Joseph John Comartin (born December 26, 1947) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

lawyer and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. Comartin joined the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

in 1969 and represented the party in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

from 2000 to 2015. He is currently consul general of Canada in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Life and career

Comartin was born in Stoney Point, Ontario. A civil litigation lawyer based in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

, Comartin enjoyed strong support from local union members when he ran for a seat in the House of Commons, but narrowly lost in the 1997 general election and in a 1999

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

. He won the seat in the 2000 election, becoming the first federal NDP candidate to win a seat in Ontario in ten years (

Mike Breaugh Michael James Breaugh (September 13, 1942 – November 22, 2019) was a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1990, and in the House of Commons of Canada from 1990 to 1993. Background Breaugh was one ...

Oshawa Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the G ...

had been the last to win in a 1990

). He was re-elected in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. Comartin stood as a candidate in the leadership of the NDP in 2003, and finished fourth. He was the Opposition

House Leader {{Politics of Canada In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House Leader who is a front bench Member of Parliament (MP) and an expert in parliamentary procedure. The same representation is found in the pr ...

from October 18, 2011 to April 19, 2012. On September 17, 2012, due to the resignation of

Denise Savoie Denise Savoie (; born November 21, 1943) is a Canadian politician, who served as the federal Member of Parliament for Victoria (electoral district), Victoria from 2006 until 2012 representing the New Democratic Party. She was elected to the Hous ...

, Comartin was chosen to become Deputy Speaker. In July 2014, Comartin announced that he was not running for another term in the 2015 election."Comartin calls it a career; New Democrat to retire after 14 year as Windsor-Tecumseh MP". ''

Windsor Star The ''Windsor Star'' is a daily newspaper based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Postmedia Network, it is published Tuesdays through Saturdays. History The paper began as the weekly ''Windsor Record'' in 1888, changing its name to the ''Bo ...

'', July 3, 2014.

Electoral record

, - , - , -

References

External links

Official siteHow'd They Vote?: Joe Comartin's voting history and quotes
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Comartin, Joe 1947 births Lawyers in Ontario Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario New Democratic Party MPs People from Essex County, Ontario Politicians from Windsor, Ontario University of Windsor alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians