Move Over McKenna
OK, OK. In all seriousness, she has a pretty good bio:
Martha is a successful, well-respected lawyer, businesswoman and entrepreneur, with extensive experience with both large and small business.
- She is fluently bilingual in English and French, with training in several other languages.
- She is 45, and has 3 grown children: Katie, 23; Everett, 21 and Patrick, 19.
- She is the founder and principal of The General Counsel Group, management and legal consultants since 1997. As a member of The General Counsel Group, Martha has worked primarily in the high-tech and telecommunications fields, in both Canada and Europe.
- Prior to forming The General Counsel Group, Martha was:
◦ Vice President, Corporate Development and General Counsel of The Rider Group;
◦ General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Mobility Canada, Bell Mobility Corporate Counsel;◦Lawyer with the international law firm of Baker & McKenzie (in Torontpracticingsing international corporate and commercial law.
- She also co-owned and operated two retail stores while completing law school.
- Martha graduated from the University of Toronto's International Relations Programme and then from Osgoode Hall Law School.
- In her youth, Martha was a competitive skier, ultimately being named to the Canadian National Training Squad before retiring and pursuing her formal education. Martha supported herself throughout university working as a waitress, in construction (primarily as a carpenter) and coaching young ski racers.
Given that her candidacy will make Belinda uncomfortable, and I'm all for making Belinda uncomfortable, I'm glad Findley is running.
In slightly more troubling news, two very strong candidates who I'd like to see run are sounding less than enthousiastic. Gerard Kennedy is saying he won't run while rumours are circling that Martin Cauchon will back down too. Paul Hellyer anyone?
posted by calgarygrit at
10:04 p.m.
21 Comments:
God Damn It CG!
You get me all excited about this Kennedy guy and then he doesn't run?
I don't know about you, but I suspect at least one or two of these candidates who have "droped out" will resurface soon enough.
By
Anonymous, at 10:20 p.m.
CTV is premature in declaring that Gerard Kennedy will not run. Insiders say otherwise. Keep sending those emails to Kennedy's office to encourage him to run.
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Anonymous, at 10:20 p.m.
I always sad Tobin will come back trust me....for Findley , from her little bio that you gave us its really really...or to put it in Martin words very very impressive...good luck for her...she may have trouble organizing because her name wasn't ever mentioned...but being the first to mention allows her to get famous b4 the other
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Anonymous, at 10:30 p.m.
Well I for one think it's great that we have a seemingly quite credible woman candidate in the field. Now there is no need for pro forma women Candidates like Belinda.
Ignatieff, Dion, Brison, McGuinty, Volpe, Bevilaqua (Sp?), and a Westerner will be the others to declare.
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Anonymous, at 11:26 p.m.
Last time I checked, Martha was supporting Michael Ignatieff. I'm sure she was at his victory party.
The What Do I Know Grit.
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James Curran, at 11:44 p.m.
I dunno, Bart. The way things are turning out, Hellyer might be your best chance. At least at his age, he won't hog the job for too long. Leaves room for other up-and-coming 65-76 year olds.
BTW, like you, I've decided that "if drafted, I'll refuse". Fat chance of being drafted, but I wanted to make it perfectly clear ahead of time, in case the Liberals REALLY got desperate:
http://www.thiscanada.com/2006/02/08/whither-the-liberals/
My (shallow) take on the challenge facing the ex-Natural Governing Party.
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Anonymous, at 11:56 p.m.
Kennedy is not out. Apparently, he is still thinking about it.
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Anonymous, at 12:29 a.m.
James, Martha was at Ignatieff's victory party. She is supportive of him running.
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Anonymous, at 1:00 a.m.
People like Martha are probably hoping to scoop up 30 or 40 delegates across the country and then back the winner; it raises their profile and likley gets them into Cabinet.
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calgarygrit, at 1:11 a.m.
Well, there finally is one (1) candidate. Remember that those NOT running are McKenna, Manley, Tobin AND Emerson. Oh yes, Emerson was also considered one of the stars despite his unilingualism.
The plain truth is that the Liberal party is well over $30 million in debt and has now been deprived of its access to power and patronage. It's an unarmed, out-of-fuel warship, a sitting duck, in other words. And the putative top contenders can all plainly see that. So why can't all the silly Liberal "vote strategic" bloggers?
By
Budd Campbell, at 1:56 a.m.
steelcitygrit.blogspot.com
It's new. It will change your life. Come take the plunge.
By
SteelCityGrit, at 1:58 a.m.
Hey CG,
Didn't I not insist that Kennedy is not running for sure and Cauchon is gone into hiding and most likely not running. You should have put money in my stock.
