Joseph Martin (Canadian politician)
|
|
Joseph Martin (September 24, 1852-March 2, 1923) was a lawyer and politician in British Columbia and Manitoba. He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in 1883 and served as Attorney-General in the government of Thomas Greenway. In 1890 he initiated legislation to end French language instruction and support for Catholic separate schools prompting the Manitoba Schools Question crisis. Martin was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1893 as a Liberal but lost his seat in the 1896 election. Martin then left Manitoba for British Columbia to practice law. He was elected to the British Columbia legislature in 1898 and served as Attonrey-General until 1900 when he was asked to form a government. Unable to do so, he resigned after three months, becoming the shortest-reigning premier British Columbia has ever had. In 1907 he founded the Vancouver Guardian and he then moved to Britain where he won a seat in the British House of Commons as a Liberal serving from 1910 until 1918. This did not prevent him from running for mayor of Vancouver in 1914 or founding another newspaper there 1916.
|
Preceded by: Charles Augustus Semlin 1898-1900 |
Premier of British Columbia 1900 |
Succeeded by: James Dunsmuir 1900-1902 |