Paul Martin, Jr.

Paul Joseph Martin, Jr., Canadian businessman and politician, was born on August 28, 1938 in Windsor, Ontario. Martin served as Finance Minister for many years, and is expected to be the next prime minister of Canada.

His father, Paul Martin, Sr, spent 39 years as a member of the Canadian House of Commons and ran three times for the leadership of the Liberal Party, in 1948, in 1958 and again in 1968. Martin Sr. was also long considered the prime minister in waiting to succeed Lester B. Pearson, but in a shocking upset the young academic Pierre Trudeau beat him in 1968.

A graduate of the University of Toronto Law School, he also studied at the University of Ottawa and the University of Toronto, where he graduated with an honours degree in philosophy.

He was hired by the giant conglomerate Power Corporation of Canada, controlled by long-time family friend and one of the wealthiest businessmen in Canada, Paul Desmarais, and in 1974 Martin rose to the presidency of Canada Steamship Lines. In 1981, Power Corporation of Canada sold Canada Steamship Lines Inc (CSL) to Martin and a partner, Laurence Pathy, for $189 million. In 1988, Martin bought out Laurence Pathy, taking full control of CSL.

Martin ran his successful company until 1988 when he was elected as the Member of Parliament for the electoral district of LaSalle-Émard in Montreal, Quebec. When his Liberal Party won the 1993 election, Martin was immediately appointed Minister of Finance by the new prime minister, Jean Chrétien. At the time, Canada had one of the highest annual deficits of the G7 countries and was teetering on the verge of a financial crisis. As Finance Minister, Martin began making drastic cuts to government spending and was ultimately responsible for a deficit-free budget for five consecutive years for the first time in 50 years. The Canadian provinces and territories, which all receive federal funds each year for various programs, also had to implement fiscally stricter policies in light of Martin's cutting the amount each province is given annually.

During his tenure, he 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 centre-right platform, whereas his detractors accuse him of making unnecessary, massive, and shortsighted cuts, crippling the social safety net, and buying votes with irresponsible tax breaks. Martin is one of the few finance ministers in Canadian history to emerge from the position with a high personal popularity among the Canadian people.

Despite his popularity, or perhaps because of it, Prime Minister Chrétien and Martin frequently clashed while in office. It was often reported that Chrétien had never forgiven Martin from running against him in the Liberal leadership race of 1988, and privately often condemned Martin in bitter terms to his aides. After Chrétien's third electoral victory in 2000, there was much speculation in the media and in Ottawa that Martin was after Chrétien's job and wanted to force the prime minister into an early retirement.

The conflicts between the two men reached a peak in 2002, and Chrétien fired Martin from cabinet and replaced him as Finance Minister with John Manley. Soon after, Martin formally declared his intention to run as leader of the Liberal Party at the next party conference. Prime Minister Chrétien announced he would not seek a fourth term.

Paul Martin's quest to replace Chrétien as prime minister became a certainty (barring "miracle or catastrophe") on September 21, 2003 when he secured 92% of the delegates in advance of the leadership convention slated for November 15, 2003. Chrétien has announced his intentions to retire in February 2004; upon this Martin will assume the office of prime minister.