Ray Martin (politician)

Ray Martin
Martin in 2013
Leader of the Official Opposition in Alberta
In office 1985–1993
Preceded by	Grant Notley
Succeeded by	Laurence Decore
Public School Trustee for Edmonton Ward D
Incumbent
Assumed office 2013
Preceded by	Dave Colburn
MLA for Edmonton Beverly-Clareview
In office 2004–2008
Preceded by	Julius Yankowsky
Succeeded by	Tony Vandermeer
MLA for Edmonton-Norwood
In office 1982–1993
Preceded by	Catherine Chichak
Succeeded by	Andrew Beniuk
Personal details
Born	Raymond James Martin (1941-08-08) August 8, 1941 Delia, Alberta
Political party	Alberta New Democratic Party New Democratic Party
Alma mater	University of Alberta
Occupation	teacher

Raymond James "Ray" Martin (born August 8, 1941) is a politician in Alberta, Canada and former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Born in 1941 in Delia, Alberta,^[1] Martin attended the University of Alberta in Edmonton. He was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. He later attended the University of Calgary in order to earn his master's degree. He is currently the Edmonton Public School Board Trustee for Ward D.

Provincial politics

Martin, a teacher by profession, was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1982 provincial election as one member of a two-member Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) caucus.

He became leader of the Alberta NDP in 1984, succeeding Grant Notley who had died in a plane crash. Martin led the party to a highwater mark (at the time) winning 16 seats in the 1986 provincial election, making him leader of the opposition in the legislature.^[2] The NDP matched this performance in the 1989 election. In 1993, the party was wiped out, and Martin was defeated in his riding, Edmonton-Norwood, by Liberal Andrew Beniuk. He quit the party's leadership in 1994.

Martin was defeated when he later ran as an NDP candidate in the 1997 and 2000 federal elections in the Edmonton North and Edmonton Centre-East ridings.

From 2001 to 2004, Martin was a Trustee on the Edmonton Public School Board. Martin also worked as a political columnist for the Edmonton Sun, and as a financial planner and consultant.

In 2003, he supported Bill Blaikie's unsuccessful campaign to become leader of the federal New Democratic Party.

Martin returned to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta as the NDP Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Edmonton Beverly Clareview after an absence of eleven years by winning a seat in the 2004 general election. However, he was defeated in his 2008 campaign for re-election by Progressive Conservative Tony Vandermeer.

On September 14, 2011 Martin announced he would run for NDP in the next provincial election, in the riding of Edmonton-Glenora. He was defeated in the 2012 provincial election by Progressive Conservative Heather Klimchuk.

In the spring of 2013, Martin announced he would run for Edmonton Public School Board Trustee in Ward D during Edmonton's municipal elections in October 2013. Incumbent Trustee Dave Colburn unsuccessfully ran for a seat on Edmonton's City Council.

Federal politics

Martin was defeated when he later ran as an NDP candidate in the 1997, 2000, and 2008^[3] federal elections in the Edmonton North, Edmonton Centre-East, and Edmonton East ridings, respectively. He was again defeated as the NDP candidate for Edmonton East in the 2011 federal election.^[4]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ray Martin.

Alberta Leaders of the Opposition
Robertson Bennett Michener Hoadley Ramsey Boyle C. Mitchell Bowen Walker Speakman Mahaffy Walker Page Prowse MacEwan Maccagno Lougheed Strom Henderson Clark Speaker Notley Martin Decore G. Mitchell Sapers MacBeth Nicol Taft Swann Sherman Smith Forsyth Jean