- Martin Cauchon
-
The Honourable
Martin CauchonMember of Parliament
for OutremontIn office
1993–2004Preceded by Jean-Pierre Hogue Succeeded by Jean Lapierre Minister of Justice In office
January 15, 2002 – December 11, 2003Prime Minister Jean Chrétien Preceded by Anne McLellan Succeeded by Irwin Cotler Personal details Born August 23, 1962
La Malbaie, QuebecPolitical party Liberal Party of Canada Profession Lawyer Religion Roman Catholic Martin Cauchon, PC (born August 23, 1962) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He is a former Liberal Cabinet Minister.
Cauchon was born in La Malbaie, Quebec and studied law at the University of Ottawa and the University of Exeter. He has worked as a lawyer from 1985 to 1993, and since 2004.
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Federal politics
He first entered politics when he ran against Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in the riding of Charlevoix in the 1988 election, and was defeated. He first won a seat in the Canadian House of Commons in the 1993 election in the riding of Outremont in Montreal, and was re-elected in the 1997 and 2000 elections.
Cauchon was appointed Secretary of State for the Federal Office of Regional Development - Quebec by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in 1996. He became a full cabinet minister in 1999 when he was given the position of Minister of National Revenue. On January 15, 2002, he became Minister of Justice and Quebec lieutenant. As justice minister, Cauchon argued in cabinet in favour of same-sex marriage and the decriminalization of marijuana (indeed, when asked whether he had used marijuana in the past, he responded "Yes, of course").[1]
Cauchon was a Chrétien loyalist and opposed Paul Martin's attempt to force Chrétien to retire. When Chrétien announced his resignation, Cauchon was touted as a possible candidate to succeed him but did not end up running in the 2003 leadership election. Cauchon refused to back Martin's leadership bid, and supported John Manley instead. Cauchon was not included in Martin's first cabinet.
Cauchon did not run for re-election in the 2004 election. It was reported he was seeking out Chrétien loyalists[citation needed], many of whom were outcast when Paul Martin became leader of the party, and rallying them for a possible leadership bid in the 2006 Liberal leadership election. However, he decided not to run, and instead supported Bob Rae. He has made no secret of the fact that he still covets the leadership, however. He is currently special counsel to the law firm of Gowling, Lafleur and Henderson. He works in Montreal.
However, Cauchon has signalled his intentions to run again for the Liberals in the next election in the riding of Outremont. Current Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff's Quebec Lieutenant and longtime Cauchon rival Denis Coderre opposed Cauchon's return, and instead decided to appoint prominent businesswoman Nathalie le Prohon in the riding. However, amid speculation that Coderre only wanted to thwart Cauchon's comeback because he saw him as a future leadership rival, internal party pressure, notably from Bob Rae and Jean Chrétien, prompted Ignatieff to open the nomination to Cauchon. The fallout from this decision led to Coderre's resignation as Quebec Lieutenant and Liberal Defense Critic, saying he no longer had the "moral authority" to continue. Le Prohon was to run in the Montreal riding of Jeanne-Le Ber but this did not happen. In the May 2011 federal election, Cauchon lost badly to Thomas Mulcair of the NDP, who has held the riding since 2007.
