrat leader
Jack Layton responded by focusing his attacks on Liberal corruption.
In the end, the Conservatives won a
plurality of support and seats, finishing 31 seats short of a majority. The Liberals held their base of support in Ontario, with 54 seats of the 103 in the province. The Liberals lost a number of seats in Quebec: winning only 13 of the 75 seats in the province, down from 21 in 2004, while the Conservatives won 10 seats there. The Liberals didn't improve their standings in the Western provinces, winning only 14 of the 92 seats, the same number as in 2004.
After the 2006 election
Shortly after midnight on
January 24,
2006, after it became clear that the Conservatives were on their way to a plurality, Martin conceded defeat. (Near the end of the 2004 election, Martin and Harper both pledged that they wouldn't form a government unless they won a plurality of seats.) Martin announced his resignation as party leader, saying "I will continue to represent with pride the people of LaSalle—Émard, but I won't take our party into another election as leader."
The next day, Martin officially informed
Governor General Michaëlle Jean of his intention to resign as Prime Minister. Jean formally asked Harper to form a government later that day. Martin remained as Prime Minister until the Harper minority government was sworn in
February 6,
2006.
Choosing not to take on the office of
Leader of the Opposition, Martin stepped down as
parliamentary leader of his party on
February 1, and the Liberal caucus appointed
Bill Graham, MP for
Toronto Centre and outgoing
Defence Minister, as his interim successor. Martin temporarily remained nominal party leader, though.
The party's national executive accepted Martin's resignation as Liberal leader on
March 18,
2006, handing the post to Graham for the interim. In doing so, Martin became the shortest serving non-interim leader of the Liberal Party since Confederation - serving for less than two-fifths the time (2,197 to 855 days) of the next shortest serving leader, John Turner (1984-1990). At the same meeting Martin tendered his resignation, the date for the leadership convention to select his successor was set for the weekend of
December 2-3, 2006. According to media reports, Martin decided to move up the date of his resignation to end speculation that he might lead the Liberals into another election if Stephen Harper's minority government were to fall prior to the Liberal leadership convention.
At the
Liberal convention in Montreal, Martin was officially neutral in the contest. The party's tribute to Martin was hosted by former Olympian
Mark Tewksbury. Martin's press secretary denied that the tribute was low key due to the Sponsorship Scandal and lingering bitterness inside the party, saying that the former Prime Minister wanted a simple evening. In his farewell speech, Martin paid homage to Chretien, though the latter wasn't present for the event, and urged the Liberals to emerge united from the convention.
Stéphane Dion was elected Liberal leader from a field of eight candidates.
In 2007 he was awarded an LLD (honoris causa) from the
University of Windsor.
Supreme Court appointments
Martin chose the following jurists to be appointed as justices of the
Supreme Court of Canada by the
Governor General:
Honours
prenominal title "The Honourable" and postnominal "PC", for life upon being made a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, November 4, 1993
upgraded prenominal title "The Right Honourable", for life upon becoming Prime Minister, December 12, 2003
Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Windsor, June 14, 2007
Appearance in media
Martin appeared on Corner Gas, in a comedic sketch with comedian Brent Butt.
Martin also appeared in the intro sequence of Infoman, Radio-Canada's news/comedy program, until 2006.Further Information
Get more info on 'Paul Martin'.
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