Keith Martin, is a Canadian politician and physician. He was the Member of Parliament for the riding of

Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca is a former federal electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, which was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2015 Demographics Geography It initially consisted of: * the Esq ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada from 1993 to 2011. Originally a member of the Reform Party, and then the

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 2000 to 2003. The Canadian Alliance was the new name of the ...

, he did not join the newly formed

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

post-merger, and instead became a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

from 2004 until 2011. He is currently the executive director of the

Consortium of Universities for Global Health The Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH), established in 2008, is a membership-based nonprofit organization focusing on global health. Its members are primarily institutions, although individuals can also become members. CUGH membe ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Early life and career

Martin was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, UK, and grew up in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario, Canada. He attended

Neil McNeil High School Neil McNeil Catholic High School is an all-boys Roman Catholic secondary school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after Neil McNeil, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver from 1910 to 1912 and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto from ...

and graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

with a Doctorate of Medicine and a Bachelor of Science. He practiced emergency and family medicine 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' Advisory Committee on International Initiatives.

Federal politics

He was first elected in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

as a member of the

Reform Party of Canada The Reform Party of Canada () was a right-wing populism, right-wing populist and conservative List of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada that existed from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada- ...

for the riding of Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca. Being socially liberal, he often clashed with the Reform's conservative ideas. 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

, he sought the party leadership, but finished fourth with 2% of the vote. In both 2009 and 2010, political commentator

Rex Murphy Robert Rex Rafael Murphy (March 1947 – 9 May 2024) was a Canadian commentator and author, primarily on Canadian political and social matters. He was the regular host of CBC Radio One's '' Cross Country Checkup'', a nationwide call-in show, fo ...

, from the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

's '' The National'', recognized Martin as the most underrated politician in the House of Commons. 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 Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

, and the Sahal. He led initiatives to provide emergency relief in times of crisis, e.g., the

2004 tsunami On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the scient ...

, famine in

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

, North Pakistan,

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, Zimbabwe, etc
He
also took an international leadership role in global health, including chairing global pre-G8 parliamentary committees in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He's had experience between 1986–2007 volunteering on conservation programs in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, especially on

rhino A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

and other large mammals projects. 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 A ceremonial mace is a highly ornamented staff of metal or wood, carried before a Head of state, sovereign or other high officials in civic ceremonies by a mace-bearer, intended to represent the official's authority. The mace, as used today, der ...

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 In colloquial usage, contempt usually refers to either the act of despising, or having a general lack of respect for something. This set of emotions generally produces maladaptive behaviour. Other authors define contempt as a negative emotio ...

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 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

, 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 The following elections occurred in the year 2004. Africa * 2004 Algerian presidential election * 2004 Botswana general election * 2004 Cameroonian presidential election * 2004 Comorian legislative election * 2004 Equatorial Guinean legislativ ...

. He was re-elected, and served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence. Martin was subsequently re-elected in the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

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, domestic health, foreign affairs, conservation and the environment and human rights. He was appointed in 2004 by Prime Minister

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and retired politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. Th ...

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. 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, 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 wouldn't run in the next

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

, stating that "Canada's institutions need new blood and new ideas." He's been an outspoken critic of the decline in democracy in parliament and the increasing disempowerment of Members of Parliament.

Post-politics career

In September 2012, Martin was appointed as the founding Executive Director of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH). With over 170 academic institutions and a network of 30,000 scientists worldwide, CUGH is the world's largest consortium of its kind. 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. November 2014, Martin made presentations on the nexus between environmental sustainability, conservation, and human health at the World Parks Congress in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. 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. He is a member of the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, a member of the editorial Board of the Annals of Global Health, a member of the Board of Directors of the Jane Goodall Institute and an adviser to the International Cancer Expert Corps.

References

External links

*
Keith Martin's Twitter

Consortium of Universities for Global Health
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Keith Canadian Alliance MPs Physicians from British Columbia English emigrants to Canada Liberal Party of Canada MPs Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Politicians from London Politicians from Victoria, British Columbia Reform Party of Canada MPs 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 1960 births 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada