Paul Martin

The Right Honourable Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , MP , LL.B , BA (born August 28, 1938 in Windsor, Ontario) is the Prime Minister of Canada. He is the twenty-first prime minister, having succeeded Jean Chrétien on December 12, 2003. Martin is leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and was elected in his own right with a minority government on June 28, 2004?the first minority government in twenty-four years. The Liberals won 135 of 308 seats in the Canadian House of Commons.

Finance Minister

In 1988, Martin was elected as the Member of Parliament for the electoral district of LaSalle-Émard in Montreal. He was a candidate at the 1990 Liberal leadership convention, losing to Jean Chrétien in a bitter race that resulted in lasting animosity between the two men and their supporters. Nonetheless, the Liberal Party won the 1993 election and Martin was 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. As finance minister, Martin erased a $42 billion deficit, recorded five consecutive budget surpluses, paid down $36 billion in debt, and cut taxes cumulatively by $100 billion over 5 years, making it the largest tax cut in Canadian history.

Related Topics:
LaSalle-Émard - Liberal leadership convention - Jean Chrétien - 1993 election - G7

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During his tenure as finance minister, Martin was responsible for lowering Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio from a peak of seventy per cent to about fifty 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 United States Secretary of State Colin Powell and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan as top world leaders.

Related Topics:
World Economic Forum's - Colin Powell - Kofi Annan

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While Martin's record as finance minister was lauded in business and financial circles, there were undeniable costs. Some of these costs took the form of reduced government services. This was most noticeable in the Health Care sector, as major reductions in federal funding to the provinces meant significant cuts in service delivery. Moreover, there were cuts in government services across the board, affecting the operations and achievement of the mandate of most federal departments. Critics point out that Martin's actions as finance minister were consistent with a neoliberal agenda. Nevertheless, it must be borne in mind that while Martin held an influential position within the government and the Liberal Party of Canada, his actions as finance minister were very much part of his party's program.

Related Topics:
Health Care - Neoliberal

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