Martha is not a serious candidate, but some one who has earned the right to attack Belinda. Martha's job is nothing but to pull down Belinda and preserve the integrity of the Liberal Party.
she will end up supporting another candidate like SB, SD, and UD if he runs. I hear he might not. Borys is very likely to run and looking at support from ON and Alberta, maybe 40-60 delegates in all.I will be surprised if he doesn't run.
I know some of Coddere and Cauchon ppl are leaning towards one candidate who is fluently bilingual, atleast 2-3 senior ppl. The new target of this leadership is going to be Belinda.
Watch how potential candidates will unite to disagree with her and ensure that she doesn't stand a position to negotiate with any candidate. She can be dangerous to the future of the liberal party.
The three key players are going to be Dion, Iggy, Scott and Drden to some extent. Belinda will come strong, but there are many gunning for her across all camps. This party is going to unite precisely because of her!
By
Anonymous, at 3:02 a.m.
NO Vijay. That was me. LOL. Over and over again. I am going to a luncheon with him and a hundred others tomorrow though and will ask him personally. But let's get back to leadership for a second.
According to theliberalpartyleadership.blogspot.com the National Executive of the Liberal Party of Canada has scheduled a meeting for March 18, 2006 in Ottawa to establish the rules for the upcoming Liberal leadership contest. These are the same fellas that brought us PM4PM 2003.
It is interesting that the National Executive has chosen such an early date to establish the rules, given the fact that, to the best of my knowledge, the executive boards of the provincial wings of the federal party have not yet been consulted on the subject.
Does LPC(O) intend on calling a meeting prior to the March 18, 2006 National Executive in order to consult with its Executive Board and members? Or are they blessed with a divine authority that would allow them to represent federal liberals in Ontario without such a consultation?
As a member of the Executive Board, given the seriousness of the subject matter, I would expect to be at least informed about the positions LPC(O) plans to take with respect to leadership and I would prefer to be allowed the opportunity to provide input to the process.
Given the problems that followed Leadership 2003, I would think that a wider consultation among its members would be a natural step that LPC(O) would take before making representations to the National Executive.
I will voice my concerns directly to LPC(O) and I will let you know what they have to say.
The What Do I KNow Grit.
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James Curran, at 7:54 a.m.
Martha is a carpet-bagger extraordinaire! She moved to Newmarket jsut before the '04 election saying she was there for the 'long haul', only to then flee Newmarket and move to Toronto a few months later. Makes sense then that she would support someone for PM who has not even lived in the coutnry for 30 years!
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Anonymous, at 9:17 a.m.
Kennedy is still very much running. I've received more than 10 calls in the last week from people who have been contacted by a certain senior Senator/organiser on behalf of Gerard.
Reread his quote from yesterday - he won't be running until the day he announces and he is very happy as Education Minister.
He has most of Rock's team on board (and I've heard that Allan will support him as well), has a lot of money locked up and I'd say it's 95% sure he will run.
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Anonymous, at 9:26 a.m.
Vijay you doesn't know anything. Kennedy has not made up his mind yet.
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Anonymous, at 10:07 a.m.
Atleast he has the balls to attach his name to what ever he says and doesn't hide behind a screen to create a propaganda for Kennedy. I will trust him more than the annonymous draft Kennedy propoganda.
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Anonymous, at 10:19 a.m.
I know. Don't you just hate the cowardice of anonymous posters.
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Anonymous, at 10:25 a.m.
Hall Findlay...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Although, she's probably a lot more intelligent than Belinda Stronach...
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Michael Fox, at 12:50 p.m.
Imagine you were Kennedy. Would you:
a. Tell as many people as possible that you are running long before any serious candidate would want to declare, get kicked out of cabinet and then declare your candidacy at a date and time decided for you by McGuinty;
b. Keep it quiet while having people organise for you behind the scences. Say you are happy as Education Minister until you, um, aren't and decide on an announcement timing so that you control the agenda. If asked by the media repeat like a mantra "I am happy as Education Minister, I am happy as Education Minister"; or
c. Tell Vijay your entire plan because the guy is so well connected, you can't possibly win without his support.
Just wondering (if it was me, I'd obviously choose option 'c' but Kennedy's not as smart as me)
By
Anonymous, at 1:08 p.m.
Gerard Kennedy is the most electable Liberal in Canada!
Reread all the anonymous comments prior. They are on the mark.
Gerard is happy and honoured to be in his position as Minister of Education in Ontario. However, he is the most electable Liberal in Canada.
CTV misunderstood him. No official decision has been made.
Until he has a press release stating otherwise, consider him as a potential candidate.
By
Anonymous, at 2:24 p.m.
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