1. Joseph John Comartin was born on December 26,1947 and is a retired Canadian lawyer and politician.
136 Facts About Joe Comartin
1. 2.
Joe Comartin called for a return to social democratic policies after the party's drift to the centre during the 1990s, and voiced concerns regarding American influence over Canada's economy and foreign policy.
3.
Joseph John "Joe" Comartin was born on December 26,1947, in Stoney Point, Ontario, a small Franco-Ontarian community.
4.
Joe Comartin was the seventh and youngest child of Emery and Loretto Comartin.
5.
Emery died of stomach cancer when Joe Comartin was a year old and when Loretto was pregnant with an eighth child, who was named Emery after his father.
6.
Joe Comartin later remarried to Adelard Gagnon, a car salesman from Belle River, Ontario.
7.
Joe Comartin developed an early love for reading as a child, and he often read while in the branches of an apple tree.
8.
At his mother's urging Joe Comartin originally intended to become a priest, but at 16 he decided that he did not want to be celibate.
9.
Joe Comartin was appointed as the male representative on the school's awards committee after the twelfth grade male representative proved unable to fill the role.
10.
Granger was already in a relationship at the time, and she and Joe Comartin did not begin dating until a few years later.
11.
Joe Comartin was elected student president in his final year at Brennan.
12.
Unlike most of his older siblings, Joe Comartin was able to attend university because of the creation of the Canada Student Loan Program.
13.
Two years after completing law school, Joe Comartin established a private legal practice in Windsor.
14.
In 1984, Joe Comartin left his private legal practice to become a lawyer for the Windsor branch of the Canadian Auto Workers and the managing director of its legal services.
15.
The Joe Comartin family had traditionally supported the Liberal Party, especially prominent local member Paul Martin Sr.
16.
At the encouragement of his sister, Joe Comartin joined the Liberal Party and campaigned for her friend Mark MacGuigan in the 1968 Canadian federal election, in which Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was elected for the first time.
17.
Joe Comartin went on to become heavily involved with the regional riding associations of the NDP and Ontario New Democratic Party.
18.
In 1981, Joe Comartin was appointed co-chair of the Mayor's Committee on Services for the Unemployed by Bert Weeks.
19.
Joe Comartin believed that Broadbent had unwisely focused on nationwide campaigning rather than targeting winnable ridings.
20.
Joe Comartin believed that Broadbent had failed to capitalise on the NDP's traditionally protectionist trade policy amidst widespread opposition to the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement, which the Liberals had made a major campaign issue.
21.
Joe Comartin supported McCurdy, who made a surprisingly poor showing of fifth place on the first ballot of the leadership convention.
22.
Joe Comartin campaigned for Lessard, but was out of the country for part of the election season.
23.
Joe Comartin declined to run for mayor in the 1991 Windsor municipal election.
24.
Joe Comartin was made campaign manager for the 'Yes' campaign in Windsor, and directed all three parties' riding associations in the area.
25.
Joe Comartin did a great deal of lobbying on behalf of Windsor's unions to convince the Rae Government to build Ontario's first casino in Windsor.
26.
Joe Comartin's efforts were supported by Dave Cooke, a fellow Windsorite and a senior member of Rae's cabinet.
27.
Joe Comartin was appointed to the Ontario Casino Corporation board of directors in 1993.
28.
Joe Comartin campaigned on job creation and expanding healthcare coverage against Liberal incumbent Shaughnessy Cohen, who was considered vulnerable after a personal finance scandal in which she defaulted on her debt.
29.
The 1997 election was marred by personal tragedy; Joe Comartin's mother died in the first week of the campaign, with her second husband having predeceased her seven years earlier, and in the week following the campaign, Joe Comartin's youngest son Adam was in a motorcycle accident which left his right arm permanently paralyzed.
30.
Comartin's campaign manager Joe MacDonald was assigned to him by the NDP.
31.
Joe Comartin ultimately lost by less than one hundred votes to Limoges in what was initially expected to be a Liberal landslide.
32.
Joe Comartin later claimed that MacDonald had not believed that he had a chance of winning and had not worked as hard as he could have because of it.
33.
Joe Comartin challenged Limoges again the next year with environmental protection as his main issue.
34.
Besides the strong support expected from progressives and union members, Joe Comartin benefitted from conservatives who strategically voted for him in the hopes of harming the ruling Liberals.
