title: Interpersonal communication

text: Individuals enter communication with others having established expectations for their own behavior as well as the behavior of those they are communicating with. During the interaction these expectations may be reinforced, or new expectations may be established that will be used in future interactions. New expectations are created by new patterns of interaction, while reinforcement results from the continuation of established patterns of interaction.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Established patterns of interaction are created when a trend occurs regarding how two people interact with each other. There are two patterns of particular importance to the theory. In symmetrical relationships, the pattern of interaction is defined by two people responding to one another in the same way. This is a common pattern of interaction within power struggles. In complementary relationships, the participants respond to one another in opposing ways. An example of such a relationship would be when one person is argumentative while the other is quiet.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Relational control refers to who is in control within a relationship. The pattern of behavior between partners over time, not any individual's behavior, defines the control within a relationship. Patterns of behavior involve individuals’ responses to others’ assertions.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: A complementary exchange occurs when a partner asserts a one-up message which the other partner responds to with a one-down response. If complementary exchanges are frequent within a relationship it is likely that the relationship itself is complementary.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Symmetrical exchanges occur when one partner's assertion is countered with a reflective response: a one-up assertion is met with a one-up response, or a one-down assertion is met with a one-down response. If symmetrical exchanges are frequent within a relationship it is likely that the relationship is also symmetrical.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Applications of relational control include analysis of family interactions, and also the analysis of interactions such as those between teachers and students.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Socionics proposes a theory of relationships between psychological types (intertype relationships) based on a modified version of C.G. Jung's theory of psychological types. Communication between types is described using the concept of information metabolism proposed by Antoni Kępiński. Socionics defines 16 types of relations, ranging from the most attractive and comfortable to disputed. This analysis gives insight into some features of interpersonal relations, including aspects of psychological and sexual compatibility, and ranks as one of the four most popular models of personality.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Falling under the socio-cultural tradition, identity-management theory explains the establishment, development, and maintenance of identities within relationships, as well as changes to identities within relationships.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: People establish their identities (or faces), and their partners, through a process referred to as "facework". Everyone has a desired identity which they are constantly working towards establishing. This desired identity can be both threatened and supported by attempts to negotiate a relational identity (the identity one shares with one's partner). Thus, a person's desired identity is directly influenced by their relationships, and their relational identity by their desired individual identity.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Identity management pays significant attention to intercultural relationships and how they affect the relational and individual identities of those involved, especially the different ways in which partners of different cultures negotiate with each other in an effort to satisfy desires for adequate autonomous identities and relational identities. Tensions within intercultural relationships can include stereotyping, or "identity freezing", and "nonsupport".


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Identity management is an ongoing process that Imahori and Cupach define as having three relational stages. The "trial" stage occurs at the beginning of an intercultural relationship when partners are beginning to explore their cultural differences. During this stage, each partner is attempting to determine what cultural identities they want in the relationship. At the trial stage, cultural differences are significant barriers to the relationship and it is critical for partners to avoid identity freezing and nonsupport. During this stage, individuals are more willing to risk face threats to establish a balance necessary for the relationship. The "enmeshment" stage occurs when a relational identity emerges with established common cultural features. During this stage, the couple becomes more comfortable with their collective identity and the relationship in general. In the "renegotiation" stage, couples work through identity issues and draw on their past relational history while doing so. A strong relational identity has been established by this stage and couples have mastered dealing with cultural differences. It is at this stage that cultural differences become part of the relationship rather than a tension within it.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Communication privacy management theory, from the socio-cultural tradition, is concerned with how people negotiate openness and privacy in relation to communicated information. This theory focuses on how people in relationships manage boundaries which separate the public from the private.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: An individual's private information is protected by the individual's boundaries. The permeability of these boundaries is ever changing, allowing selective access to certain pieces of information. This sharing occurs when the individual has weighed their need to share the information against their need to protect themselves. This risk assessment is used by couples when evaluating their relationship boundaries. The disclosure of private information to a partner may result in greater intimacy, but it may also result in the discloser becoming more vulnerable.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: When someone chooses to reveal private information to another person, they are making that person a co-owner of the information. Co-ownership comes with rules, responsibilities, and rights that must be negotiated between the discloser of the information and the receiver of it. The rules might cover questions such as: Can the information be disclosed? When can the information be disclosed? To whom can the information be disclosed? And how much of the information can be disclosed? The negotiation of these rules can be complex, and the rules can be explicit as well as implicit; rules may also be violated.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: What Petronio refers to as "boundary turbulence" occurs when rules are not mutually understood by co-owners, and when a co-owner of information deliberately violates the rules. This is not uncommon and usually results in some kind of conflict. It often results in one party becoming more apprehensive about future revelations of information to the violator.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: The theory of cognitive dissonance, part of the cybernetic tradition, argues that humans are consistency seekers and attempt to reduce their dissonance, or cognitive discomfort. The theory was developed in the 1950s by Leon Festinger.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: The theory holds that when individuals encounter new information or new experiences, they categorize the information based on their preexisting attitudes, thoughts, and beliefs. If the new encounter does not fit their preexisting assumptions, then dissonance is likely to occur. Individuals are then motivated to reduce the dissonance they experience by avoiding situations that generate dissonance. For this reason, cognitive dissonance is considered a drive state that generates motivation to achieve consonance and reduce dissonance.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: An example of cognitive dissonance would be if someone holds the belief that maintaining a healthy lifestyle is important, but maintains a sedentary lifestyle and eats unhealthy food. They may experience dissonance between their beliefs and their actions. If there is a significant amount of dissonance, they may be motivated to work out more or eat healthier foods. They may also be inclined to avoid situations that bring them face to face with the fact that their attitudes and beliefs are inconsistent, by avoiding the gym and avoiding stepping on their weighing scale.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: To avoid dissonance, individuals may select their experiences in several ways: selective exposure, i.e. seeking only information that is consonant with one's current beliefs, thoughts, or actions; selective attention, i.e. paying attention only to information that is consonant with one's beliefs; selective interpretation, i.e. interpreting ambiguous information in a way that seems consistent with one's beliefs; and selective retention, i.e. remembering only information that is consistent with one's beliefs.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: According to cognitive dissonance theory, there are three types of cognitive relationships: consonant relationships, dissonant relationships, and irrelevant relationships. Consonant relationships are when two elements, such as beliefs and actions, are in equilibrium with each other or coincide. Dissonant relationships are when two elements are not in equilibrium and cause dissonance. In irrelevant relationships, the two elements do not possess a meaningful relationship with one another.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Attribution theory is part of the socio-psychological tradition and analyzes how individuals make inferences about observed behavior. Attribution theory assumes that we make attributions, or social judgments, as a way to clarify or predict behavior.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: For example, when a student fails a test an observer may choose to attribute that action to 'internal' causes, such as insufficient study, laziness, or having a poor work ethic. Alternatively the action might be attributed to 'external' factors such as the difficulty of the test, or real-world stressors that led to distraction.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Individuals also make attributions about their own behavior. The student who received a failing test score might make an internal attribution, such as "I just can’t understand this material", or an external attribution, such as "this test was just too difficult."


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Observers making attributions about the behavior of others may overemphasize internal attributions and underestimate external attributions; this is known as the fundamental attribution error. Conversely, when an individual makes an attribution about their own behavior they may overestimate external attributions and underestimate internal attributions. This is called actor-observer bias.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Expectancy violations theory is part of the socio-psychological tradition, and addresses the relationship between non-verbal message production and the interpretations people hold for those non-verbal behaviors. Individuals hold certain expectations for non-verbal behavior that are based on social norms, past experience and situational aspects of that behavior. When expectations are either met or violated, we make assumptions about the behaviors and judge them to be positive or negative.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: When a deviation of expectations occurs, there is an increased interest in the situation, also known as arousal. This may be either cognitive arousal, an increased mental awareness of expectancy deviations, or physical arousal, resulting in body actions and behaviors as a result of expectancy deviations.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: When an expectation is not met, an individual may view the violation of expectations either positively or negatively, depending on their relationship to the violator and their feelings about the outcome.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: One type of violation of expectations is the violation of the expectation of personal space. The study of proxemics focuses on the use of space to communicate. Edward T. Hall's (1940-2017) theory of personal space defined four zones that carry different messages in the U.S.:


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Pedagogical communication is a form of interpersonal communication that involves both verbal and nonverbal components. A teacher's nonverbal immediacy, clarity, and socio-communicative style has significant consequences for students' affective and cognitive learning.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: It has been argued that "companionship" is a useful metaphor for the role of "immediacy", the perception of physical, emotional, or psychological proximity created by positive communicative behaviors, in pedagogy.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: A social network is made up of a set of individuals (or organizations) and the links among them. For example, each individual may be treated as a node, and each connection due to friendship or other relationship is treated as a link. Links may be weighted by the content or frequency of interactions or the overall strength of the relationship. This treatment allows patterns or structures within the network to be identified and analyzed, and shifts the focus of interpersonal communication research from solely analyzing dyadic relationships to analyzing larger networks of connections among communicators. Instead of describing the personalities and communication qualities of an individual, individuals are described in terms of their relative location within a larger social network structure. Such structures both create and reflect a wide range of social phenomena.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Interpersonal communications can lead to hurt in relationships. Categories of hurt include devaluation, relational transgressions, and hurtful communication.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: A person can feel devalued at the individual and relational level. Individuals can feel devalued when someone insults their intelligence, appearance, personality, or life decisions. At the relational level, individuals can feel devalued when they believe that their partner does not perceive the relationship to be close, important, or valuable.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Relational transgressions occur when individuals violate implicit or explicit relational rules. For instance, if the relationship is conducted on the assumption of sexual and emotional fidelity, violating this standard represents a relational transgression. Infidelity is a form of hurt that can have particularly strong negative effects on relationships. The method by which the infidelity is discovered influences the degree of hurt: witnessing the partner's infidelity first hand is most likely to destroy the relationship, while partners who confess on their own are most likely to be forgiven.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Hurtful communication is communication that inflicts psychological pain. According to Vangelisti (1994), words "have the ability to hurt or harm in every bit as real a way as physical objects. A few ill-spoken words (e.g. "You're worthless," "You'll never amount to anything," "I don't love you anymore") can strongly affect individuals, interactions, and relationships."


