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Former finance minister Paul Martin on Sunday took a giant step toward becoming Canada's next prime minister when he easily won the race which will decide who becomes head of the ruling Liberal party, his aides said.

Liberal leadership candidate Paul Martin holds up his ballot as he votes for a slate of delegates for the November convention Friday, Sept. 19, 2003 in Montreal, Canada.  [AP]

Liberal party members voted this weekend to choose delegates to a convention on Nov. 15 which will elect a new leader and early results from the Martin camp showed that he had more than half the 5,800 delegates he needed for victory.

Martin gained around 91 percent of the delegates elected compared to just 8 percent for Heritage Minister Sheila Copps, the only other candidate.

This means that barring disaster, Martin will be elected leader of the party in November and will replace Jean Chretien when he retires as prime minister next February.

"This is just beyond belief...this is the result of all the hard work that all of you have put in," Martin told his aides by telephone in a scene captured by CBC television.

Martin, a fiscal conservative, has promised to improve Ottawa's cool relations with Washington and stresses the need to continue paying down the national debt.

Copps, speaking before the unofficial delegate count was announced, vowed to stay in the race.

"The status quo is not good enough. I've run a very vigorous campaign with a whole lot of people who believe in my vision of Canada and I owe it to them to put forward that vision on Nov. 15," she said.

Liberal Member of Parliament Paul Martin gestures to supporters as he votes to elect a delegate to attend the Liberal party's leadership convention, in his Montreal riding of LaSalle-Emard, September 19, 2003.  [Reuters]

Martin's easy win will put more pressure on Chretien to retire earlier than planned, since Canada will effectively have two leaders after the November convention.

"We've gone from well beyond doubt to absolute certainty (that Martin will be the next leader). The situation becomes more and more awkward every passing day," Liberal legislator John McKay -- a Martin backer -- told Reuters.

But Chretien, who sacked Martin last year for plotting against him, refuses to consider leaving early.

Although Martin is widely popular inside the party and his supporters control many local Liberal associations across the country, he is bound to be concerned by how few people voted.

"It's unfortunate the turnout was not higher ... Only 25 percent of (Liberal members) have voted," Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal told reporters in Quebec City.

Chretien defeated Martin in a 1990 leadership race and led the party to national election victories in 1993, 1997 and 2000. The fractured nature of Canada's opposition means many expect Martin to steer the Liberals to victory at the next election, which is likely to be held in 2004.

Financial analysts say they would recommend buying the Canadian dollar if Chretien left early because they assume Martin would spend less, be more friendly to business and be more open to tax and debt cuts.

In the weekend voting, up to 4,750 delegates were being chosen for the convention, out of a total of 5,800 delegates. The remaining 1,050 either have the automatic right to go or will be chosen later.

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