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| Affiliation | New Democratic |
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| Name | Joe Comartin |
| Address |
Windsor, Ontario , Canada |
| Email | None |
| Website | [Link] |
| Born |
November 26, 1947
(76 years)
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| Contributor | Monsieur |
| Last Modifed | Monsieur
Jan 13, 2005 11:54am |
| Tags |
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| Info | Throughout his childhood and working life, Joe Comartin has struggled with adversity and fought for a better deal for working people. The struggles he and his family faced while he was growing up, and the many battles he has fought in the courts, on picket lines, in boardrooms and on street corners, have taught him the value of working hard and fighting passionately for the Canada we deserve.
A native of the small Francophone farming community of Stoney Point, Ontario, Joe learned about hard times early in life. His father, an autoworker and farmer, died when Joe was less than a year old. With seven children and an eighth on the way, Joe's mother, Loretto, was forced to live on meager social assistance and the limited support her extended family could provide. The sheer strength of Loretto's will and determination kept her family together. At her earliest opportunity Loretto found work, teaching elementary school, so that she could better support her impoverished family. His mother's strength of character and her perseverance against the odds left an indelible mark on Joe.
Despite the difficulties of growing up poor and fatherless, Joe followed the example set by his mother. He fought his way from a one-room schoolhouse through university and law school, becoming a lawyer in 1973. While a student, Joe often had to work two or three jobs to support his studies, but he still found time to begin his lifetime commitment to environmental protection. Working with Pollution Probe and the Canadian Environmental Law Association, Joe learned early that environmental protection must be a major consideration in any economic development plan. As a young lawyer, Joe often took on cases where the challenges were overwhelming and the compensation small or non-existent.
Joe has worked tirelessly for people no one else is willing to help. His commitment to providing legal services, especially to women needing a family lawyer, was his way of making sure that the hardships that single mothers faced, hardships he knew of first hand, would not be made worse by an uncaring justice system.In the early eighties, Joe learned how often workers' health and safety is sacrificed in the name of corporate profits. In the late seventies Tommy Dunn, an employee of the automobile brake manufacturer Bendix, died of mesothelioma, a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.
A few years later, his wife Lucie came into Joe's office. She told Joe about her fight to get compensation from Bendix and have mesothelioma recognized as a compensable injury from the Worker's Compensation Board. Joe made sure that Lucie left his office knowing that she had a lawyer to fight for her and Tommy's memory, even though he had to battle a major American corporation-a high-profile battle that led Joe to sue Bendix in the United States.
In addition to his challenging legal practice, Joe found time to serve the Windsor and Essex community. Among his many volunteer commitments Joe was the first chairperson of the Children's Services Committee for the City of Windsor and was a member of the city's Emergency and Health Services Inquiry Commission, under Stephen Lewis. From 1986 until 2000 Joe was also a member and chair of the Board of Directors at the Motor City Community Credit Union.
In 1984 Joe left his private legal practice to join the newly established CAW Legal Service Plan in Windsor as its first Managing Lawyer. In this role Joe served the Windsor-Essex-area CAW membership when they needed legal representation for personal injuries or family law.
Committed to the vision of affordable and non-profit housing, Joe was a founding member and/or chair of five different non-profit housing organizations in Essex County. Together with Ontario's first NDP government and the CAW, Joe led the construction of over 2,700 units of affordable housing. A staunch ally of the democratic rights of workers, Joe has provided counsel and guidance to activists and leadership in the labour movement. In recognition of his commitment, CAW Local 444 named Joe an honourary member in 1991.
Joe's hard and determined campaigning was instrumental in guiding former MP Howard McCurdy and former MPP Wayne Lessard to election victories. He has served in almost every capacity on both provincial and federal NDP riding associations States.
On November 27, 2000, Joe was elected Member of Parliament for Windsor-St. Clair: the first NDP candidate from Ontario to be elected to Parliament in over ten years. As a rookie MP, Joe was given the critic responsibilities for the Environment, Natural Resources and Energy. In less than two years at his posting Joe has put the environment back to where it belongs at the top of policy discussions in Ottawa. This led to Joe being recognized by Wild Canada as "Rookie MP of the Year" in 2001. Their media release declared:
"Comartin is an MP to watch. He will be a bright and shining star in the effort to protect Canada's wildlands and wildlife."
As gratifying as Joe's election win of 2000 was, his work in helping Brian Masse end forty years of Liberal representation in Windsor West stands out as one of the highlights of Joe's political career. Brian's win was proof that when the NDP speaks with working Canadians, instead of preaching at them, we can represent a real alternative to the misgovernment of the Liberals.
Joe has been married to his wife Maureen for over thirty-three years. Together they have raised three children: Heidi, Adam and Eric.
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