Paul Martin is the son of a former liberal leadership contender, Paul Martin, Sr., a Franco-ontarian socially concious Liberal who worked within the Pearson and Trudeau governments. Paul Martin, Sr tried twice to become leader of the Liberal Party losing the second time to Pierre Eliott Trudeau in 1968. Paul Martin Jr, also had attempted the leadership bid in 1990, but lost against Jean Chrétien. For a time, Chrétien held such a dominant grip on power that we'd have to wait another generation for a Paul Martin to become Prime Minister.
Paul Martin was born in Windsor, Ontario, August 28, 1938. He studied at the University of Toronto, getting a BA in Philosophy and History and got his law degree there in 1965.
It isn't until 1988 that Paul Martin became a politician, after a career as President and General Manager of Canada Steamship Lines, Inc. He ran from the Montréal ridding of LaSalle-Emard. From 1991 to 1993, he was opposition critic for finance and environment, and with the election of the Liberals in 1993, he became Finance Minister. He held this post until 2002, when he "resigned" from the position.
While they working closely together, Prime Minister Chrétien and Finance Minister Paul Martin were opposites and rivals. As time continued and Chrétien ran again and seemed to stay on as PM as long as he could, it seemed that Paul Martin would never be Prime Minister, a position it was obvious he coveted.
However, in the past two years, Paul Martin has been getting back and began campaigning for the leadership of the Liberal party as it was becoming obvious Chrétien would not run for a fourth mandate. Chrétien allowed all possible successors to begin campaigning until it became a distraction. Chrétien forbade all ministers from running campaigns, at which point Martin was either fired or resigned from the post, and continued his bid.
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