Brian Martin, a long time voice and familiar face in the Vancouver construction industry, passed away on Aug. 30, 2019. He was 74 years old.

Martin retired as publisher of the Journal of Commerce (JOC) in 2002 where he began as a reporter in 1973. He served as editor, then associate publisher before assuming the publisher role in 1990.

His weekly opinion column was a reader favourite, often prompting debate in the construction industry and at all levels of government.

In 1988, Martin and the JOC founded what would become the Vancouver Regional Construction Association’s (VRCA) Awards of Excellence, recognizing outstanding achievements by the construction industry. He served as the chairman of the awards committee for many years. He was also a VRCA Life Member.

After retirement, he remained active in the industry, especially with the Vancouver Regional Construction Association. He also continued to write many articles for various publications.

Many in the industry have worked with him, and knew him professionally and personally, including Dan Gnocato, publisher of Construction Business.

“I had the great pleasure of working with Brian for more than 20 years. He was certainly a friend and mentor to me in my early construction publishing career. Brian had an incredible talent for storytelling and presenting topics in a forthright manner. He always stood up for the construction industry. He was also an avid gardener and reader. He was one of a kind and I’m grateful for having known him. He will be missed for sure,” says Gnocato.

“I began my construction writing career with Brian as JOC publisher. I remember he took me to cover my first industry forum held by the Public Construction Council of BC on contract award procedures. Being new to construction, it was definitely trial by fire,” recalls Cheryl Mah, managing editor of Construction Business. “I enjoyed staying in touch with Brian – assigning him articles – and seeing him at industry events. He will be missed.”

A celebration of Brian’s life for friends and family will be held at the Northwood United Church at 8855-156th Avenue Surrey on Dec 7th at 1:00pm.