Cabot Martin circa 1972 (Photo courtesy of Memorial University Digital Archive/Decks Awash.) Cabot Martin, the man considered the chief architect of one of the most important documents in Newfoundland and Labrador history, has died. Martin died on Friday at the age of 78. Cabot Martin was one of our province’s brightest minds, helping to negotiate the 1985 Atlantic Accord and the Hibernia Agreement, the foundations of our economy. Cabot died today. He was a friend of my father and my godfather, Frank Ryan. Rest in Peace. — Seamus O’Regan Jr (@SeamusORegan) September 2, 2022 Then-premier Brian Peckford and his energy minister, Bill Marshall, did most of the talking, but it was Martin who battled Trudeau’s Liberals behind the scenes in the 1980s. The end result was the Atlantic Treaty, the agreement which, to this day, has a significant influence on offshore oil development and revenue. The period was a low point in relations between Trudeau’s Liberals and Peckford’s Tories, resulting in “Black Armband Day” in 1984 after the Supreme Court of Canada v. Newfoundland and Labrador ruling on oil and natural gas ownership gas on the continental shelf. Businesses, schools and government had to shut down suddenly for a day in protest. There was Peckford’s “Writer’s Cramp” campaign, questioning why the feds wouldn’t sign off on what Newfoundland and Labrador believed was an offshore agreement in principle. Martin, a lawyer by profession, was not invisible in the proceedings, often speaking publicly about what he saw as injustice being done in the province. Then came a federal election and a change of government with the Tories under Brian Mulroney and powerful cabinet minister John Crosby. Shortly thereafter, the Atlantic Treaty became a reality. Martin also insisted that the Hibernia oil field be developed with a gravity-based platform to be built in the Bull Arm, a requirement that would lead to thousands of years of well-paid work. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.
