Martin was raised in Wawa, Ontario, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Laurentian University in 1974.

Marie Soup Kitchen, and was for some time the owner and General Manager of Transcend Homes, a local workers' cooperative.

Martin defeated Liberal challenger Carmen Provenzano by almost 4,000 votes, and so became one of only seventeen New Democrats to return to the legislature.

He dramatically resigned from this position on December 19, 2000, to protest the Mike Harris government's inactivity on poverty issues.

[7] Martin was initially expected to be re-elected in the 2003 provincial election, but a late surge in Liberal support saw David Orazietti win the seat by a significant margin.

Marie's vulnerable industrial economy and strong union base and the NDP's populist strength in Northern Ontario made the riding a prime target for the party.

In the NDP's shadow cabinets under the leadership of Jack Layton, Martin served as critic for Social Policy, Childcare, Human Resources and Skills Development, and the FedNor agency.

Martin lost his seat to challenger Bryan Hayes of the Conservative Party of Canada in the 2011 federal election.