35.
Shortly after being elected, Joe Comartin was appointed as his party's critic for the environment.
36.
Joe Comartin did support greatly expanding the Canadian military budget in order to properly meet pre-existing commitments.
37.
Joe Comartin did not hide his interest in the position, and a Toronto political scientist suggested that he would have a strong starting position as the NDP's only MP from Ontario.
38.
In preparation for declaring his candidacy, Joe Comartin recruited prominent union activist Peter Leibovitch as his campaign manager.
39.
Joe Comartin intended to announce his candidacy on July 29,2002.
40.
Joe Comartin had previously made an agreement with leadership competitor Lorne Nystrom to have the latter's announcement made on July 31,2002, but a misprint in The Canadian Press reported that Nystrom would be announcing his candidacy on the 29th as well.
41.
Joe Comartin agreed to the trip, which was paid for by a businessman associated with Palestine House.
42.
Joe Comartin observed the vote, and met with Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz.
43.
Joe Comartin was criticised for a photo taken of him in Iraq which had a large picture of Saddam Hussein in the background.
44.
Once back in Canada, Joe Comartin called for the Canadian government's ban on Hezbollah to be lifted, on the grounds that there was not sufficient evidence to categorise it as a terrorist group.
45.
Joe Comartin was criticised by those who held Hezbollah responsible for the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings.
46.
In total, Joe Comartin sold approximately 4,000 new memberships, placing him close behind NDP House Leader Bill Blaikie, who sold 5,500, but far behind Layton, who sold 8,100.
47.
Joe Comartin hoped that he had enough support from sign-ups and unions to prevent Layton from winning on the first ballot.
48.
Joe Comartin then expected that high turnout in Ontario would allow him to pass Blaikie on the second ballot and eventually defeat Layton.
49.
At the convention vote Layton won a majority on the first ballot, with Joe Comartin placing fourth behind Blaikie and Nystrom.
50.
Joe Comartin's poor showing was attributed to a late start and a lack of focus on domestic issues.
51.
Joe Comartin said that it was unlikely he would run for the party's leadership again in future.
52.
Joe Comartin ran for re-election in 2004 in a second rematch against Rick Limoges.
53.
Joe Comartin prominently criticised an unpopular plan to convert the residential area Michigan Central Railway Tunnel into an international highway, and supported putting stricter measures in place to prevent American police from pursuing suspects into Canada after recent incidents in Windsor and Niagara Falls.
54.
Joe Comartin campaigned on expanding Windsor's auto industry through business incentives for pollution-efficient manufacturing, and through protectionist policies to prevent outsourcing to the United States.
55.
Layton was widely criticised for his statement, including by Joe Comartin, who considered it sensationalist.
56.
Polling indicated that Joe Comartin's constituents approved of his public disagreement with Layton.
57.
Joe Comartin recommended that Canada consolidate its intelligence and security agencies into one department.
58.
Joe Comartin had a voting record in favour of gay marriage.
59.
Joe Comartin, a self-described devout Catholic, attended Our Lady of the Rosary Church, which was a part of Fabbro's diocese.
60.
Joe Comartin participated in extensive volunteer work with the church, including teaching a marriage preparation course with his wife.
61.
Joe Comartin instructed Gerry Compeau, the pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary, to read the letter aloud to the congregation and hand out copies.
62.
Jim Roche, the episcopal vicar of Windsor, clarified that Joe Comartin remained a Catholic in good standing and would still be able to receive communion, but otherwise supported Fabbro's position.
63.
Joe Comartin attended the sermon following his censure at Our Lady of the Rosary, where he was well received, after which he attended a picnic hosted by the CAW Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus.
64.
Joe Comartin described Hargrove's position as "disappointing," but noted that the local CAW backlash against Hargrove's decision was so great that it actually helped his campaign.
65.
Joe Comartin was endorsed by CAW Local 444 President Ken Lewenza Sr.
66.
In February 2006, Joe Comartin was appointed Deputy House Leader of the NDP, serving under House Leader of the NDP Libby Davies.
67.
That same year, Joe Comartin was appointed vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.
68.
Joe Comartin was part of a Canadian delegation to Russia in June 2006 along with Conservative MP Stockwell Day and Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, when Cotler was allegedly poisoned by the Russian government.
