He served in the National Assembly of Quebec from 1966 to 1970 and again from 1976 to 1985, and was a cabinet minister in the governments of René Lévesque and Pierre-Marc Johnson.
Martel was politically active in his youth, serving as president of the Union Nationale's university students organization in 1962.
He was returned to the National Assembly in the 1976 election as the PQ formed its first majority government under René Lévesque.
[1] Martel was appointed to Levesque's cabinet as Minister of Revenue on December 20, 1984, as part of a larger shuffle that some believed was intended as an appeal to small-town Quebec.
[2] In April 1985, he announced that the Quebec Lottery and Racing Board would be authorized to license arcades and conduct criminal background checks on their owners.