Martin Cauchon
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Martin Cauchon, PC , LL.B , LL.M (born August 23, 1962) is a Canadian politician and former Liberal Party of Canada cabinet minister.
Cauchon was born in La Malbaie, Quebec and studied law at the University of Ottawa and the University of Exeter. He was a lawyer from 1985 to 1993.
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 12, 2002, he became Minister of Justice and Minister with political responsibility for Quebec. 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 convention. 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 Chretien loyalists, 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 convention. However, he decided not to run. 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.
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| 26th Ministry - Government of Jean Chrétien | ||
| Cabinet Posts (2) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| Anne McLellan | Minister of Justice (2002–2003) |
Irwin Cotler |
| Herb Dhaliwal | Minister of National Revenue (1999–2002) |
Elinor Caplan |
| Sub-Cabinet Post | ||
| Predecessor | Title | Successor |
| 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 | |
| Preceded by Jean-Pierre Hogue, Progressive Conservative |
Member of Parliament for Outremont 1993 - 2004 |
Succeeded by Jean Lapierre, Liberal |