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Many interpersonal communication scholars have sought to define and understand interpersonal conflict, using varied definitions of conflict. In 2004, Barki and Hartwick consolidated several definitions across the discipline and defined conflict as "a dynamic process that occurs between interdependent parties as they experience negative emotional reactions to perceived disagreements and interference with the attainment of their goals". They note three properties generally associated with conflict situations: disagreement, negative emotion, and interference.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: In the context of an organization, there are two targets of conflicts: tasks, or interpersonal relationships. Conflicts over events, plans, behaviors, etc. are task issues, while conflict in relationships involves dispute over issues such as attitudes, values, beliefs, behaviors, or relationship status.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Technologies such as email, text messaging and social media have added a new dimension to interpersonal communication. There are increasing claims that over-reliance on online communication affects the development of interpersonal communication skills, in particular nonverbal communication. Psychologists and communication experts argue that listening to and comprehending conversations plays a significant role in developing effective interpersonal communication skills.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Interpersonal communication has been studied as a mediator for information flow from mass media to the wider population. The two-step flow of communication theory proposes that most people form their opinions under the influence of opinion leaders, who in turn are influenced by the mass media. Many studies have repeated this logic in investigating the effects of personal and mass communication, for example in election campaigns and health-related information campaigns.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: It is not clear whether or how social networking through sites such as Facebook changes this picture. Social networking is conducted over electronic devices with no face-to-face interaction, resulting in an inability to access the behavior of the communicator and the nonverbal signals that facilitate communication. Side effects of using these technologies for communication may not always be apparent to the individual user, and may involve both benefits and risks.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Context refers to environmental factors that influence the outcomes of communication. These include time and place, as well as factors like family relationships, gender, culture, personal interest and the environment. Any given situation may involve many interacting contexts, including the "retrospective" context and the "emergent" context. The retrospective context is everything that comes before a particular behavior that might help understand and interpret that behavior, while the emergent context refers to relevant events that come after the behavior. Context can include all aspects of social channels and situational milieu, the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the participants, and the developmental stage or maturity of the participants.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Situational milieu can be defined as the combination of the social and physical environments in which something takes place. For example, a classroom, a military conflict, a supermarket checkout, and a hospital would be considered situational milieus. The season, weather, current physical location and environment are also milieus.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: To understand the meaning of what is being communicated, context must be considered. Internal and external noise can have a profound effect on interpersonal communication. External noise consists of outside influences that distract from the communication. Internal noise is described as cognitive causes of interference in a communication transaction. In the hospital setting, for example, external noise can include the sound made by medical equipment or conversations had by team members outside of patient's rooms, and internal noise could be a health care professional's thoughts about other issues that distract them from the current conversation with a client.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Channels of communication also affect the effectiveness of interpersonal communication. Communication channels may be either synchronous or asynchronous. Synchronous communication takes place in real time, for example face-to-face discussions and telephone conversations. Asynchronous communications can be sent and received at different times, as with text messages and e-mails.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: In a hospital environment, for example, urgent situations may require the immediacy of communication through synchronous channels. Benefits of synchronous communication include immediate message delivery, and fewer chances of misunderstandings and miscommunications. A disadvantage of synchronous communication is that it can be difficult to retain, recall, and organize the information that has been given in a verbal message, especially when copious amounts of data have been communicated in a short amount of time. Asynchronous messages can serve as reminders of what has been done and what needs to be done, which can prove beneficial in a fast-paced health care setting. However, the sender does not know when the other person will receive the message. When used appropriately, synchronous and asynchronous communication channels are both efficient ways to communicate. Mistakes in hospital contexts are often a result of communication problems.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Linguistics is the study of language, and is divided into three broad aspects: the form of language, the meaning of language, and the context or function of language. Form refers to the words and sounds of language and how the words are used to make sentences. Meaning focuses on the significance of the words and sentences that human beings have put together. Function, or context, interprets the meaning of the words and sentences being said to understand why a person is communicating.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Culture is a human concept that encompasses the beliefs, values, attitudes, and customs of groups of people. It is important in communication because of the help it provides in transmitting complex ideas, feelings, and specific situations from one person to another. Culture influences an individual's thoughts, feelings and actions, and therefore affects communication. The more difference there is between the cultural backgrounds of two people, the more different their styles of communication will be. Therefore, it is important to be aware of a person's background, ideas and beliefs and consider their social, economic and political positions before attempting to decode the message accurately and respond appropriately. Five major elements related to culture affect the communication process:


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Communication between cultures may occur through verbal communication or nonverbal communication. Culture influences verbal communication in a variety of ways, particularly by imposing language barriers. Each individual has their own languages, beliefs and values that must be considered. Factors influencing nonverbal communication include the different roles of eye contact in different cultures. Touching as a form of greeting may be perceived as impolite in some cultures, but normal in others. Acknowledging and understanding these cultural differences improves communication.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: In the health professions, communication is an important part of the quality of care and strongly influences client and resident satisfaction; it is a core element of care and is a fundamentally required skill. For example, the nurse-patient relationship is mediated by both verbal and nonverbal communication, and both aspects need to be understood.


title: Interpersonal communication

text: Communication skills develop throughout one's lifetime. The majority of language development happens during infancy and early childhood. The attributes for each level of development can be used to improve communication with individuals of these ages.


title: Plant-based diet

text: A plant-based diet is a diet consisting mostly or entirely of plant-based foods. Plant-based diets encompass a wide range of dietary patterns that contain low amounts of animal products and high amounts of plant products such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. They do not need to be vegan or vegetarian but are defined in terms of low frequency of animal food consumption.


title: Plant-based diet

text: Origin of the term "plant-based diet" is attributed to Cornell University nutritional biochemist T. Colin Campbell who presented his diet research at the US National Institutes of Health in 1980. Campbell's research about a plant-based diet extended from "The China Project", a decade-long study of dietary practices in rural China, giving evidence that a diet low in animal protein and fat, and high in plant foods, could reduce the incidence of several diseases. In 2005, Campbell and his son published "The China Study", a best-selling book emphasizing the potential health benefits of a plant-based diet. Campbell also used the plant-based concept to educate consumers about how eating meat had significant environmental consequences.


title: Plant-based diet

text: Some authors draw a distinction between diets that are "plant-based" or "plant-only". A plant-based diet may be defined as consuming plant-sourced foods that are minimally processed.


title: Plant-based diet

text: A review analyzing the use of the term "plant-based diet" in medical literature found that 50% of clinical trials use the term interchangeably with vegan, meaning that the interventional diet did not include foods of animal origin. 30% of studies included dairy products and 20% meat.


title: Plant-based diet

text: As of the early 21st century, some 4 billion people are estimated to live primarily on a plant-based diet, some by choice and some because of limits caused by shortages of crops, fresh water, and energy resources. Main motivations to follow a plant-based diet appear to be health aspirations, taste, animal welfare, environmental concern, and weight loss.


title: Plant-based diet

text: Not all plant-based foods are equally healthy. Rather, plant-based diets including whole grains as the main form of carbohydrate, unsaturated fats as the predominate form of dietary fat, an abundance of fruit and vegetables, and adequate n-3 fatty acids can be considered healthy.


title: Plant-based diet

text: With ultra-processed plant-based foods, such as vegan burger patties or chicken nuggets, becoming more available, there is also concern that plant-based diets incorporating these foods may become less healthy.


title: Plant-based diet

text: In practice lacto-ovo vegetarians or vegans seem to have a higher overall diet quality compared with nonvegetarians. The reason for this is the closer adherence to health organisation recommendations on consumption of fruits, whole grains, seafood and plant protein and sodium. The higher diet quality in vegetarians and vegans may explain some of the positive health outcomes compared with nonvegetarians.


title: Plant-based diet

text: Observational studies show that vegetarian diets are lower in energy intake than non-vegetarian diets and that vegetarians have a lower body mass index than non-vegetarians.


title: Plant-based diet

text: Two reviews of preliminary research found that vegetarian diets practiced over 18 weeks or longer reduced body weight in the range of , with vegan diets used for 12 weeks or longer reducing body weight by 4 kg.


title: Plant-based diet

text: In obese people, a 2022 review found that plant-based diets improved weight control, LDL and total cholesterol, blood pressure, insulin resistance, and fasting glucose.


title: Plant-based diet

text: Vegetarian and vegan diets are under clinical research to identify potential effects on type 2 diabetes, with preliminary results showing improvements in body weight and biomarkers of metabolic syndrome. Some reviews indicate that plant-based diets including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts are associated with a lower risk of diabetes.


