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. Martin led many initiatives in the House of Commons, including legislation to ban landmines, establish an international mechanism to prevent deadly conflict 2007, democratize Parliament, support early learning programs 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. 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 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, domestic health, foreign affairs, conservation and the environment and human rights 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. 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 would not run in the next election, stating that "Canada's institutions need new blood and new ideas." He has 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 selected to be the Consortium of Universities for Global Health's founding Executive Director. With over 169 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. 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. He has helped lead the last six CUGH global health conferences that attract over 1800 scientists and students from over 50 nations.. He currently lives in Washington, D.C. and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
