Shelley Wark-Martyn
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Shelley Wark-Martyn | |
|---|---|
| Ontario MPP | |
| In office 1990–1995 | |
| Preceded by | Taras Kozyra |
| Succeeded by | Michael Gravelle |
| Constituency | Port Arthur |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 11, 1963 |
| Party | Ontario NDP Alberta Liberal Party |
| Spouse | Kelly Martyn |
| Children | 2 |
| Occupation | Nurse, social worker |
Shelley Wark-Martyn (born January 11, 1963) is a former politician from Ontario, Canada. She was a New Democratic Party (NDP) member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995. She represented the riding of Port Arthur. She served as a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae. Almost two decades later, she served as president of the Alberta Liberal Party, stepping down in order to run in Calgary-Currie as a Liberal candidate in the 2015 provincial election.
Wark-Martyn was a social worker and registered nurse before entering political life. In 1987 she received an injury in the workplace that ended her nursing career. She received a small disability pension from the Worker's Compensation Board.[1] She is married to Kelly with whom she has two children, Kurtis and Erika.[2][3]
Provincial politics
She was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1990 provincial election, defeating incumbent Liberal Taras Kozyra by 1,034 votes in the Northern Ontario riding of Port Arthur.[4]
The NDP won a majority government and Wark-Martyn was appointed as Rae's first Minister of Revenue on October 1, 1990.[2] In November, Wark-Martyn introduced a bill to ensure that goods and services tax (GST) would not be stacked on top of provincial tax.[5] In December, she was featured as part of "Women of the Year" on the cover of Chatelaine magazine along with ten other women cabinet ministers.[6]
During her tenure as Revenue Minister she dealt with such issues as a proposed market value assessment property tax system for Toronto,[7] giving tax breaks to border communities to stem the flow of cross border shoppers[8] and collecting tax on goods that shoppers bring back across the border.[9] She also studied a possible harmonization of the GST with provincial sales tax, a policy eventually adopted in 2010.[10]
In February 1993, Bob Rae drastically reduced the size of his cabinet. The Revenue Minister position was abolished and Wark-Martyn was transferred to Minister without portfolio responsible for Education and Training, assisting Education Minister Dave Cooke.[11] On June 17, 1993, she was reassigned as a minister without portfolio responsible for health, assisting Health Minister Ruth Grier.[12]
In early 1995, Wark-Martyn announced that Lakehead University and Confederation College would receive almost $1 million in grants to develop programs and services to aboriginal people.
The NDP were defeated in the provincial election of 1995, and Wark-Martyn lost her seat to Liberal Michael Gravelle by almost 7,000 votes.[13]