title: Plant-based diet

text: When the focus was whole foods, an improvement of diabetes biomarkers occurred, including reduced obesity. In diabetic people, plant-based diets were also associated with improved emotional and physical well-being, relief of depression, higher quality of life, and better general health.


title: Plant-based diet

text: The American College of Lifestyle Medicine stated that diet can achieve remission in many adults with type 2 diabetes when used as a primary intervention of whole, plant-based foods with minimal consumption of meat and other animal products. There remains a need for more randomized controlled trials "to assess sustainable plant-based dietary interventions with whole or minimally processed foods, as a primary means of treating diabetes with the goal of remission."


title: Plant-based diet

text: There is some evidence that plant-based diets decrease the risk of cancer. Vegetarian diets are associated with a lower incidence from total cancer (-8%). A vegan diet seems to reduced risk of incidence from total cancer by -15%. However, there was no improvement in cancer mortality.


title: Plant-based diet

text: Clinical trials show that plant-based diets, including vegan and vegetarian diets, may lower blood pressure, and blood cholesterol levels.


title: Plant-based diet

text: People on a long-term vegan diet show improvements in cardiometabolic risk factors. Clinical trials also show that the changes in blood pressure associated with a vegan diet "without" caloric restrictions are comparable to those of dietary practices recommended by medical societies and use of portion-controlled diets.


title: Plant-based diet

text: Prospective cohort studies show that vegetarian diets are associated with reduced risk of CVD and Ischemic Heart Disease, but not stroke. For vegan diets only a reduced risk in IHD was found.


title: Plant-based diet

text: The effect of plant-based diets on bone health is inconclusive. Preliminary research indicates that consuming a plant-based diet may be associated with lower bone density, a risk factor for fractures.


title: Plant-based diet

text: Plant-based diets are under study for their potential to reduce inflammation. C-reactive protein a biomarker for inflammation may be reduced by consuming a plant-based diet, particularly in obese people.


title: Plant-based diet

text: A 2020 review stated that dietary patterns based on consuming vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, whole grains, unsaturated vegetable oils, fish, lean meat or poultry, and are low in processed meat, high-fat dairy and refined carbohydrates or sweets, are associated with a decreased risk of all-cause mortality.


title: Plant-based diet

text: The Food and Agriculture Organization defines a sustainable diet as one with "low environmental impacts which contribute to food and nutrition security, and to healthy life for present and future generations" and one that is affordable for all while optimizing both natural and human resources. A sustainable diet can be measured by its level of nutritional adequacy, environmental sustainability, cultural acceptability and affordability. Environmental sustainability can be measured by indicators of efficiency and environmental protection. Efficiency measures how much of a natural resource is required to produce a given amount of food. Environmental protection is the level of preservation of ecological systems.


title: Plant-based diet

text: Plant-based diets can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the amount of land, water, and fertilizers used for agriculture. As a significant percentage of crops around the world are used to feed livestock rather than humans, eating less animal products helps to limit climate change and biodiversity loss. Especially beef, lamb and cheese have a very high carbon footprint. While soy cultivation is a "major driver of deforestation in the Amazon basin", the vast majority of soy crops are used for livestock consumption rather than human consumption. Adopting plant-based diets could also reduce the number of animals raised and killed for food on factory farms.


title: Plant-based diet

text: Research from 2019 on six diets found the plant-based diets more environmentally friendly than the diets higher in animal-sourced foods. Of the six mutually-exclusive diets; individuals eating vegan, vegetarian and pescetarian diets had lower dietary-carbon footprints than typical omnivorous diets, while those who ate 'paleolithic' and ketogenic diets had higher dietary-carbon emissions due to their animal sourced foods.


title: Plant-based diet

text: A 2020 study found that the climate change mitigation effects of shifting worldwide food production and consumption to plant-based diets, which are mainly composed of foods that require only a small fraction of the land and CO emissions required for meat and dairy, could offset CO emissions equal to those of past 9 to 16 years of fossil fuel emissions in nations that they grouped into 4 types. The researchers also provided a map of approximate regional opportunities.


title: Plant-based diet

text: According to a 2021 Chatham House report, supported by the United Nations Environment Programme, a shift to "predominantly plant-based diets" will be needed to reduce biodiversity loss and human impact on the environment. The report said that livestock has the largest environmental impact, with some 80% of all global farmland used to rear cattle, sheep and other animals used by humans for food. Moving towards plant-based diets would free up the land to allow for the restoration of ecosystems and the flourishing of biodiversity.


title: Plant-based diet

text: A 2022 study published in "Nature Food" found that if high-income nations switched to a plant-based diet, vast swaths of land used for animal agriculture could be allowed to return to their natural state, which in turn has the potential to pull 100 billion tons of out of the atmosphere by the end of the century. Around 35% of all habitable land around the world is used to rear animals used by humans in food production.


title: Plant-based diet

text: A reduction in meat consumption and a shift  to more plant-based diets is needed to reach climate targets, addressing public health problems, and protecting animal welfare. Research has been done on how to best promote such a change in consumer behaviour.


title: Plant-based diet

text: Some public health organisations advocate a plant-based diet due to its low ecological footprint. These include the Swedish Food Agency in its dietary guideline and a group of "Lancet" researchers who propose a planetary health diet. Vegan climate activist Greta Thunberg also called for more plant-based food production and consumption worldwide. A 2022 report by the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Council On Energy, Environment and Water included protecting animal welfare and adopting plant based diets on a list of recommendations to help mitigate the ecological and social crises bringing the world to a "boiling point".


title: Amhara people

text: Amharas (; ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group which is indigenous to Ethiopia, traditionally inhabiting parts of the northwest Highlands of Ethiopia, particularly inhabiting the Amhara Region. According to the 2007 national census, Amharas numbered 19,867,817 individuals, comprising 26.9% of Ethiopia's population, and they are mostly Oriental Orthodox Christian (members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church).


title: Amhara people

text: They are also found within the Ethiopian expatriate community, particularly in North America. They speak Amharic, an Afro-Asiatic language of the Semitic branch which serves as one of the five official languages of Ethiopia. As of 2018, Amharic has over 32 million native speakers and 25 million second language speakers.


title: Amhara people

text: The earliest extants of the Amhara as a people, dates to the early 12th century in the middle of the Zagwe Dynasty, when the Amhara were recorded of being in conflict in the "land of Wargih" against the Wärjih in 1128 AD.


title: Amhara people

text: A non-contemporary 13th or 14th century hagiographical source from Saint Tekle Haymanot traces Amhara even further back to the mid 9th century AD as a location.


title: Amhara people

text: Amharic is a South Ethio-Semitic language, along with Gurage, Harari, and others. Some time before the 1st century AD, the North and South branches of Ethio-Semitic diverged. Due to the social stratification of the time, the Cushitic Agaw adopted the South Ethio-Semitic language and eventually absorbed the Semitic population. Amharic thus developed with a Cushitic substratum and a Semitic superstratum. The proto-Amhara, or the northernmost South Ethio-Semitic speakers, remained in constant contact with their North Ethio-Semitic neighbors, evidenced by linguistic analysis and oral traditions. A 7th century southward shift of the center of gravity of the Kingdom of Aksum and the ensuing integration and Christianization of the proto-Amhara also resulted in a high prevalence of Geʽez sourced lexicon in Amharic. By about the 9th century AD, there was a linguistically distinct ethnic group called the Amhara in the area between the Tekezé River and the valleys of the eastern tributaries of the Blue Nile.


title: Amhara people

text: The present name for the Amharic language and its speakers comes from the medieval province of Amhara. The latter enclave was located around Lake Tana at the headwaters of the Blue Nile, and included a slightly larger area than Ethiopia's present-day Amhara Region.


title: Amhara people

text: The further derivation of the name is debated. Popular etymology traces it to "amari" ("pleasing; beautiful; gracious") or "mehare" ("gracious"). Another popular etymology claims that it derives from Ge'ez ("ʿam", "people") and ("ḥara", "free" or "soldier") although this has been dismissed by Donald Levine. Getachew Mekonnen Hasen traces it to an ethnic name related to the Himyarites of ancient Yemen.


title: Amhara people

text: The province of "Amhara" was historically located in the modern province of Wollo (Bete Amhara), in the feudal era, the region which is now known as Amhara was composed of several provinces which had little or no autonomy, these provinces included Begemder, Gojjam, Wollo, Lasta, Shewa, Semien, Angot, and Fatagar.


title: Amhara people

text: Evidence of a traceable Christian Axumite presence in Amhara dates back to at least the 9th century CE, when the Istifanos monastery was erected on Lake Hayq. Several other sites and monuments indicate the presence of similar Axumite influences in the area, such as the Geta Lion statues, which are located 10 km south of Kombolcha, and they are believed to date back to the 3rd century CE, or they may even date back to pre-Axumite times.


title: Amhara people

text: In 1998, ancient pieces of pottery were found around tombs in Atatiya in Southern Wollo, in Habru which is located to the south-east of Hayq, as well as to the north-east of Ancharo (Chiqa Beret). The decorations and symbols which are inscribed on the pottery substantiate the expansion of Aksumite civilization to the south of Angot.