69.
In 2007, Joe Comartin was voted "most knowledgeable member of parliament" by other MPs in a Maclean's poll.
70.
Joe Comartin did not vote in the poll as he had a personal boycott against Maclean's for being "grossly unfair and inaccurate" in its consistently low ranking of the University of Windsor as a school.
71.
Joe Comartin was elected "most knowledgeable member of parliament" in 2009 and 2011.
72.
Joe Comartin supported the legalisation of sports betting as a means of generating revenue and as a way to regulate underground sports betting already taking place.
73.
Joe Comartin made his first attempt to legalise sports betting in 2008 by introducing a private member's bill into parliament.
74.
Joe Comartin was commended for his role on the ethics committee investigation into charges of bribery against former prime minister Brian Mulroney in the airbus affair.
75.
Joe Comartin was widely expected to win in the 2008 Canadian federal election, and ran against a collection of novice candidates.
76.
However, during the coalition negotiations Joe Comartin mounted an unsuccessful challenge against Liberal incumbent Peter Milliken for the role of Speaker of the House, placing fourth on the fifth ballot behind Millikin and Conservatives Andrew Scheer and Mervin Tweed.
77.
Joe Comartin campaigned on job creation, expanding pensions, lowering the tax rate on small businesses, and providing business incentives for the renewable energy sector.
78.
Joe Comartin's concerns turned out to be misplaced, as he won with his best ever result, gaining a near-majority of the vote.
79.
Under Turmel's interim leadership, Joe Comartin retained his role of justice critic.
80.
Joe Comartin declined to make a second attempt at leadership of the party, citing his advanced age.
81.
Joe Comartin declined to formally endorse a candidate in the leadership race in order to maintain his impartiality as House Leader, but spoke highly of Niki Ashton and hosted her campaign event in Windsor.
82.
That same year, Joe Comartin was acclaimed as Deputy Speaker of the House, serving under Speaker of the House Andrew Scheer.
83.
Joe Comartin replaced fellow New Democrat Denise Savoie, who had resigned from parliament for health reasons.
84.
Joe Comartin's first act as Deputy Speaker was to censure Brian Masse for using his debate time to congratulate him on his acclamation to Deputy Speaker when it was not the topic of debate.
85.
Two months into his tenure, Joe Comartin admitted that he preferred being able to participate in debate rather than act as a neutral arbiter.
86.
Joe Comartin began teaching political science at the University of Windsor in 2016.
87.
Joe Comartin described President Donald Trump as erratic, and was concerned that his policies would damage the United States-Canadian trade relationship, the ease of commuting across the border to work, and the ease of border crossing more generally.
88.
Joe Comartin was critical of Tom Mulcair's decision to stay on temporarily as Leader of the NDP after being removed in a leadership review instead of resigning and appointing an interim leader ahead of the 2017 New Democratic Party leadership election.
89.
In 2018, Joe Comartin was approached by the Trudeau Government to see if he was interested in replacing Douglas George as the Consul General in Detroit.
90.
Joe Comartin was surprised he was offered the position given his age and lack of interest in the position, and assumed that he was approached because of his closeness with the auto industry.
91.
Joe Comartin had a personal interest in encouraging American tourism toward Windsor, particularly for its casino and wine industries.
92.
Joe Comartin was supportive of Canadian automotive technology companies attending the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
93.
Joe Comartin testified at the Public Order Emergency Commission, which investigated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's use of the Emergencies Act to disperse the protestors.
94.
Joe Comartin reported to the inquiry that there was great concern in American political circles that the different branches of the Canadian government seemed unable to work together to remove the blockade prior to the use of the Emergencies Act, resulting in billions of dollars in lost revenue from stopped international commerce.
95.
Joe Comartin was succeeded as Consul General by trade specialist Colin Bird.
96.
Joe Comartin identifies as a social democrat and has described himself as moderately to the left of the NDP platform.
97.
Joe Comartin supports giving the riding associations and other party-aligned grassroots organisations much more influence in setting party policy.
98.
Joe Comartin has dismissed the idea of nationalising banks or oil companies.
99.
Joe Comartin has proposed eliminating Canada's goods and services tax from essential services such as home heating.
100.
Joe Comartin was very critical of the North American Free Trade Agreement and free trade with the United States for most of his career.
101.
