Keith Martin (politician)

Keith Martin, PC is a Canadian politician and physician. He was the Member of Parliament for the riding of Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca in British Columbia, Canada from 1993 to 2011. Originally a member of the Reform Party, and then the Canadian Alliance, he did not join the newly formed Conservative Party of Canada post-merger, and became a member of the Liberal Party from 2004 until 2011. He is currently the executive director of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health in Washington, D.C.[1]

The Honourable Doctor

Keith Martin

PC MD
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca
In office
October 25, 1993 – May 2, 2011
Preceded byDave Barrett
Succeeded byRandall Garrison
Personal details
BornLondon, United Kingdom
Political partyLiberal (2004–present)
Other political
affiliations		Reform (1993–2000)
Canadian Alliance (2000–2003)
Independent (2003–2004)
ResidenceVictoria, British Columbia and Washington, D.C.
ProfessionExecutive Director, Consortium of Universities for Global Health, Physician, Conservationist

Early life and career

Martin was born in London, UK and grew up in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[2] He attended Neil McNeil High School. He graduated from the University of Toronto with a Doctorate of Medicine and a Bachelor of Science. He practiced emergency and family practice from 1987 to 2005. He also did two terms as a doctor in a rural region of South Africa during the Mozambique war. Martin is a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons'[3] Advisory Committee on International Initiatives.

Federal politics

He was first elected in 1993 as a member of the Reform Party of Canada for the riding of Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca. However, unlike most Reformers, he was socially liberal, and he often clashed with Reform's conservative leaders. He is conservative on economic issues but is socially liberal.

From 1996 to 2000 he had his own nationally syndicated television program on current events called Beyond Politics.

When the Reform Party was folded into the Canadian Alliance, he sought the party leadership, but finished fourth with 2% of the vote. Despite his ideological differences, he did not join the dissidents who briefly left the party in 2001–02 to protest the leadership of Stockwell Day.

In both 2009 and 2010, political commentator Rex Murphy, from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's The National, recognized Martin as the most underrated politician in the House of Commons.[4]

Martin led many initiatives in the House of Commons, including legislation to ban landmines (1995, 1996), establish an international mechanism to prevent deadly conflict (Responsibility to Protect) 2007, democratize Parliament, support early learning programs (Head Start) 2000, and modernize Canada's healthcare system.

Martin has been on diplomatic missions to areas in crisis, including Sudan, the Middle East, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and the Sahal. He led initiatives to provide emergency relief in times of crisis, e.g., the 2004 tsunami, famine in Niger, North Pakistan, Dem. Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe etc. He also took an international leadership role in global health, including chairing global pre-G8 parliamentary committees in Japan and Rome.

He has had experience between 1986–2007 volunteering on conservation programs in Africa, especially on rhino and other large mammals projects.[5] He has been an ardent campaigner against the trafficking of illegal wildlife products, and has strongly supported the integration of conservation into development initiatives.

On April 17, 2002, he caused a controversy as he attempted to remove the ceremonial mace from the table of the Clerk of the House to protest an intervention by the government that violated MP's fundamental democratic rights. He was found to be in contempt and not allowed to retake his seat until he had apologized to the House from the Bar. The reason for his actions was as a result of an amendment that would have removed the entire contents of Martin's Private Members' Bill C-344[6] which violated the spirit and meaning of Private Members Business.

Liberal

In January 2004, after the Canadian Alliance merged with the centre-right Progressive Conservative Party to form the Conservative Party of Canada, Martin announced he would not join the new party. He sat as an independent for the remainder of the 37th Parliament, but ran as a Liberal in the 2004 election. He was re-elected, and served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence. Martin was subsequently re-elected in the 2006 and 2008 federal elections. He has served in many shadow cabinet positions including foreign affairs, health and international development. He has taken leadership roles in many areas including: global health,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13] domestic health,[14][15][16] foreign affairs,[17][18][19][20] conservation and the environment[21][22] and human rights [23][24] He was appointed in 2004 by Prime Minister Paul Martin to be a member of the Queen's Privy Council.

Martin has organized several relief efforts to ship urgent medical supplies to areas in crisis.[25]

He is the founder of several global health and conservation initiatives. He is Founder and Chair of the first all Party International Conservation Caucus. In 2010, he founded the International Conservation Forum,[26] a website that increases awareness and facilitates action on key conservation issues through the use of social media and the publication of the online magazine, The Horn.