title: Amhara people

text: According to Karl Butzer "By 800, Axum had almost ceased to exist, and its demographic resources were barely adequate to stop the once tributary pastoralists of the border marches from pillaging the defenseless countryside." With some of the common people the elite abandoned Axum in favor of central Ethiopia. Christian families gradually migrated southward into Amhara and northern Shewa. Population movement from the old provinces in the north into more fertile areas in the south seems to have been connected to the southward shift of the kingdom.


title: Amhara people

text: The Amhara people are considered heirs of the Aksumsite Empire. They have preserved the oral and written cultural and religious traditions of the Ethiopian Empire.


title: Amhara people

text: The Amhara nobles supported the Zagwe dynasty prince Lalibela in his power struggle against his brothers which led him to make Amharic "Lessana Negus" as well as fill the Amhara nobles in the top positions of his Kingdom.


title: Amhara people

text: Yekuno Amlak, a prince from Bete Amhara (lit: House of Amhara) claimed descent from Solomon, and established the Solomonic Dynasty in 1270 AD. Yekuno's rule was legitimatized by the Ethiopian Church, after he defeated the last ruler of the Zagwe dynasty at the Battle of Ansata. The Solomonic dynasty governed the Ethiopian Empire for many centuries from 1270 AD onwards up until the deposing of Haile Selassie in 1974. The Amhara continuously ruled and formed the political core of the Ethiopian Empire, expanding its borders, its wealth and its international prestige, establishing several medieval royal sites and capitals such as Tegulet, Debre Berhan, Barara (located on Mount Entoto, in modern-day Addis Ababa), Gonder, and Magdala.


title: Amhara people

text: The Amhara gained political dominance in the Horn of Africa through Amda Seyon's conquests of Muslim borderlands, which greatly expanded Ethiopian territory and power in the region that would be maintained for centuries after his death. Amda Seyon asserted the strength of the new Solomonic dynasty and therefore legitimized it. These expansions further provided for the spread of Christianity to frontier areas, sparking a long era of Christianization, Amharaization, and integration of previously Islamic areas.


title: Amhara people

text: Beginning in the reign of Wedem Arad, and increasing during the early 15th century, the Emperors sought to make diplomatic contact with European kingdoms for the first time since the Aksumite period. A letter from King Henry IV of England to the Emperor of Abyssinia survives. In 1428, Emperor Yeshaq sent two emissaries to Alfonso V of Aragon, who sent return emissaries who failed to complete the return trip.


title: Amhara people

text: The first continuous relationship with a European country began in 1508 with Portugal under Emperor Lebna Dengel, who had just inherited the throne from his father. This proved to be an important development, for when the Empire was subjected to the attacks of the Ottoman Empire aligned Adal Sultanate, Portugal assisted the Ethiopian emperor in the Ethiopian–Adal War by sending weapons and 400 men, who helped his son Gelawdewos defeat Ahmad and re-establish his rule.


title: Amhara people

text: The Amhara contributed numerous rulers over the centuries, including Haile Selassie, whose father was both paternally and maternally Amhara of Solomonic descent.


title: Amhara people

text: Within traditional Amharic society and that of other local Afro-Asiatic-speaking populations, there were four basic strata. According to the Donald Levine, these consisted of high-ranking clans, low-ranking clans, caste groups (artisans), and slaves. Slaves were at the bottom of the hierarchy, and were primarily drawn from the pagan Nilotic Shanqella and Oromo peoples.


title: Amhara people

text: Also known as the "barya" (meaning "slave" in Amharic), they were captured during slave raids in Ethiopia's southern hinterland. War captives were another source of slaves, but the perception, treatment and duties of these prisoners was markedly different. According to Levine, the widespread slavery in Greater Ethiopia formally ended in the 1930s, but former slaves, their offspring, and de facto slaves continued to hold similar positions in the social hierarchy.


title: Amhara people

text: The separate Amhara caste system of people ranked higher than slaves was based on the following concepts: (1) endogamy, (2) hierarchical status, (3) restraints on commensality, (4) pollution concepts, (5) traditional occupation, and (6) inherited caste membership. Scholars accept that there has been a rigid, endogamous and occupationally closed social stratification among the Amharas and other Afro-Asiatic-speaking Ethiopian ethnic groups. Some label it as an economically closed, endogamous class system with occupational minorities, whereas others such as David Todd assert that this system can be unequivocally labelled as caste-based.


title: Amhara people

text: The Amhara speak ""Amharic""(""Amarigna"", ""Amarinya"") as their mother tongue. Its native speakers account for 29.3% of the Ethiopian population. It belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family, and is the largest member of the Ethiopian Semitic group. As of 2018 it had more than 57 million speakers worldwide (32,345,260 native speakers plus 25,100,000 second language speakers), making it the most commonly-spoken language in Ethiopia in terms of first- and second-language speakers, and the second most spoken Semitic language after Arabic.


title: Amhara people

text: Most of the Ethiopian Jewish communities in Ethiopia and Israel speak Amharic. Many followers of the Rastafari movement learn Amharic as a second language, as they consider it to be a sacred language.


title: Amhara people

text: Amharic is the working language of the federal authorities of the Ethiopian government, and one of the five official languages of Ethiopia. It was for some time also the sole language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by regional languages such as Oromo and Tigrinya. Nevertheless, Amharic is still widely used as the working language of Amhara Region, Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Gambela Region and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region. The Amharic language is transcribed using a script ("Fidal") which is slightly modified from the Ethiopic or Ge'ez script, an abugida.


title: Amhara people

text: For centuries, the predominant religion of the Amhara has been Christianity, with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church playing a central role in the culture of the country. According to the 2007 census, 82.5% of the population of the Amhara Region was Ethiopian Orthodox; 17.2% of it was Muslim, 0.2% of it was Protestant (see P'ent'ay) and 0.5% of it was Jewish (see Beta Israel).


title: Amhara people

text: The Ethiopian Orthodox Church maintains close links with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Easter and Epiphany are the most important celebrations, marked with services, feasting and dancing. There are also many feast days throughout the year, when only vegetables or fish may be eaten.


title: Amhara people

text: Marriages are often arranged, with men marrying in their late teens or early twenties. Traditionally, girls were married as young as 14, but in the 20th century, the minimum age was raised to 18, and this was enforced by the Imperial government. After a church wedding, divorce is frowned upon. Each family hosts a separate wedding feast after the wedding.


title: Amhara people

text: Upon childbirth, a priest will visit the family to bless the infant. The mother and child remain in the house for 40 days after birth for physical and emotional strength. The infant will be taken to the church for baptism at 40 days (for boys) or 80 days (for girls).


title: Amhara people

text: Surviving Amharic literary works dates back to the 14th century, when songs and poems were composed. In the 17th century Amharic became the first African language to be translated into Latin when Ethiopian priest and lexicographer Abba Gorgoryos (1595–1658) in 1652 AD made a European voyage to Thuringia in Germany. Gorgoryos along with his colleague and friend Hiob Ludolf co-authored the earliest grammar book of the Amharic language, an Amharic-Latin dictionary, as well as contributing to Ludolf's book "A History of Ethiopia".


title: Amhara people

text: Modern literature in Amharic however, started two centuries later than in Europe, with the Amharic fiction novel "Ləbb Wälläd Tarik", published in Rome in 1908, and widely considered the first novel in Amharic, by Afäwarq Gäbrä Iyäsus. Since then countless literature in Amharic has been published and many modern-day writers in Amharic translate their work into English for commercial reasons.


title: Amhara people

text: Up until the mid 20th century, Amharic music consisted mainly of religious and secular folk songs and dances.


title: Amhara people

text: "Qañat" Amhara secular folk music developed in the countryside through the use of traditionel instruments such as the ":masenqo", a one-string bowed :lute; the ":krar", a six-string :lyre; and the "washint" flute played by the local village musicians called the Azmaris, and the peasantry dancing the "Eskista"; the most well known Amharan folk dance.


title: Amhara people

text: The ":begena", a large ten-string lyre; is an important instrument solely devoted to the spiritual part of Amhara music. Other instruments includes the "Meleket" wind instrument, and the "Kebero" and "Negarit" drums.


title: Amhara people

text: From the 1950s onward foreign influence i.e. foreign educated Ethiopians and the availability of larger quantities of new instruments led to new genre's of Amharic music and ushered in the 1960s and 1970s Golden Age of Ethiopian music. The popular Ethio-Jazz genre pioneered by Mulatu Astatke was created from the "Tizita" qañat of the Amhara combined with the use of Western instruments. Saxophone legend Getatchew Mekurya instrumentalized the Amhara war cry "Shellela" into an genre in the 1950s before joining the Ethio-Jazz scene later in his career. Other Amharic artists from the "Golden age" such as Asnaketch Worku, Bahru Kegne, Kassa Tessema and Mary Armede were renowned for their mastery of traditionel instruments.


title: Amhara people

text: The political turmoil during the Derg regime (1974-1991) led to censorship of music; night life came to a standstill through government imposed curfews and the curbing of musical performances. Notable Ethiopian musicians were jailed including those of Amhara descent such as Ayalew Mesfin and Telela Kebede. A revival of "Qene"; Amharic poetic songs which uses double entendre known as "sam-enna warq" ("wax and gold") was used for subversive dialogue and resistance to state censorship. Thousands of Ethiopians including musicians migrated during this period to form communities in different countries.