Joe Comartin opposes selling office buildings owned by the federal government on the grounds that more revenue can be accumulated through rent than through the lump-sum income earned from a sale.
102.
Joe Comartin supports introducing a proportional representation voting system in Canada.
103.
Joe Comartin is supportive of collaborating with the Parti Quebecois and emulating their provincial social democratic policies on the federal level.
104.
Joe Comartin believes that Quebec has a right to separate with a simple majority of the vote, contrary to the Clarity Act, but personally opposes separation.
105.
Joe Comartin supports reforming the selection process for superior court judges.
106.
Likewise, Joe Comartin supports introducing a more formal code of conduct for the cabinet.
107.
Joe Comartin supports making the expenses of MPs more publicly available, although he prefers having an annual private audit rather than have it be the responsibility of the Auditor General.
108.
Joe Comartin's expenses grew after he became Deputy Speaker of the House.
109.
Joe Comartin supports putting tighter restrictions on pollution to improve water and air quality.
110.
Joe Comartin blames the United States for half of the air pollution in Windsor due to its continued construction of coal plants in the region.
111.
Likewise, Joe Comartin has voiced concerns over the reportedly poor maintenance and upkeep of the Fermi 2 nuclear plant in Michigan.
112.
Joe Comartin was highly critical of the Martin Government's allocation of funds for Canada's Kyoto Protocol commitments.
113.
Joe Comartin supported Canadian peacekeepers being deployed to Rwanda during the Rwandan Genocide.
114.
Joe Comartin regretted that the Canadian response had not been significantly larger, and felt that the mission that was sent was inadequate.
115.
Joe Comartin is supportive of Canada's territorial claims in the arctic, and is suspicious of potential American encroachment on Canada's claims.
116.
Joe Comartin supports allowing citizens to cross the United States-Canada border using their driver's license as identification, rather than passports being the only acceptable form of identification, to encourage cross-border tourism and commerce.
117.
Joe Comartin has been particularly concerned over a lack of safety measures for migrant farm workers.
118.
Joe Comartin attributed their poor working conditions to insufficient health and safety regulations, poor enforcement of existing regulations, and a lack of union representation.
119.
Joe Comartin renewed his push for greater regulations following the deaths of three migrant workers in Kitchener in late 2001 from hydrogen sulfide poisoning.
120.
Joe Comartin supported the opening of the Migrant Agricultural Workers Support Center in Leamington, which advocates for migrant workers, especially for their right to collective bargaining and for their inclusion in the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
121.
Joe Comartin believes that Cybertip [2], a government tipline to report child pornography, is inadequately funded.
122.
Joe Comartin supported a bill to raise the age of consent from 14 to 16.
123.
Joe Comartin doubted the constitutionality of the bill, as it created a reverse onus which shifted the burden of proof from the government to the suspect.
124.
Joe Comartin opposes mandatory minimum sentences except for large-scale white-collar crimes; Joe Comartin believes that crime is not deterred by harsher sentences, but is deterred by a fear of being caught.
125.
Additionally, Joe Comartin supports expanding the availability of youth programs, women's shelters, mental health services, and housing, which he believes will alleviate the root causes of crime.
126.
Joe Comartin supports expanding Canadian healthcare coverage to include prescription drugs and long-term care facilities.
127.
Joe Comartin supports government-subsidised daycare, and spoke positively of a similar program in Quebec.
128.
Joe Comartin supports expanding the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, and Employment Insurance.
129.
Joe Comartin supports expanding the funding for immigration settlement services, and supported a bill to allow immigrants living in Canada to sponsor the immigration of non-dependent close relatives.
130.
Likewise, Joe Comartin supported a bill to regulate the conduct of immigration consultants.
131.
Joe Comartin is ambivalent about the idea of legalising euthanasia, and prefers improving palliative care as an alternative.
132.
Joe Comartin is concerned that "mercy killings" might become a regular component of an underfunded healthcare system.
133.
Joe Comartin married his wife, Maureen Joe Comartin, on July 5,1969.
134.
Mrs Joe Comartin was a schoolteacher, and active in the community in education services.
135.
Joe Comartin was the program director and supervisor of the Child's Place Family Centre, president of the Sandwich Teen Action Group, and education committee chairwoman of the Windsor chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women.
136.
Joe Comartin is fond of tenor singing and the works of JRR.