Paul Martin was first elected federally in 1988. In 1993 he was sworn in as Minister of Finance. He served in that role from November 1993 until June 2002.In the months leading up to November’s Liberal Leadership Convention, Mr. Martin garnered unprecedented support from Liberals right across the country.
Mr.Martin brings to the prime minister’s office an impressive track record. During his time as finance minister, Canada recorded five consecutive budget surpluses, erased a $42 billion deficit, paid down more than $36 billion in debt, invested in health care and other key priorities and put in place the largest tax cuts in Canadian history.
Mr. Martin is respected internationally in part for his leadership in forging a new world financial order in which emerging economies would be prevented from plunging into ruinous financial crises. He now co-chairs, alongside former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo, the United Nations Commission on the Private Sector and Development. The commission is expected later this year to recommend ways to boost indigenous entrepreneurship in developing nations and then implement a number of related pilot projects.
Mr. Martin studied philosophy and history at St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto and is a graduate of the University of Toronto Law School. He was called to the bar in Ontario in 1966. Before entering politics, he had a distinguished career in the private sector as a business executive Power Corporation of Canada, in Montreal, and as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canada Steamship Lines. In addition, he has been active with a wide range of community and service organizations.
Married to Sheila Ann Cowan since 1965, Mr. Martin is the father of three boys Paul, Jamie and David.