title: Amhara people

text: Amharic songs of resistance against the autocratic EPRDF regime led by the TPLF (1991-2018) continued; with prevailing themes being rampant corruption, economic favoritism, excessive emphasis on ethnic identity and its ability to undermine national unity. Amharic musicians; such as Getish Mamo, Nhatty Man, Teddy Afro and others turned to the old tradition of "sam-enna warq" and used layered expression to evade skirt stringent censorship and oppresive laws (such as the anti-terror law) while reminding the people of their similarities and the importance of maintaining solidarity.


title: Amhara people

text: On June 2022 Teddy Afro bashed Abiy Ahmed and his regime in a critical new song (Na'et), following the Gimbi massacre. In his song he tries to vent the suppressed public anger and indignation, the swelling public resentment to the chaos in the country.


title: Amhara people

text: Amhara art is typified by religious paintings. One of the notable features of these is the large eyes of the subjects, who are usually biblical figures. It is usually oil on canvas or hide, some surviving from the Middle Ages. The Amhara art includes weaved products embellished with embroidery. Works in gold and silver exist in the form of filigree jewelry and religious emblems.


title: Amhara people

text: The Amhara culture recognizes kinship, but unlike other ethnic groups in the Horn of Africa region, it has a relatively lesser role. Household relationships are primary, and the major economic, political and cultural functions are not based on kin relationships among the Amharas. Rather abilities of the individual matter. For example, states Donald Levine, the influence of clergy among the Amhara has been based on "ritual purity, doctrinal knowledge, ability to perform miracles and capacity to provide moral guidance". The social relationships in the Amhara culture are predominantly based on hierarchical patterns and individualistic associations.


title: Amhara people

text: Family and kin relatives are often involved in arranging "semanya" (eighty bond marriage, also called "kal kidan"), which has been most common and allows divorce. Other forms of marriage include "qurban", which is solemnized in church, where divorce is forbidden, and usually observed among the orthodox priests. Patrilineal descent is the norm. While the wife had no inheritance rights, in case a child was conceived during the temporary "damoz" marriage, the child could make a claim a part of the father's property.


title: Amhara people

text: Amhara cuisine consists of various vegetable or spicy meat side dishes and entrées, usually a wat, or thick stew, served atop injera, a large sourdough flatbread made of teff flour in the shape of pancakes usually of about 30 to 45 cm in diameter. When eating traditional injera dishes in groups, it's normally it eaten from a mesob (shared food basket), with each person breaking off pieces of injera flatbread using only the right hand, from the side nearest them and dipping it into stew in the center of the basket. There is also a great variety of vegetarian stews such as lentils, ground split peas, grains, accompanied by injera and/or bread.


title: Amhara people

text: Amharas adhering to any of the Abrahmic religions do not eat pork or shellfish of any kind for religious reasons. Amhara Orthodox Christians do not consume meat and dairy products (i.e. egg, butter, milk, and cheese) during specific fasting periods, and on every Wednesdays and Fridays except the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost. On all other days meat and dairy products are allowed. A variety of vegan dishes are consumed during fasting periods.


title: Amhara people

text: Ethiopia is a Buna (coffee) exporter, but also has a very large domestic consumer base. During social gatherings Amharas drink Buna in a unique and traditional way known as a coffee ceremony. First the coffee is roasted, then ground and placed in a Jebena (coffee pot) with boiling water. When ready it is then served to people in little cups, up to three times per ceremony.


title: Amhara people

text: The ceremony is typically performed by the woman of the household, or the female host and is considered an honor. Amhara women dress up for the occasion in a kemis, a traditional dress. Other locally produced beverages are tella (beer) and tej (honey wine), which are served and drunk on major religious festivals, Saints Days and weddings.


title: Amhara people

text: Mackonen Michael (2008) noted that the Amhara identity is claimed to be composed of multiple ethnicities by some, whereas others "reject this concept and argue that Amhara exists as a distinctive ethnic group with a specific located boundary". He further noted that "although people from the Ethiopian highland areas think of themselves as Amharas, the Northern Shoans specifically call themselves Amhara. That is why the Oromo and Tigrian discourse associate the Northern Shoans as oppressive‐Amharas."


title: Amhara people

text: According to Gideon P. E. Cohen, writing in 2000, there is some debate about "whether the Amhara can legitimately be regarded as an ethnic group, [...] given their distribution throughout Ethiopia, and the incorporative capacity of the group that has led to the inclusion of individuals from a wide range of ethnic or linguistic backgrounds". Similarly, Tezera Tazebew notes that "the early 1990s was marked by debates, both popular and scholarly, on the (non-)existence of Amhara as a distinct ethnic group", giving the debate between the academic Mesfin Woldemariam and president of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia Meles Zenawi in July 1991 as an example.


title: Amhara people

text: Due to large amounts of assimilation into the northern Amhara culture after Ethiopian imperial expansion, Siegfried Pausewang concluded in 2005 that "the term Amhara relates in contemporary Ethiopia to two different and distinct social groups. The ethnic group of the Amhara, mostly a peasant population, is different from a mixed group of urban people coming from different ethnic background, who have adopted Amharic as a common language and identify themselves as Ethiopians".


title: Amhara people

text: In a 2017 article, historian Brian J. Yates notes that some "scholars and politicians have attempted to sketch out what an Amhara is, but there are considerable divergences on the nature of this identity. Some argue that it is a cultural identity; however, much of the scholarship indicates that it is solely a class-based identity, devoid of ethnicity".


title: Amhara people

text: Solomon Gashaw asserts that "there is no intra-Amhara ethnic consciousness, except among northern settlers in southern Ethiopia". He notes that most Amharic-speaking people identify by their place of birth. He asks, "what is Amhara domination?", answering: "It is a linguistic and cultural domination by a multi-ethnic group who speak Amharic".


title: Amhara people

text: Writing in 1998, Tegegne Teka wrote that "the Amhara do not possess what people usually refer to as objective ethnic markers: common ancestry, territory, religion and shared experience except the language. The Amhara have no claims to a common ancestry. They do not share the same sentiments and they have no mutual interests based on shared understandings. It is, therefore, difficult to conclude that the Amhara belong to an ethnic group. But this does not mean that there is no Amhara identity".


title: Amhara people

text: According to ethnographer Donald Levine, writing in 2003 and citing Christopher Clapham, "Only in the last quarter of the 20th cent. has the term [Amhara] come to be a common ethnic appellation, comparable to the way in which Oromo has become generalized


title: Amhara people

text: to cover peoples who long knew themselves primarily as Boorana (Boräna), Guğği, Mäč̣č̣a and the like. Even so, Amharic-speaking Šäwans still feel themselves closer to non-Amharic-speaking Šäwans than to Amharic-speakers from distant regions like Gondär and there are few members of the Šäwan nobility who do not have Oromo genealogical links". According to Takkele Taddese, Amharic-speakers tend to be a "supra-ethnic group" composed of "fused stock". Taddese describes the Amhara as follows:


title: Amhara people

text: The Amhara can thus be said to exist in the sense of being a fused stock, a supra-ethnically conscious ethnic Ethiopian serving as the pot in which all the other ethnic groups are supposed to melt. The language, Amharic, serves as the center of this melting process although it is difficult to conceive of a language without the existence of a corresponding distinct ethnic group speaking it as a mother tongue. The Amhara does not exist, however, in the sense of being a distinct ethnic group promoting its own interests and advancing the Herrenvolk philosophy and ideology as has been presented by the elite politicians. The basic principle of those who affirm the existence of the Amhara as a distinct ethnic group, therefore, is that the Amhara should be dislodged from the position of supremacy and each ethnic group should be freed from Amhara domination to have equal status with everybody else. This sense of Amhara existence can be viewed as a myth.


title: Amhara people

text: In the 17th century, Abyssinian traveler Abba Gorgoryos states the following in a letter to his German friend Hiob Ludolf:


title: Amhara people

text: As to my origins, do not imagine, my friend, that they are humble, for I am of the House of Amhara which is a respected tribe; from it come the heads of the Ethiopian people, the governors, the military commanders, the judges and the advisers of the King of Ethiopia who appoint and dismiss, command and rule in the name of the King, his governors, and grandees. "


title: Amhara people

text: Zola Moges notes the emergence of Amhara nationalism and ethnic consciousness with origins in the early 1990s but taking clearer shape with the establishment of the National Movement of Amhara in 2018. Moges writes that a "younger generation has adopted its 'Amharaness'; but most ordinary people are yet to fully embrace it, not least because of the lack of any effectively articulated ideological foundation or priorities and the absence of any 'tailor-made' solutions to the challenges facing them".


title: Amhara people

text: Amanuel Tesfaye writes that: "While the older Amhara population still detest ethnic identification and ethnic forms of political organization, preferring pan-Ethiopian nationalism, the young have no problem pronouncing their Amhara identity, advocating for the protection and advancement of the rights and interests of their ethnic kin within the framework of the multi-nation state, and organizing politically along that particular ethnic identity".


title: Paul Martin

text: Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006.


title: Paul Martin

text: The son of former secretary of state for external affairs Paul Martin Sr., Martin was a lawyer from Ontario before he became president and the chief executive officer of Canada Steamship Lines in 1973. He held that position until his election as a member of Parliament for the Montreal riding of LaSalle—Émard in 1988. Martin unsuccessfully ran for leader of the Liberal Party in 1990, losing to Jean Chrétien. Martin would become Chrétien's longtime rival for the leadership of the party, though was appointed his minister of finance after the Liberal victory in the 1993 federal election. Martin oversaw many changes in the financial structure of the Canadian government, and his policies had a direct effect on eliminating the country's chronic fiscal deficit by reforming various programs including social services.


