Grit: The Life and Politics of Paul Martin Sr. by Greg Donaghy (review)

It is difficult to consider the life of Paul Martin Sr. without also contemplating his son, Paul Martin Jr., who accomplished what his father did not, becoming Prime Minister of Canada. It was not for lack of trying. Martin Sr. ran three times for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada, yet never came close to winning, despite being touted as a leading candidate. It was a source of deep bitterness for a man who served in Parliament from 1935-74, part of a lengthy career of public service that included terms as Secretary of State, as minister of health and welfare, and as external affairs minister, capped off with a posting as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. In addition to being a key regional minister, Paul Martin Sr. played an active part in the creation of a separate Canadian citizenship, the development of the social welfare state, and wrestling with the tensions of the Cold War and a changing post-colonial world order. In his detailed biography, Greg Donaghy ably chronicles the key roles that Martin played in these and many other aspects of Canadian political and international history.

Although Martin published his own memoirs in the 1980s with Deneau Publishing, professional reviewers were critical of their excessive detail and Victorian style. Historian Ramsay Cook noted that they left out the politics. Donaghy’s account returns the politics to Martin’s career, and in so doing offers clues as to why Martin never won the prize he had so long sought. Donaghy is kind in his assessment of his subject, considering him a populist and a consummate partisan retail politician, who skirted the edge of ethical behaviour at times, but who, despite the occasional scandal, never crossed the line. He describes Martin as a dedicated internationalist, committed to a progressive approach to social welfare, and a believer in politics as a bridge to national unity.

Yet as one reads the accounts of Martin’s nomination battles, his engagement in election campaigns, his relationships with his party leaders and fellow cabinet ministers, and his efforts to win the leadership, one gains insight into his failure to rise to the summit of the ranks of the party. Martin blamed his failures on the party “establishment” paving the way for Louis St. Laurent, Lester Pearson, and Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and chafed as what he saw as the Liberal tradition of alternating English vs. French and Protestant vs. Catholic leaders as having stood in his way as a bilingual francophone Catholic from Ontario. But Donaghy’s descriptions of Martin’s interactions with his party leaders, who seem to have never fully trusted or brought him into their inner confidences, of tear-filled meetings with colleagues who refused to back his leadership aspirations, of perceived hurts and slights, and derisive assessments of his actions by his deputy ministers (particularly Marcel Cadieux in External Affairs) paints a less flattering portrait. While it is clear that Martin worked fervently to defend the interests of his Windsor riding, to champion progressive labour and social welfare policies, and to defend an internationalist role for Canada in the world, and that he was (largely) viewed as an able mp and cabinet minister, he was not well-loved by his colleagues, and failed to inspire strong allegiances. Indeed, Martin often seemed to be adjacent to, rather than part of, the inner circle of people who ought to have been his key allies, such as Brooke Claxton in the 1940s social welfare reform efforts, or Tom Kent and other young members of a resurgent left wing of the Liberal party in the 1960s. It was not a recipe for winning party leadership.

One of Grit’s strengths is that by focalizing through a central cabinet minister we are treated to a perspective of post-World War II Canadian history as it happened. Social, cultural, political, and foreign policy issues jostled for attention simultaneously...