Electoral history of Paul Martin

This article is the Electoral history of Paul Martin, the twenty-first prime minister of Canada.

Paul Martin in 2006.

A liberal, Martin served one term as prime minister (2003 to 2006), succeeding Jean Chrétien.

Martin led the Liberal Party of Canada in two general elections (2004 and 2006). Following his defeat in the 2006 election, he resigned as prime minister and party leader. He was succeeded as prime minister by Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. Stéphane Dion succeeded him as leader of the Liberal Party.

Martin stood for election to the House of Commons of Canada six times and was elected each time. He served continuously in the House from 1988 to 2008.

Martin stood for election as leader of the Liberal Party twice. He lost in 1990 to Chrétien, but he won in 2003, succeeding Chrétien as Liberal leader and prime minister.

Summary

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Canada had ten provinces and three territories throughout Martin's term as Prime Minister.

Martin ranks fifteenth out of twenty-three prime ministers for time in office, serving one term of two years and fifty-six days.[1]

Martin was the seventh of eight prime ministers from Quebec, the others being Sir John Abbott, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Louis St. Laurent, Pierre Trudeau, Brian Mulroney, Jean Chrétien, and Justin Trudeau.

Martin was first elected to the House of Commons at age 50, in the federal election of 1988. Following the Liberal victory in the 1993 general election, Martin was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Finance by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. He remained in Cabinet until 2002, when he resigned to begin a challenge to Chrétien's leadership of the Liberal Party.[2][3]

Martin sought the leadership of the Liberal Party twice, in 1990 and 2003. He lost the 1990 challenge to Chrétien, but following Chrétien's announcement of his retirement in 2002, Martin won the 2003 leadership convention and succeeded Chrétien as Liberal leader and prime minister.

Martin led the Liberals in the general elections of 2004 and 2006. In the 2004 election, he won a minority government against Stephen Harper, but his government was defeated in the House of Commons on a motion of no confidence in November 2005. In the subsequent election in January 2006, he was defeated by Harper and the Conservatives, who formed a minority government.

Stéphane Dion succeeded him as leader of the Liberal Party.

Martin stood for election to the House of Commons six times, and was elected each time, for the riding of LaSalle—Émard. His total service in the House of Commons was nineteen years, ten months, and twenty-three days.[2]

Following his defeat in the 2006 election, he resigned as Liberal leader, but remained in the House of Commons until the 2008 general election. He then retired from politics.

Federal general elections: 2004 and 2006

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Martin led the Liberal Party in two general elections: 2004 and 2006. He was reduced to a minority government in the 2004 election, but lost to Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada in the 2006 election.

Federal election, 2004

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In his first general election, Martin won a minority government, defeating the new Conservative leader, Stephen Harper. However, he lost the majority the Liberals went into the election with.

Canadian Federal Election, 2004 - Parties, Leaders, Seats Won and Popular Vote
Party Leaders Seats Won Popular Vote
Liberal Paul Martin1 135 36.7%
Conservative Stephen Harper2 99 29.6%
Bloc Québécois Gilles Duceppe 54 12.4%
  New Democratic Party Jack Layton 19 15.7%
  Independent 1 0.5%
Total 308 94.9%3
Sources: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867

1 Prime Minister when election was called; Prime Minister after election.
2 Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election.
3 Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.

Federal election, 2006

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In his second general election, Martin was defeated by Harper, who formed a minority government.

Canadian Federal Election, 2006 - Parties, Leaders, Seats Won and Popular Vote
Party Leaders Seats Won Popular Vote
Conservative Stephen Harper1 124 36.3%
Liberal Paul Martin2 103 30.2%
Bloc Québécois Gilles Duceppe 51 10.5%
  New Democratic Party Jack Layton 29 17.5%
  Independent 1 0.6%
Total 308 95.1%3
Sources: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867

1 Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Prime Minister after election.
2 Prime Minister when election was called; Member of Parliament after the election.
3 Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.

Federal constituency elections: 1988 to 2006

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Martin stood for election to the House of Commons eight times. He was elected each time, often with substantial majorities.

1988 Federal Election: LaSalle—Émard

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Federal Election, 1988: LaSalle—Émard, Quebec
Party Candidate Popular Vote %
Liberal   Paul Martin 23,394 45.5%
  Progressive Conservative X Claude Lanthier 21,979 42.7%
  New Democratic Party Jean-Claude Bohrer 5,458 10.6%
  Non-affiliated Ginette Boutet 305 0.6%
Communist Ginette Gauthier 212 0.4%
Commonwealth of Canada Nancy Guice 117 0.2%
Total 51,465 100.0%
Source: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867: LaSalle—Émard

  Elected.
X Incumbent.

