- Elie Martel
Infobox_Politician
name = Elie Martel
small| caption =
birth_date =November 26 ,1934
birth_place = Capreol
residence = Sudbury,Ontario
office = MPP forSudbury East
term_start =October 17 ,1967
term_end =July 31 ,1987
predecessor = first member
successor =Shelley Martel
party = New Democratic Party
religion =Roman Catholic
occupation = teacherElie Walter Martel (born
November 26 ,1934 in Capreol,Ontario ) is a former politician inOntario ,Canada . He served in theLegislative Assembly of Ontario from 1967 to 1987, as a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP).Martel was educated at
North Bay Teacher's College andLaurentian University . He worked as a teacher and high school principal in private life before entering politics.He is married to the daughter of
Norman Fawcett , who was Nickel Belt's federalMember of Parliament from 1965 to 1968.Career in politics
He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1967 election, defeating Progressive Conservative candidate
Cecil Fielding by 1,200 votes in theNorthern Ontario constituency ofSudbury East . Early in his career, Martel navigated a motion through an NDP provincial convention supporting full funding for Catholic high schools. He was re-elected by comfortable margins in the elections of 1971, 1975, 1977, 1981 and 1985, and served as an opposition member for his entire legislative career. Martel was House Leader of the NDP for a time.He was on the left-wing of the New Democratic Party, and was strongly supported by its trade-union base. Along with other NDP legislators from the Sudbury area, he frequently called for Inco's nickel mine in the city to be nationalized.
Martel encouraged
Bob Rae to seek the provincial NDP leadership in 1981, but began developing his own organization when Rae delayed his entry. He eventually withdrew from the contest to support Rae's candidacy, but his personal and professional relationship with Rae deteriorated when the campaign was over. By some accounts, the two men strongly disliked one another on a personal level.Retirement
Martel stood down as a
Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in 1987, and was succeeded in Sudbury East by his daughterShelley Martel . Shortly after his retirement, Martel was named vice-chair of the Environmental Assessment Board by LiberalPremier of Ontario David Peterson .The NDP won their first ever majority government in the 1990 provincial election, and Shelley Martel was subsequently named as a prominent cabinet minister. The journalist
Thomas Walkom has argued that Elie Martel pressured Rae to keep his daughter in cabinet following a scandal in 1991.Martel ran as a candidate of the federal
New Democratic Party in the 1997 federal election, but finished second to Liberal incumbentRay Bonin inNickel Belt .Sudbury East was merged into Nickel Belt in 1999, and Shelley Martel continued to represent that constituency provincially until her retirement in 2007. Shelley Martel is married to
Howard Hampton , the current leader of the New Democrats.References
* [http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/members/members_all_detail.do?locale=en&ID=589 Elie Walter Martel, MPP] at Legislative Assembly of Ontario
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