title: Paul Martin

text: In 2002, Martin resigned as finance minister when the tension with Chrétien reached its peak. He initially prepared to challenge Chrétien's leadership, though Chrétien announced his intention of retiring, triggering the November 2003 leadership election. Martin won the leadership easily and in the following month, succeeded Chrétien as prime minister. In the 2004 federal election, the Liberal Party retained power, although only as a minority government due to the Chrétien government's sponsorship scandal. During his tenure, Martin's government signed the Kelowna Accord to improve living conditions for indigenous peoples and legalized same-sex marriage. In 2005, the opposition parties in the House of Commons passed a motion of no confidence contending that Martin's government was corrupt, as a result of new details from the sponsorship scandal that were released through the Gomery Report, triggering the 2006 federal election. Martin was defeated by the newly unified Conservative Party led by Stephen Harper, ending over 12 years of Liberal rule. Shortly after, Martin stepped down as leader of the Liberals and declined to seek re-election in 2008. Evaluations of Martin's prime ministership have been mixed, whereas his tenure as finance minister is viewed more favourably.


title: Paul Martin

text: Now seen as a global diplomat, Martin continues to contribute on the international arena through a variety of initiatives such as Incentives for Global Health, the not-for-profit behind the Health Impact Fund, where he serves as a member of the advisory board. He also sits as an advisor to Canada's Ecofiscal Commission.


title: Paul Martin

text: Martin was born at Hôtel-Dieu of St. Joseph Hospital in Windsor, Ontario, and grew up in Windsor and Ottawa. His father, Paul Martin Sr., a Franco-Ontarian of Irish and French descent, served 33 years as a member of the House of Commons of Canada, and was a Cabinet minister in the Liberal governments of Prime Ministers W. L. Mackenzie King, Louis St. Laurent, Lester B. Pearson, and Pierre E. Trudeau. His mother, Eleanor "Nell" Alice (née Adams), was of Scottish and Irish descent. He had one sister, Mary-Anne Bellamy, who was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at a young age. She died on July 20, 2011. Martin contracted polio in 1946 at the age of eight (like his father, who contracted the disease in 1907). To give him the opportunity to improve his French, his parents enrolled him in a private French-language middle school, École Garneau, in Ottawa.


title: Paul Martin

text: Martin then briefly attended the University of Ottawa before transferring and graduating from St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto with a B.A. in history and philosophy in 1961. He was a member of the U of T Young Liberals during his time at the University of Toronto. He then attended the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, where he received an LL.B. in 1964. He was called to the Ontario bar in 1966.


title: Paul Martin

text: On September 11, 1965, Martin married Sheila Ann Cowan, with whom he has three sons: Paul, Jamie and David.


title: Paul Martin

text: In 1969, Power Corporation took a controlling share in Canada Steamship Lines. On December 2, 1970, Paul Martin, the 32-year-old executive assistant to Power Corporation Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Maurice Strong, was appointed to the CSL board of directors. In 1971, CSL minority shareholders sold outstanding shares to Power Corporation, making CSL a Power Corporation subsidiary.


title: Paul Martin

text: CSL suffered losses in 1972 when forced to cover unexpected cost overruns in the construction of three 80,000-ton ocean-going tankers at Davie Shipbuilding. On November 22, 1973, Martin was appointed president and CEO of the CSL Group. In 1974, CSL earnings were further hurt by an eight-week strike on the Great Lakes.


title: Paul Martin

text: In 1976, Power Corporation reversed itself and took over the investment portfolio that had been sold to CSL five years earlier. CSL reverted to an operating division of Power Corporation.


title: Paul Martin

text: In 1988, Martin was elected as the 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.


title: Paul Martin

text: 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.


title: Paul Martin

text: Martin was a candidate at the 1990 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, losing to Jean Chrétien in a bitter race that resulted in 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".


title: Paul Martin

text: After the leadership convention, Martin co-authored the election platform "Creating Opportunity", colloquially known as the Red Book. The Liberal Party won a landslide majority government in the 1993 election.


title: Paul Martin

text: After the Liberals formed the government, Martin was chosen as minister of finance by Prime Minister Chrétien. At the time, Canada had one of the highest budgetary deficits of the G7 countries. Standard & Poor's had lowered its rating on Canada's foreign-denominated government debt from AAA to AA-plus in 1992, and in 1994, Moody's lowered its rating on Canada's foreign currency debt from Aaa to Aa1, partly due to Canada's growing public debt. In his debut as finance minister, Martin made huge budget cuts that almost ground economic growth to a halt, scaling down government to 1951 levels. In 1994–96, when these cuts were made, economic growth decreased by 3.5 percentage points, according to a study by CIBC-Wood Gundy. The resulting loss in tax revenue almost eliminated the savings made by the cuts and turned the economy away from the public sector toward the private sector. The cuts endangered the provinces' abilities to pay for social programs, health care, and public infrastructure. In response, the Bank of Canada lowered interest rates to avoid contributing to a growing recession, causing a huge spurt of economic growth and resulting increase in government revenue. In 1998, Martin introduced a balanced budget, an event that had occurred only twice in 36 years before 1997. In 2002, Moody's and Standard and Poor's restored Canada's domestic and foreign currency debt ratings to AAA.


title: Paul Martin

text: During his tenure as finance minister, Martin was responsible for lowering Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio from a peak of 70 percent to about 50 percent in the mid-1990s. In December 2001, he was named a member of the World Economic Forum's "dream cabinet." The global business and financial body listed Martin along with United States Secretary of State Colin Powell and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan as top world leaders.


title: Paul Martin

text: Also during his tenure as finance minister, Martin coordinated a series of meetings between the finance ministers of all provinces to discuss the pending crisis in the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). Consequently, Martin oversaw the creation of a general public consultation process in February 1996 that eventually led to major structural reform of the CPP. The results of this public consultation process were collected and analyzed by the Finance department. Eventually, it led to a proposal for overhauling the CPP, which was presented to Parliament and was approved soon after, averting a pension crisis.


title: Paul Martin

text: While Martin's record as finance minister was lauded in business and financial circles, there were undeniable costs. Some of these took the form of reduced government services, affecting the operations and achievement of the mandate of federal and provincial departments. This was probably most noticeable in health care, as major reductions in federal funding to the provinces meant significant cuts in service delivery. Martin's tactics, including those of using contributor's funds from RCMP, Military and Civil Service pension plans and Employment Insurance, created further controversy. CAW economist Jim Stanford said that a combination of a spending freeze at 1994 levels and lower interest rates would have eliminated the deficit in two years through economic growth alone, without the reduction in services.


title: Paul Martin

text: Chrétien and Martin frequently clashed while in office. It was reported that Chrétien privately often condemned Martin in bitter terms and had never forgiven Martin for running against him in the Liberal leadership convention of 1990. During that bitter contest, Martin had forced Chrétien to declare his opposition to the Meech Lake Accord and, as a result, Chrétien was generally unpopular in his home province for the next decade.


title: Paul Martin

text: Even before the Liberals' second electoral victory in the 1997 election, there was much speculation in the media and in Ottawa that Martin was after Chrétien's job and wanted to force him to retire. As the Liberals emerged with a smaller majority government after the 1997 election, it seemed unlikely that any opposition party could pose a serious challenge, but Martin began to gain support from those who began to disagree with Chrétien. Chrétien, however, resolved to stay on after the Liberals were reelected in 2000, having regained much of the ground lost in 1997. By this time, Martin had gained control of much of the party machinery.


title: Paul Martin

text: The conflict between the two men reached a peak in 2002. Martin left Cabinet, being replaced by John Manley as finance minister. There is some question about whether Martin resigned or Chrétien had him dismissed. Being out of Cabinet was likely a boost to Martin's campaign as he was no longer obligated to disclose his donors. Soon after, Martin declared his intention to run as leader of the Liberal Party at the next party convention. Over the summer of 2002, Martin toured the country campaigning to succeed Chrétien while his Liberal organizers prepared to challenge Chrétien's leadership during a review vote in January 2003. During the fall, Chrétien announced that he would step down in the spring of 2004 after less than half of caucus agreed to sign a commitment supporting him. The Liberal party called a leadership convention for the fall of 2003, to be held in Toronto.


title: Paul Martin

text: Several other potential leadership contenders, such as Brian Tobin and Allan Rock, declined to enter the contest. John Manley's attacks on Martin's refusal to disclose his campaign contributors did little to dent the latter's commanding lead and Manley eventually conceded the race. This left no strong candidate for Chrétien supporters to rally around, and some of them grudgingly voted for Martin.


title: Paul Martin

text: On September 21, 2003, Martin easily defeated his sole remaining opponent, former Deputy Prime Minister Sheila Copps, securing 93 percent of the party delegates. On November 14, 2003, he was declared the winner at the Liberal leadership convention, capturing 3,242 of 3,455 votes. He had won the leadership almost unopposed, due to his hold on the party machinery, and because Chrétien supporters did not rally around either of the leadership opponents.


title: Paul Martin

text: Simon Fraser University professor Doug McArthur has noted that Martin's leadership campaign used aggressive tactics for the 2003 leadership convention, in attempting to end the contest before it could start by giving the impression that his bid was too strong. McArthur blamed Martin's tactics for the ongoing sag in Liberal fortunes, as it discouraged activists who were not on side.