1993 Federal Election: LaSalle—Émard

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Federal Election, 1993: LaSalle—Émard, Quebec
Party Candidate Popular Vote %
Liberal   Paul Martin 30,869 59.5%
Bloc Québécois Éric Cimon 17,279 33.3%
  Progressive Conservative Johanne Senécal 2,378 4.6%
  New Democratic Party Richard Belzile 707 1.4%
Natural Law George Amarica 418 0.8%
Commonwealth of Canada Giampaolo Carli 120 0.2%
Abolitionist Thérèse Turmel 103 0.2%
Total 51,874 100.0%
Source: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867: LaSalle—Émard

  Elected.
X Incumbent.

1997 Federal Election: LaSalle—Émard

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Federal Election, 1997: LaSalle—Émard, Quebec
Party Candidate Popular Vote %
Liberal   Paul Martin 32,317 60.9%
Bloc Québécois Jean-Pierre Chalifoux 12,953 24.4%
  Progressive Conservative Josée Bélanger 6,445 12.1%
  New Democratic Party Joe Bowman 920 1.7%
Natural Law Russell Guest 453 0.9%
Total 53,088 100.0%
Source: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867: LaSalle—Émard

  Elected.
X Incumbent.

2000 Federal Election: LaSalle—Émard

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Federal Election, 2000: LaSalle—Émard, Quebec
Party Candidate Popular Vote %
Liberal   Paul Martin 32,069 65.8%
Bloc Québécois Denis Martel 11,805 24.2%
  Canadian Alliance Giuseppe Joe De Santis 1,806 3.7%
  Progressive Conservative Deepak T. Massand 1,111 2.3%
  New Democratic Party David Bernans 837 1.7%
Marijuana Mathieux St-Cyr 765 1.6%
Natural Law Gilles Bigras 273 0.6%
Communist Irma Ortiz 107 0.2%
Total 48,773 100.1%1
Source: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867: LaSalle—Émard

  Elected.
X Incumbent.
1 Rounding error.

2004 Federal Election: LaSalle—Émard

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Federal Election, 2004: LaSalle—Émard, Quebec
Party Candidate Popular Vote %
Liberal   Paul Martin 25,806 56.6%
Bloc Québécois Thierry Larrivée 14,001 30.7%
Conservative Nicole Roy-Arcelin 2,271 5.0%
  New Democratic Party Rebecca Blaikie 1,995 4.4%
Green Douglas Jack 1,000 2.2%
Marijuana Marc Boris St-Maurice 349 0.8%
Marxist–Leninist Jean-Paul Bédard 210 0.4%
Total 45,632 100.1%1
Source: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867: LaSalle—Émard

  Elected.
X Incumbent.
1 Rounding error.

2006 Federal Election: LaSalle—Émard

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Federal Election, 2006: LaSalle—Émard, Quebec
Party Candidate Popular Vote %
Liberal   Paul Martin 22,751 48.4%
Bloc Québécois May Chiu 13,501 28.7%
Conservative Georges-Alexandre Bastien 5,994 12.8%
  New Democratic Party Russ Johnson 2,805 6.0%
Green Serge Bellemare 1,512 3.2%
  Independent Jean-Philippe LeBleu 281 0.6%
Marxist–Leninist Jean-Paul Bédard 152 0.3%
Total 46,997 100.0%
Source: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867: LaSalle—Émard

  Elected.
X Incumbent.

Liberal Party Leadership Conventions: 1990, 2003

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Martin contested the Liberal leadership twice. He lost in 1990 to Chrétien, who then led the Liberal party in the next three general elections. Turner retired in 2003 and Martin won the subsequent leadership convention.

1990 Leadership Convention

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Following the Liberal defeat in the 1988 general election, Turner announced his retirement. At the leadership convention held in 1990, Martin lost to Chrétien, who became the Liberal leader.

Liberal Leadership Convention, June 23, 1990
Voting results by ballot
Candidate First Ballot
Votes cast %
  Jean Chrétien 2,652 56.9%
  Paul Martin 1,176 25.2%
Sheila Copps 499 10.7%
Tom Wappel 267 5.7%
  John Nunziata 64 1.4%
Total 4,658 99.9%1
Source: CPAC – 1990 Liberal Leadership Convention

1 Rounding error.

2003 Leadership Convention

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In 2002, Chrétien announced that he would retire in 2003. At the 2003 leadership convention, Martin overwhelmingly won the Liberal leadership on the first ballot.

Liberal Leadership Convention, November 14, 2003
Voting results by ballot
Candidate First Ballot
Votes cast %
  Paul Martin 3,242 93.9%
Sheila Copps 211 6.1%
Total 3,453 100.0%
Source: CPAC – 2003 Liberal Leadership Convention

See also

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References

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