On November 9, 2010, Martin announced that he would not run in the next election,[27][28][29] stating that "Canada's institutions need new blood and new ideas."[30] He has been an outspoken critic of the decline in democracy in parliament and the increasing disempowerment of Members of Parliament.[31]

Post-politics career

In September 2012, Martin was selected to be the Consortium of Universities for Global Health's (CUGH) founding Executive Director.[1] With over 170 academic institutions and a network of 30,000 scientists around the world, CUGH is the world's largest consortium of academic institutions and other related organizations. It works across research, education, advocacy and service, across disciplines, to improve the health of people and the planet. CUGH is particularly focused on improving health and environmental outcomes in low income communities.[32]

November 2014, Martin made presentations on the nexus between environmental sustainability, conservation, and human health at the World Parks Congress in Sydney, Australia.. He regularly speaks at conferences on a wide range of global health issues (www.cugh.org) covering health, conservation, the environment and politics. He has co-chaired CUGH's last 7 global health conferences that attract over 1800 scientists and students from over 50 nations. (www.cugh.org). He is a member of the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, a member of the editorial Board of the Annals of Global Health www.annalsofglobalhealth.org, a member of the Board of Directors of the Jane Goodall Institute ( www.janegoodall.org) and an adviser to the International Cancer Expert Corps.

He currently lives in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

References
  1. "Keith Martin, MD, PC Biography | Consortium of Universities for Global Health". www.cugh.org. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  2. Wong, Jan (2000). Lunch With Jan Wong. Doubleday Canada. p. 40. ISBN 0-385-25981-6.
  3. Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons http://rcpsc.medical.org
  4. Video on YouTube
  5. Wong, Jan (2000). Lunch With Jan Wong. Doubleday Canada. p. 41. ISBN 0-385-25981-6.
  6. "BILL C-344 (First Reading)". .parl.gc.ca. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
  7. Cayo, Don (2011-03-08). "Opinion:Investment in poor women, and good health, pays off". Vancouver Sun. Vancouver. Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  8. Martin, Dr. Keith (2011-03-05). "Keith Martin: Ottawa's opportunity to save 340,000 lives. A year". National Post. Don Mills. Archived from the original on 2012-07-17. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
  9. Martin, Dr. Keith (2010-07-21). "Focus on primary health care is needed to fight AIDS". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  10. Martin, Dr. Keith (2011-02-15). "How to save 4 million children's lives – GAVI's vaccine programmes a breakthrough in child health". Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  11. Martin, Dr. Keith (2011-02-16). "Poverty, not patent law, blocks poorest from getting medications". Edmonton Journal. Edmonton. Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  12. Martin, Dr. Keith (2010-05-20). "A Partnership to Save Lives". The Mark. Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  13. Bramham, Daphne (2010-06-05). "Maternal Health Care Plan Endangered by PM's Beliefs". Vancouver Sun. Vancouver. Archived from the original on 2014-10-28. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  14. The Globe and Mail (2009-04-08). "An egregious situation". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  15. Martin, Dr. Keith (2010-10-28). "Keith Martin's Prescription for Health Care". National Post. Don Mills. Archived from the original on 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2011-04-05.
  16. Martin, Dr. Keith (2010-03-20). "Canada v. U.S.? Neither is best". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa. Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  17. Goodspeed, Peter (2010-08-18). "World disasters call for 'red-helmet brigade'". National Post. Don Mills. Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  18. Martin, Dr. Keith (2010-01-25). "An International 911". The Mark. Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  19. Martin, Dr. Keith (2008-04-23). "We Have a Responsibility to Act on Zimbabwe". Embassy. Ottawa. Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  20. Martin, Dr. Keith (2009-10-27). "Our mining companies' responsibility to the Congo". National Post. Don Mills. Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  21. Martin, Dr. Keith (2010-10-24). The Challenge in Nagoya Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine E Magazine, the online environmental magazine
  22. Martin, Dr. Keith (2010-6-8). Save our dying oceans Archived 2012-03-21 at the Wayback Machine The Hill Times
  23. Goldbloom, Daniel (2008-02-06). "The National Post Editorial Board on Human Rights Legislation: Keith Martin's good fight". National Post. Don Mills. Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  24. The Windsor Star (2008-02-06). "The Internet: An independent report by the University of Windsor's Richard Moon says the Canadian Human Rights Commission should be stripped of its power to investigate online hate messages". Windsor Star. Windsor. Archived from the original on 2010-12-04. Retrieved 2011-04-05.
  25. Goar, Carol (2008-12-15). "Quick action to help Zimbabwe". Toronto Star. Toronto. Retrieved 2011-04-12.
  26. Martin, Dr. Keith The International Conservation Forum Archived 2012-03-21 at the Wayback Machine
  27. National Post editorial board (2010-11-10). A fond farewell to a fine MP Archived 2012-07-09 at Archive.today National Post
  28. Tremonti, Anna Maria(2010-11-18). Parliament's dysfunctional World: Keith on CBC's the Current
  29. Taber, Jane (2010-11-11). Keith Martin knows he can accomplish more off the Hill The Globe and Mail
  30. "B.C. Liberal MP Keith Martin to step down". CBC News. 2010-11-09. Retrieved 2015-05-30.
  31. Wherry, Aaron (2011-02-18). "The House of Commons is a Sham". Maclean's. Toronto. Retrieved 2011-04-12.
  32. "Keith Martin, PC, MD". ICEC. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
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