Paul Martin
For other people named Paul Martin, see Paul Martin (disambiguation).
 | |
| Rank: | 21st |
| Term of Office: | December 12, 2003 - Present |
| Predecessor: | Jean ChrÃÂétien |
| Date of Birth: | August 28, 1938 |
| Place of Birth: | Windsor, Ontario |
| Spouse: | Sheila Ann Cowan |
| Profession: | businessman, politician |
| Political Party: | Liberal |
The Right Honourable Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (frequently, but incorrectly also known as Paul Martin Jr.) (born August 28, 1938 in Windsor, Ontario) is the current Prime Minister of Canada, serving from December 12, 2003.
A businessman and politician, Paul Martin is from a political family. His father, Paul Martin, Sr, served 33 years as a member of the Canadian House of Commons and was a cabinet minister in four Liberal governments. Martin Jr. was fortunate in having a bicultural upbringing. His father was a Franco-Ontarian, his mother, Eleanor "Nell" Adams, a Scottish Canadian. He was raised in an English-speaking environment in Grand Falls-Windsor and Ottawa. To give him the opportunity to improve his French, his parents enrolled him in a private French-language middle school, Ecole Garneau in Ottawa. He then attended the French-Catholic University of Ottawa secondary school.
Martin graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history and philosophy from St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, in 1962. He followed his father's path to the University of Toronto Law School where he received his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in 1965. He was called to the Ontario bar in 1966.
In 1965, Martin married Sheila Ann Cowan. They have three sons, Paul, Jamie and David. He was employed by the giant Montreal-based conglomerate Power Corporation of Canada, controlled by long-time family friend and one of the wealthiest businessmen in Canada, Paul Desmarais. In 1973 Martin assumed the presidency of Canada Steamship Lines, a subsidiary of Power Corporation. In 1981, Power Corporation sold Canada Steamship Lines Inc (CSL) to Martin and a partner, Laurence Pathy, for $180 million. In 1988, Martin bought out Laurence Pathy, and took full control of CSL. Concerns have been raised about a potential conflict of interest stemming from Martin's position as Prime Minister and his ownership of CSL. Martin has responded by selling CSL to his sons. However, this action has not entirely quelled the concerns.
Martin ran CSL successfully until 1988, when he was elected as the Member of Parliament for the electoral district of LaSalle-ÃÂÃÂmard in Montreal. He was a candidate at the 1990 Liberal leadership convention losing to Jean ChrÃÂétien in a bitter race that resulted in lasting animosity between the two men and their supporters. Regardless, the Liberal Party won the 1993 election, Martin was appointed minister of finance by the new prime minister, Jean ChrÃÂétien. At the time, Canada had one of the highest annual deficits of the G7 countries and was on the verge of financial crisis. As finance minister, Martin made drastic cuts to federal government spending. His efforts resulted in deficit-free budgets for the Government of Canada since 1998. The Canadian provinces and territories have also implemented fiscally stricter policies in response to Martin's cuts in federal funding of provincial programs.
During his tenure as finance minister, Martin was responsible for lowering Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio to about 50 per cent from a peak of 71 per cent in the mid-1990s. In December 2001, he was named as a member of the World Economic Forum's "dream cabinet". The global business and financial body listed Martin along with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as top world leaders.
Nation-wide opinion polls consistently show Martin to be the most popular politician in the country by a wide margin. His supporters see him as a key reformer of out-of-control government spending and the architect of the Liberal Party's neo-liberal platform. His detractors accuse him of putting the bottom line before people, crippling the social safety net, and buying votes with irresponsible tax breaks.
Prime Minister ChrÃÂétien and Martin frequently clashed while in office. It was often reported that ChrÃÂétien had never forgiven Martin for running against him in the Liberal leadership race of 1990, and privately often condemned Martin in bitter terms to his aides. After ChrÃÂétien's third electoral victory in 2000, there was much speculation in the media and in Ottawa that Martin was after ChrÃÂétien's job and wanted to force the prime minister into early retirement.
The conflicts between the two men reached a peak in 2002. ChrÃÂétien dismissed Martin from Cabinet and replaced him with John Manley as Finance Minister. Soon after, Martin formally declared his intention to run as leader of the Liberal Party at the next party convention. ChrÃÂétien announced he would not seek a fourth term as prime minister.
Paul Martin's bid to replace ChrÃÂétien was successful and on September 21, 2003 he secured 92% of the party delegates from across the country. On November 14 he was formally declared the winner at the Liberal leadership convention, capturing 3,242 of 3,455 votes. On December 12 he was appointed by the Governor General as the 21st Prime Minister of Canada.
On February 9, 2004 Martin and the Liberals were rocked by a report from Auditor General Sheila Fraser that stated that monies from Crown corporations were funneled through fake contracts to well-known Liberal supporters, mostly in Quebec. Martin denies involvement or knowledge of it, and has called a public inquiry into what has come to be known as the sponsorship scandal. His opponents, however, state that as finance minister he must have known about these activities. Some have been calling for his resignation.
Early Life
Finance Minister
Rise to Prime Minister
Preceded by:
Jean ChrÃÂétien
Prime Minister of Canada
Incumbent
Preceded by:
Jean ChrÃÂétienLiberal Leaders
Incumbent