title: Paul Martin

text: On December 12, 2003, Martin was appointed by then Governor General Adrienne Clarkson as the 21st Prime Minister of Canada. When sworn in as prime minister, Martin held the flag that flew on Parliament Hill when the elder Martin died. Both father and son had served as Cabinet ministers and contested the Liberal leadership on multiple occasions; their attempts from 1948 to 1990 were unsuccessful. Martin's election as leader and becoming prime minister was described as fulfilling a family dream. Both also earned the honorific prefix "The Right Honourable". One difference between them was that Paul Sr. was one of the most left-wing members of the party, while Paul Jr. is considered on the right-wing.


title: Paul Martin

text: When he was sworn in, Martin's new cabinet retained only half the ministers from Chrétien's government, a noteworthy break in tradition from previous instances where a retiring prime minister handed over power to his successor as party leader. Martin and his supporters exercised control over the riding nomination process, breaking with the precedent to automatically sign the nomination papers of backbenchers and former ministers who wanted to run for reelection. While these were signs of open party infighting, this had little impact on Martin's record popularity, with several pundits suggesting that the cabinet change was meant to present a new government different from Chrétien's ten-year tenure.


title: Paul Martin

text: Martin and the Liberals were adversely affected by a report from Auditor General Sheila Fraser on February 9, 2004, indicating that sponsorship contracts designed to increase the federal government's status in Quebec resulted in little to no work done. Many of the agencies had Liberal ties, and roughly $100 million of the $250 million in program spending went missing. The scandal hurt Martin's popularity, especially in Quebec, where Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe even accused Martin of planning to widen the St. Lawrence seaway to benefit his own Canada Steamship Lines. The scandal also cast skepticism on Martin's recommendations for Cabinet appointments, prompting speculation Martin was simply ridding the government of Chrétien's supporters to distance the Liberals from the scandal. Martin acknowledged that there was political direction but denied involvement in, or knowledge of, the sponsorship contracts. He had a judicial inquiry called to investigate what came to be known as the Sponsorship Scandal, and nominated John Gomery to head it.


title: Paul Martin

text: During his term, Martin appeared as himself in a fictional, comedic context in several programs, including an episode of the CTV sitcom "Corner Gas" in 2006, and also in the CBC mockumentary series "Jimmy MacDonald's Canada" in 2005.


title: Paul Martin

text: The Liberals were facing a new united Conservative Party led by Stephen Harper, while the Bloc Québécois and NDP were also buoyed by the Sponsorship Scandal. Martin advised Governor General Adrienne Clarkson to call an election for June 28, 2004.


title: Paul Martin

text: The Liberals were also hampered by their inability to raise campaign money competitively after Chrétien passed a bill in 2003 that banned corporate donations, even though the Liberals had enjoyed by far the lion's share of this funding due to the then-divided opposition parties. It has been suggested that Chrétien, who had done nothing about election financing for his 10 years in office, could be seen as the idealist as he retired, while his rival and successor Martin would have the burden of having to fight an election under the strict new rules.


title: Paul Martin

text: An unpopular provincial budget by Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty, who broke a pledge not to raise taxes, hurt the federal party's numbers in Ontario, as did a weak performance from Martin in the leaders' debates. The Conservatives soon took the lead, prompting some predictions of an imminent Harper government. The Liberals managed to narrow the gap and eventually regain momentum. Martin was successful in winning a plurality of seats to continue as the government, though they were now in a minority situation, the first since Joe Clark's tenure in 1979–80.


title: Paul Martin

text: The Martin government faced combined challenges from Quebec separatism and general hostility arising from the Sponsorship Scandal. The first test of the Liberal minority came following the Speech from the throne on October 5, 2004. The Conservatives announced plans to move an amendment to the speech. In this they were supported by the separatist Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party. The fall of the government was averted only after agreement on a watered-down version of the amendment.


title: Paul Martin

text: At the First Ministers' Meeting of September 13–15, 2004, Martin and the provincial premiers reached an agreement on increased funding for healthcare. It was not a "deal for a generation" as promised in the election, but it was a decade-long financial commitment that was expected to lower the heat in federal-provincial relations, which had worsened during Chrétien's time in office.


title: Paul Martin

text: Martin also introduced changes to the equalization program, under which the Federal Government is constitutionally obligated to redistribute federal revenue to provinces having less ability to raise revenues through taxation than wealthier provinces. The goal is to ensure uniformity of public service provision across the nation. This was received well in "have-not" provinces, but Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador sought to retain income from natural resources on federal marine territory that would generally be taken, or 'clawed back', by the federal treasury in lieu of equalization payments. In the 2004 federal election campaign, Harper provided a written promise that Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia under a Conservative government would receive 100 percent of the revenue generated from their natural resources without an equalization clawback, a promise he reneged upon when elected Prime Minister. NDP leader Jack Layton followed suit soon after with a similar guarantee, and later Martin promised that under a Liberal government both provinces would receive the same deal, except only for oil resources. Negotiations over the agreement were harsh, with Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams at one point ordering all Canadian flags removed from provincial government buildings in December 2004. The dispute was resolved when the federal government agreed to Martin's original campaign promise.


title: Paul Martin

text: Martin also negotiated a ten-year, $41 billion plan to improve health care and reduce wait times. He signed agreements with all provinces to establish a national early learning and child care program.


title: Paul Martin

text: The 2005 federal budget was presented in the House of Commons on February 23, 2005. The budget included an array of new spending for the Armed Forces, the environment and a national child-care program.


title: Paul Martin

text: Public hearings of the Gomery Commission inquiry into the sponsorship scandal involving alleged kickbacks and "donations" from Quebec advertising agencies and corporations to Liberal Party operatives led to a drop in the Liberal Party's popularity. The security of the minority government came under fire as the Conservatives threatened to force an election by use of their "opposition day," when they get to set the Parliament's agenda. The Conservatives would use this time to hold a vote of no confidence in order to topple Martin's government. To avoid this, Martin removed all opposition days from the schedule and made a televised appearance on April 21, 2005, to attempt to gain support from the Canadian people to let the inquiry run its course before an election was called. In the rebuttal speeches by the opposition party leaders, Layton offered his party's support provided that they were given major concessions in the budget such as canceling the proposed corporate tax cuts. Days later, the Liberals took the NDP up on their offer and negotiated tax cut deferments and new spending initiatives. Among the new commitments was aid for Sudan, which Sudan's officials turned down as Martin did not consult them about it beforehand. This aid was attacked as a perceived attempt to win the vote of a single independent MP, former Liberal David Kilgour. Kilgour nevertheless voted against the government.


title: Paul Martin

text: In May, Parliament passed a motion asking one of its committees to express a lack of confidence in the government. The Liberals dismissed this as a procedural matter, causing some to accuse them of governing unlawfully by ignoring parliamentary tradition. The Conservatives and Bloc interpreted it as a vote of no confidence, and they combined their votes to shut down the House of Commons early for two days in a row. The Speaker of the House of Commons later ruled in favour of the Liberal stance.


title: Paul Martin

text: On May 17, 2005, MP Belinda Stronach crossed the floor from the Conservative Party and joined the Liberal Party to become Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development. Martin claimed Stronach's move was due to concerns over the direction the Conservative Party was taking; others accused Stronach of political opportunism. The event changed the balance of power in the House of Commons in favour of the government. This, and the support of independent MP Chuck Cadman, caused a tie during a May 2005 confidence vote, meaning that Peter Milliken, Speaker of the House needed to cast the deciding vote. He voted with the government, following the tradition that the Speaker votes to continue debate, and that allowed the budget to pass through the House on May 19, 2005.


title: Paul Martin

text: Same-sex marriage proved to be a defining issue of Martin's mandate. Martin opposed same-sex marriage in a 1999 vote on the issue along with a majority of MPs, but changed his stance on the issue in 2004, citing recent court rulings and his personal belief that same-sex marriage was primarily a human rights issue. In the midst of various court rulings in 2003 and 2004 that allowed for the legalization of same-sex marriages in seven provinces and one territory, the government proposed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage across Canada. The House of Commons passed the "Civil Marriage Act" in late June 2005 in a late-night, last-minute vote before Parliament closed down, the Senate passed it in July 2005, and it received Royal Assent on July 20 of the same year. This made Canada the fourth country in the world to allow same-sex marriages.


title: Paul Martin

text: In November 2005, the Martin government reached a historic consensus with Canada's provinces, territories, First Nations, Métis and Inuit. Known as the Kelowna Accord, it aimed to eliminate the gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians in health, education, housing and economic opportunity.


title: Paul Martin

text: On February 24, 2005, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew told the House of Commons that Canada would not participate in the American National Missile Defense Program, and that he expected to be consulted in the case of a missile being launched over Canadian airspace. Martin's decision met with much praise, but others saw that the government was distancing itself from the U.S. His government continued to cooperate with the United States on border control, refugee claimants, and defense, and he appointed seasoned Liberal politician Frank McKenna as Canada's ambassador to Washington.


title: Paul Martin

text: Martin was criticized for failing to reach a foreign-aid target of 0.7 percent of GDP, most notably by Bono of Irish rock group U2 (who claimed that he was going to "kick <nowiki>[Martin's]</nowiki> butt" over the issue). Martin later responded that, in his view, many foreign leaders had made pledges that were too fanciful and that he would only commit to targets that he knew his government could be held accountable for.


