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Tony Martin's next move

Tony Martin, currently enjoying a comfortable lead in SooToday.
BrianChristieTonyMartin

Tony Martin, currently enjoying a comfortable lead in SooToday.com's poll as the "recently retired politician I'd most like to see make a comeback," will emerge today from a five-day religious retreat, an exercise intended to help him decide his future.

Since Sunday, Martin has been sequestered at a Jesuit retreat in Pickering, Ontario.

A man whose spiritual guidance he respects has travelled daily from Toronto to meet with him there.

If everything has gone according to plan, Martin will emerge with a renewed sense of how a former pastoral assistant, soup kitchen manager and a 13-year member of the provincial legislature can spend the rest of his life.

Last week, 210 Saultites gathered at the Steelworkers Hall to honour Martin for his years of service to the community.

Our photograph, taken at that event, shows him with Brian Christie, a former constituency assistant for MPP Bud Wildman also known for his volunteer activities within the United Church of Canada.

The group that honoured Martin last week transcended all political boundaries.

Celia, Tracey, J.J. and the Big Guy

Among those we spotted at the recognition dinner were Mayor John Rowswell, Algoma University College President Celia Ross, Chamber of Commerce President Tracey Gard and impossible-to-define SooToday.com editorialist J.J. Hilsinger.

Martin, who resides in the P-patch with his wife Anna (née Celetti) and four children, was born in Ireland and immigrated to Wawa with his family in 1960.

After graduating from Laurentian University in 1974 with a political science degree, Martin got his first political experience as a Wawa trustee in what has since become the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board, a fact duly noted at last night's meeting of board trustees on Mount St. Joseph.

Ladling soup in the Sault As a resident of Sault Ste. Marie since 1981, Martin's early career path provided clear hints of the anti-poverty crusader he would eventually become.

He served as a pastoral assistant for his church parish, as general manager of a co-op housing construction company, and as founder of the Sault Ste. Marie Soup Kitchen.

As MPP for Sault Ste. Marie since 1990. Martin served as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Education and Training, chaired advisory committees on deaf education and education finance reform, as the New Democratic Party's critic for Economic Development and Trade, Consumer and Commercial Relations, Disabilties and Management Board, as well as being his party's anti-poverty crusader and small-business advocate.

Resigned as deputy speaker

Martin is arguably best known for resigning as deputy speaker of the Ontario Legislature to conduct his "People's Parliament on Poverty" forums across Ontario.

Speaking with SooToday.com last week, Martin said he's had lots of enquiries about his availability to take on a variety of roles.

He told us that after his five days of deliberation in Pickering, he hoped to have a better sense today of the direction his life will now take.


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David Helwig

About the Author: David Helwig

David Helwig's journalism career spans seven decades beginning in the 1960s. His work has been recognized with national and international awards.
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