References
- ^ Connelly, Joel (2003-05-23). "In the Northwest: Tom DeLay could use a different form of puffery". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. http://www.seattlepi.com/connelly/123561_joel26.html. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
Electoral record
Canadian federal election, 2011 Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures New Democrat Thomas Mulcair 21,906 56.37 +16.84 Liberal Martin Cauchon 9,204 23.69 -9.39 Conservative Rodolphe Husny 3,408 8.77 -1.76 Bloc Québécois Élise Daoust 3,199 8.23 -4.32 Green François Pilon 838 2.16 -2.15 Rhinoceros Tommy Gaudet 160 0.41 - Communist Johan Boyden 143 0.37 - Total valid votes/Expense limit 38,858 100.00 Total rejected ballots 291 0.74 +0.05 Turnout 39,149 60.46 +4.35 Canadian federal election, 2000 Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal Martin Cauchon 18,796 47.68 -2.47 Bloc Québécois Amir Khadir 11,151 28.29 -0.10 Progressive Conservative Robert Archambault 3,190 8.09 -4.12 New Democrat Peter Graefe 2,199 5.58 -0.86 Green Jan Schotte 1,478 3.75 - Canadian Alliance Josée Duchesneau 1,283 3.25 - Marijuana Huguette Plourde 1,013 2.57 - Marxist–Leninist Louise Charron 194 0.49 -0.36 Communist Pierre Smith 118 0.30 - Total 39,422 100.00 Canadian federal election, 1997 Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal Martin Cauchon 22,271 50.15 +3.34 Bloc Québécois Michel Sarra-Bournet 12,608 28.39 -8.98 Progressive Conservative Marguerite Sicard 5,424 12.21 +3.30 New Democrat Tooker Gomberg 2,862 6.44 +1.89 Natural Law Denis Cauchon 868 1.95 +0.45 Marxist–Leninist Louise Charron 378 0.85 +0.46 Total 44,411 100.00 Canadian federal election, 1993 Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal Martin Cauchon 21,638 46.81 +12.10 Bloc Québécois Jean-Louis Hérivault 17,274 37.37 - Progressive Conservative Jean Pierre Hogue 4,119 8.91 -29.52 New Democrat Catherine Kallos 2,104 4.55 -15.93 Natural Law Daniel Bergeron 694 1.50 - Marxist–Leninist Michel Rocheleau 179 0.39 - Abolitionist Sylvain M. Coulombe 131 0.28 - Commonwealth Mamunor Rashid 89 0.19 -0.07 Total 46,228 100.00 External links
26th Ministry – Cabinet of Jean Chrétien Cabinet Posts (2) Predecessor Office Successor Anne McLellan Minister of Justice
2002–2003Irwin Cotler Herb Dhaliwal Minister of National Revenue
1999–2002Elinor Caplan Sub-Cabinet Post Predecessor Title Successor Paul Martin Secretary of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec)
(1996–2002)
(NB: "Secretary of State (Federal Office of Regional Development - Quebec)" before 1998)Claude Drouin Macdonald · Dorion · Smith (acting) · Fournier · Blake · Laflamme · Campbell · Thompson · Tupper · Daly (acting) · Dickey · Mowat · Mills · Fitzpatrick · Aylesworth · Doherty · Bennett · Gouin · Lapointe · Guthrie (acting) · Patenaude · Lapointe · Guthrie · Geary · Lapointe · Michaud (acting) · St. Laurent · Ilsley · St. Laurent · Garson · Fulton · Fleming · Chevrier · Favreau · McIlraith (acting) · Cardin · Trudeau · Turner · Lang · Basford · Lang · Lalonde · Flynn · Chrétien · MacGuigan · Johnston · Crosbie · Hnatyshyn · Clark (acting) · Lewis · Campbell · Blais · Rock · McLellan · Cauchon · Cotler · Toews · NicholsonMinisters of Customs and Inland Revenue(1918-1921) Ministers of Customs and Excise (1921-1927) Ministers of National Revenue (1927-present) Euler · Ryckman · Matthews · Lawson · Ilsley · Gibson · MacKinnon (acting) · D. MacLaren · MacKinnon (acting) · McCann · Nowlan · Flemming · Garland · McIlraith · Benson · Chrétien · Côté · Gray · Stanbury · Basford · Cullen · Bégin · Guay · Abbott · Baker · Rompkey · Bussières · R. MacLaren · Beatty · MacKay · Jelinek · Turner · Anderson · Stewart · Dhaliwal · Cauchon · Caplan · Keyes · McCallum · Skelton · O'Connor · Blackburn · Ashfield · SheaCategories:- 1962 births
- Living people
- Lawyers in Quebec
- Liberal Party of Canada MPs
- Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Quebec
- Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
- University of Ottawa alumni
- Alumni of the University of Exeter
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