Fonds F 0003 - Paul Martin Sr. fonds

Paul Joseph James Martin (1903-1992), later known as Paul Martin Senior, was born in Ottawa, the son of French-Canadian Lumina Chouinard and Irish-Canadian Joseph Philippe Ernest Martin. He made his name as a long-serving federal politician and statesman. Raised in Pembroke, Ontario, he attended the University of Toronto, earned his law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, and did graduate work at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. Martin married Eleanor Alice “Nelly” Adams in 1937 and opened a law practice in Windsor, Ontario, where he and Nelly raised their two children until they moved to Ottawa in 1946. During his time in Windsor, Martin taught at Assumption College (which would later become the University of Windsor).

First elected to the House of Commons in 1935 as MP for Essex East, Martin quickly took a prominent place in Liberal ranks because of his impressive educational background in philosophy, international relations and law. Prime Minister W.L. Mackenzie King appointed him Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour in 1943; he entered Cabinet in 1945 as Secretary of State, and in 1946 became Minister of National Health and Welfare. Faced with a government becoming increasingly conservative on social issues, Martin managed to introduce a system of health grants and, by threatening resignation, made Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent implement a program of national hospital insurance (a critical step towards Medicare). He also undertook diplomatic assignments for the King and St-Laurent governments, and in 1955 negotiated an agreement that allowed the expansion of United Nations membership. Martin ran unsuccessfully for the leadership of the federal Liberal party in 1948 and 1958. In 1963 Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson appointed Martin Secretary of State for External Affairs, a portfolio he held until 1968, when he tried again for the leadership but lost to Pierre Elliott Trudeau. He was subsequently appointed Government Leader in the Senate (1968-74), where he represented Windsor-Walkerville, and High Commissioner to Britain (1975-79). His memoirs, A Very Public Life, were published in 2 volumes (1983, 1986). Martin died in Windsor, aged 89.

Martin’s son Paul (b. 1938) would follow in his father’s political footsteps, forging a successful career as a member of the federal Liberal Party that culminated in serving as Minister of Finance (1993-2002), and Prime Minister (2003-2006).

Martin is well-remembered in Windsor. The University of Windsor has a Paul Martin Chair in law and political science, and for many years had a Paul Martin Law Library (renamed in 2023 as the Don and Gail Rodzik Law Library). In 1994 the City of Windsor renamed its former “Post Office Building” downtown as the Paul Martin Sr. Building, in his honour.

Sources: “Martin, Paul Joseph James,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/paul-joseph-james-martin ; “Paul Martin Sr.,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Martin_Sr. (both accessed 20 March 2020)