Editing Paul Martin (section)

==Early political career (1988–1993)==

In 1988, Martin was elected as the [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for the southwestern [[Montreal]] riding of [[LaSalle-Émard]]. He was re-elected without much difficulty at every election until he retired from politics.

In 1984, the Liberal Party was defeated under the leadership of [[John Turner]], falling to just 40 seats. A group of young Liberals approached Martin as a possible candidate to replace Turner, and while he did not take part in an attempt to overthrow Turner, he did prepare to succeed him in the leadership should the position open.

Martin was a candidate at the [[1990 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election]], losing to Jean Chrétien in a bitter race that resulted in [[2004 Liberal Party of Canada infighting|lasting animosity]] between the two men and their supporters. A key moment in that race took place at an all-candidates debate in Montreal, where the discussion quickly turned to the [[Meech Lake Accord]]. Martin, favouring Meech, attempted to force Chrétien to abandon his nuanced position on the deal and declare for or against it. When Chrétien refused to endorse the deal, young Liberal delegates crowding the hall began to chant ''"vendu"'' ("sellout" in French) and "Judas" at Chrétien. Chrétien was upset at the response from the floor and another similar outburst by Martin supporters at the convention when Chrétien accepted the party leadership. [[Jean Lapierre]] and his supporters, who supported Martin, wore black armbands at the convention to protest Chrétien's victory. The Meech Lake accord was officially defeated just one day before the Liberal leadership was to be decided. In the House of Commons, Lapierre then crossed the floor to the newly formed ''[[Bloc Québécois]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/a-very-bitter-defeat-for-paul-martin |title=A very bitter defeat for Paul Martin |publisher=Archives.cbc.ca |date=June 23, 1990 |access-date=June 5, 2015}}</ref>

After the leadership convention, Martin co-authored the election platform ''Creating Opportunity'', colloquially known as the [[Red Book (Liberal Party of Canada)|Red Book]]. The Liberal Party won a landslide majority government in the [[1993 Canadian federal election|1993 election]].