title: Paul Martin

text: Martin became involved in a diplomatic row with the United States administration after accusing, with Bill Clinton, the US of not listening to global environmental concerns. Martin rejected US Ambassador David Wilkins's rebuke and said he was standing up for Canada's interests over softwood and other issues.


title: Paul Martin

text: Martin promoted the expansion of the G8 into a larger group of twenty nations, G20, whose inaugural chairman was himself. He also forged a closer relationship with the People's Republic of China by announcing the strategic partnership initiative during PRC President Hu Jintao's state visit to Canada in September 2005.


title: Paul Martin

text: On August 4, 2005, the government announced that Martin had advised Queen Elizabeth II to appoint Michaëlle Jean as governor general. The reception to the appointment was mixed: some applauded the move, while accusations that her husband had both dined with former members of the terrorist organization FLQ and been supportive of Quebec separatism surprised others. Subsequent to her appointment, she reaffirmed her commitment to federalism and the issue died down.


title: Paul Martin

text: The first volume of the Gomery Report, released on November 1, 2005, cleared Martin of any wrongdoing while placing some blame for the scandal on Chrétien for lack of oversight, although it acknowledged that Chrétien had no knowledge of the scandal. On June 26, 2008, Chrétien was cleared of all allegations of involvement in the scandal.


title: Paul Martin

text: A Canadian judge issued a gag order that barred Canadian media from covering the hearings of the Gomery Inquiry. Despite this, leaked information circulated after being published in an American blog "Captain's Quarters".


title: Paul Martin

text: After the Gomery findings, NDP leader Jack Layton notified the Liberals of conditions for the NDP's continued support; the terms of these conditions are unclear, but the two parties were unable to come to an agreement. An opposition proposal schedule an election for February 2006 in return for passing several pieces of legislation was also unrealized. The Conservatives, supported by the other two opposition parties (the NDP and Bloc Québécois), introduced a motion of non confidence against the Martin government. The motion passed on November 28 by a count of 171–133, defeating the government, after which the Governor General issued the election writs for a vote to be held on January 23, 2006.


title: Paul Martin

text: Some commentators described Martin's tenure as Prime Minister as unfocused and indecisive, with the Canadian correspondent of "The Economist" reporting that he was being called "Mr. Dithers" in Ottawa.


title: Paul Martin

text: Martin campaigned on a vision of Canada different from that of the Conservatives, centering on issues of health care, daycare, tax cutting, and national autonomy. But for much of the campaign the Liberals were on the defensive due to corruption within the party, as a result of revelations of details of the Sponsorship Scandal.


title: Paul Martin

text: Prior to the campaign and upon dropping of the writs, opinion polling indicated the Liberals were ahead of the Conservatives by 2–10% popular support (November 30, 2005: Liberals 35%, Conservatives 30%). But the Liberal lead did not last. They did not plan much serious campaigning during December, allowing the Conservatives to take the initiative in rolling out policy ideas. Several early gaffes were picked up by an unsympathetic media. One notable gaffe was Liberal Party strategist Scott Reid's suggestion that parents might buy beer and popcorn with the Conservatives' child care subsidy, although Martin declined to apologize. Martin was also criticized for portraying himself as the defender of Canadian unity; some opponents said that the election was not a referendum while others pointed to the Sponsorship Scandal.


title: Paul Martin

text: Near the end of December, the Liberals were rocked by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police criminal investigation into the leaking of news of a federal tax change for income trusts. This again brought the Sponsorship Scandal to public attention at a time when Martin planned to make important policy announcements. Under constant campaign pressure by all opposition parties casting Martin and the Liberals as corrupt, Liberal support fell to as low as 26% in early January 2006.


title: Paul Martin

text: Martin did not put in a strong performance during the televised campaign debates. While appearing passionate in his message, he stuttered in making statements and appeared somewhat flustered. During one debate, Martin made a surprise pledge that he would eliminate the notwithstanding clause; the Conservatives pointed out that this was not one of the announced Liberal campaign promises.


title: Paul Martin

text: In an attempt to sway voter sentiment in the final two weeks of the campaign, the Liberals prepared a series of attack ads. One unreleased ad was seen widely as disrespectful of the military and it not only overshadowed the other ads but also forced Martin to defend it instead of releasing new policies. During the last week, Martin was forced to defend Harper after the latter was called a separatist by Canadian Auto Workers union leader Buzz Hargrove. In another tactic similar to the 2004 campaign, Hargrove urged all progressive voters to unite under the Liberal banner in English Canada and the Bloc Québécois in Quebec to stop the Conservatives, hoping to attract voters who were leaning towards the NDP, but New Democrat leader Jack Layton responded by focusing his attacks on Liberal corruption.


title: Paul Martin

text: In the end, the Conservatives won a plurality of support and seats, finishing 31 seats short of a majority. The Liberals held their base of support in Ontario, with 54 seats of the 103 in the province. The Liberals lost a number of seats in Quebec, winning only 13 of the 75 seats in the province, down from 21 in 2004, while the Conservatives won 10 seats there. The Liberals did not improve their standings in the Western provinces, winning only 14 of the 92 seats, the same number as in 2004.


title: Paul Martin

text: Shortly after midnight on January 24, 2006, after it became clear that the Conservatives were on their way to a plurality, Martin conceded defeat. (Near the end of the 2004 election, Martin and Harper both pledged that they would not form a government unless they won a plurality of seats.) Martin surprised many by announcing his resignation as party leader, saying "I will continue to represent with pride the people of LaSalle—Émard, but I will not take our party into another election as leader."


title: Paul Martin

text: The next day, Martin officially informed Governor General Michaëlle Jean of his intention to resign as prime minister. Jean asked Harper to form a government later that day. Martin remained as prime minister until the Harper minority government was sworn on February 6, 2006.


title: Paul Martin

text: Martin chose the following jurists to be appointed as justices of the Supreme Court of Canada by the Governor General:


title: Paul Martin

text: Choosing not to take on the office of Leader of the Opposition, the first defeated Prime Minister who had retained his seat not to do so, Martin stepped down as parliamentary leader of his party on February 1, and the Liberal caucus appointed Bill Graham, MP for Toronto Centre and outgoing Defence Minister, as his interim successor.


title: Paul Martin

text: Martin temporarily remained nominal Liberal party leader until March 18, 2006, when he submitted his resignation to party executives, who handed that post to Graham for the interim until that next leadership convention could be held. At the same meeting Martin tendered his resignation, the date for the leadership convention to select his successor was set for the weekend of December 2–3, 2006. According to media reports, Martin decided to move up the date of his resignation to end speculation that he might lead the Liberals into another election if Stephen Harper's minority government were to fall prior to the Liberal leadership convention. This began a trend of high turnover among permanent Liberal leaders, in contrast to their predecessors who usually served over two or more elections, including Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chrétien who each led for over a decade.


title: Paul Martin

text: At the Liberal convention in Montreal, Martin was officially neutral in the contest. The party's tribute to Martin was hosted by former Olympian Mark Tewksbury. Martin's press secretary denied that the tribute was low key due to the Sponsorship Scandal and lingering bitterness inside the party, saying that the former prime minister wanted a simple evening. In his farewell speech, Martin paid homage to Chrétien, though the latter was not present for the event, and urged the Liberals to emerge united from the convention. Stéphane Dion was elected Liberal leader from a field of eight candidates.


title: Paul Martin

text: For his last years of public office after resigning as Prime Minister, Martin was a backbencher, devoting his time to projects related to improving educational opportunities for Aboriginals (The Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative), and protecting the Congo Basin rain forest. In the 2008 federal election, Martin did not run for re-election to Parliament.


title: Paul Martin

text: CTV in November 2008 reported that Martin would be a member of a four-person council of economic advisers to a coalition government formed by the Liberals and the NDP if they succeed in toppling the Harper government. However, the proposed coalition dissolved as outgoing Liberal leader Stéphane Dion was immediately forced out and replaced by Michael Ignatieff, who quickly distanced the party from the coalition.


title: Paul Martin

text: Martin published his memoirs, entitled "Hell Or High Water: My Life In And Out of Politics" (), in late 2008. The book, published by McClelland & Stewart, draws heavily upon interviews conducted by Sean Conway, a former Ontario Liberal provincial cabinet minister, which were carried out for the Library and Archives Canada.


title: Paul Martin

text: Martin was asked by Kofi Annan (at that time Secretary General of the United Nations), Gordon Brown (then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom), and other international politicians and diplomats to help African countries develop their economic potential.


title: Paul Martin

text: In 2009, Martin was co-chair of the Congo Basin Forest Fund, along with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Professor Wangari Maathai, to address global warming and poverty issues in a ten-nation region in Africa.


title: Paul Martin

text: In September 2022, Martin attended Elizabeth II's state funeral, along with other former Canadian prime ministers.


title: Paul Martin

text: Since his retirement from active Canadian politics, Martin has been an adviser to the International Monetary Fund, and to the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa. He also works with the Martin Family Initiative, which assists First Nations youth. He lives in Knowlton Québec and is an enthusiastic member of the Brome Lake Golf club.


title: Plot (narrative)

text: In a literary work, film, or other narrative, the plot is the sequence of events in which each event affects the next one through the principle of cause-and-effect. The causal events of a plot can be thought of as a series of events linked by the connector "and so". Plots can vary from the simple—such as in a traditional ballad—to forming complex interwoven structures, with each part sometimes referred to as a subplot or "imbroglio".