Liberal Party of Canada leadership convention, 2003

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Liberal leadership convention, 2003

Date

November 14, 2003

Location

Toronto, Ontario

Campaign to replace

Jean Chrétien

Won by

Paul Martin

Candidates

Entrance Fee

$75,000

Spending limit

$4 million

Liberal leadership conventions
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The 2003 Liberal Party of Canada leadership convention ended on November 14, 2003, electing Paul Martin as the party's new leader, replacing outgoing Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. The official campaign had lasted several months, although the candidates had been trying to get the position for years.

Paul Martin spent the entire race as the unquestionable front runner. Because of this, many notable candidates did not enter the race or dropped out, including John Manley. Stakes for the race were very high as the winner would become Prime Minister, and would take over party that was high in the polls and likely to win re-election. A number of the would-be candidates who decided against running, such as Brian Tobin claimed that Martin supporters had secured a lock on the party executives of the federal and most provincial sections of the party and had made rules such as those regarding the sale of party memberships so onerous as to give Martin an unsurmountable advantage.

Jean Chrétien was often viewed as working to prevent Martin's victory and to boost John Manley's chances.

1 Candidates
2 Withdrew
3 Announced they would not run
4 Results
5 Timeline
- 5.1 2002
- 5.2 2003
6 External link

[edit] Results

First ballot

Martin	3,242	93.8%
Copps	211	6.1%
Spoiled ballots	2	0.1%
Total votes cast	3,455

[edit] Timeline

[edit] 2002

June 2 - Paul Martin resigns as Finance Minister of Canada. John Manley is named to replace him.
August 21 - Prime Minister Jean Chrétien tells Canadians he will step down in February 2004.

[edit] 2003

February 13 - Sheila Copps announces she is going to run for leadership.
March 7 - Martin announces he is going to run for leadership.
March 17 - Manley announces he is going to run for leadership.
July 22 - Manley drops out of the race.
September 21 - Paul Martin's victory becomes a certainty when he secures 92% of the party delegates from across the country.
November 14 - Martin officially becomes leader of the Liberal Party of Canada winning 3242 of 3455 votes against Copps.
November 28 - Manley announces his retirement from politics.
December 12 - Paul Martin, Jr. is sworn in as Canada's 21st Prime Minister, along with his cabinet.