Elmer MacKay

Last updated

Eirene Macha Delap
​
​
(m. 1961;died 2017)​
[1]
The Honourable
Elmer MacKay
PC KC
44th Minister of Public Works
In office
January 30, 1989 –June 25, 1993
Children4, including Peter MacKay
OccupationPolitician

Elmer MacIntosh MacKay PC KC (born August 5, 1936) is a former Canadian politician.

Contents

Life and career

MacKay was born in Hopewell, Nova Scotia, the son of Laura Louise (Macintosh) and Gordon Barclay MacKay. [2] [3] He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada as the Progressive Conservative (PC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Nova through a 1971 by-election. [4] He was re-elected in subsequent elections, and served as Minister of Regional Economic Expansion in the short lived (1979–1980) government of Prime Minister Joe Clark.

MacKay resigned his parliamentary seat in 1983 in order to allow newly elected PC leader Brian Mulroney to enter Parliament through a by-election in MacKay's Nova Scotia riding. [5] In the subsequent 1984 election, Mulroney moved to a Quebec riding, and MacKay was again returned to the House as Central Nova's MP.

Following the election, Mulroney became prime minister, and appointed MacKay to the Cabinet of Canada where he served as Solicitor General of Canada for a year before becoming Minister of National Revenue. [6] In 1989, MacKay became Minister of Public Works. [7] From 1989 to 1991, he was also responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Act. [8] The opposition Liberals and New Democratic Party often accused MacKay of doling out patronage appointments. While no wrongdoing was ever proven, MacKay was removed from the ACOA portfolio in 1991. From 1991 to 1993, he remained Public Works minister and was given responsibility for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

MacKay retired from Cabinet when Mulroney's tenure as party leader ended in 1993, and did not run in the 1993 election.

Elmer MacKay's son, Peter, was the Conservative member for Central Nova, a re-creation of the same riding his father once represented. Like Elmer, Peter served as minister responsible for ACOA, and for Prince Edward Island. Peter also served as the final leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada before it merged with the Canadian Alliance into the present-day Conservative Party.

Controversy

MacKay is a longtime associate of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and German businessman Karlheinz Schreiber, who were negotiating the purchase of Airbus aircraft for Air Canada in 1988. As a result of subsequent Royal Canadian Mounted Police charges against Mulroney for accepting kickbacks on this transaction, a federal inquiry was launched, which found that Mulroney had accepted at least $300,000 in cash from Schreiber after the transaction. Mulroney's defence stated these payments were in return for consulting services. Documents show that MacKay drafted a letter that was eventually released by Schreiber as evidence that Scheiber's and Mulroney's business dealings were legitimate. [9] It is not known why MacKay drafted a letter that was later offered as evidence and supposedly written by Schreiber.

Evidence tabled at the Airbus inquiry included entries in Schreiber’s diary that indicated Schreiber had made phone calls to MacKay on the same dates during which the first two Airbus meetings were held between Mulroney and Schreiber. MacKay has confirmed he had lunch with Mulroney and Schreiber the day of the third meeting. In addition, Schreiber’s diary shows he made phone calls to MacKay on two days in July 1993 when he made banking transactions in Switzerland to obtain money to pay Mulroney. [10]

Although MacKay was closely involved with Mulroney and Schreiber during the time of the Airbus purchases, he has never been formally charged for wrongdoing in the scandal.

Electoral history

1988 Canadian federal election : Central Nova
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive Conservative Elmer MacKay 19,06548.58-12.42
Liberal Marion Anderson15,06638.39+12.39
New Democratic Gloria Murphy5,11013.02+0.02
Total valid votes39,241 100.00
1984 Canadian federal election : Central Nova
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive Conservative Elmer MacKay 21,46261.00+0.81
Liberal Al Lomas9,14826.00+0.95
New Democratic Gloria E. Murphy4,57213.00-0.39
Total valid votes35,182100.00
1980 Canadian federal election : Central Nova
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive Conservative Elmer MacKay 15,57648.03-8.55
Liberal Alvin Sinclair11,11134.26+4.37
New Democratic Gary A. Chambers5,74317.71+4.18
Total valid votes32,430 100.00
1979 Canadian federal election : Central Nova
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive Conservative Elmer MacKay 18,90756.58+2.65
Liberal Lloyd P. Mackay9,98829.89-6.41
New Democratic Gary A. Chambers4,52113.53+4.67
Total valid votes33,416 100.00
1974 Canadian federal election : Central Nova
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive Conservative Elmer MacKay 17,45953.93-3.02
Liberal Fern Dunn11,75336.30+7.33
New Democratic John Rod Brown2,8698.86-3.98
Social Credit John J. Henderson2920.90-0.34
Total valid votes32,373100.00
1972 Canadian federal election : Central Nova
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive Conservative Elmer MacKay 18,25956.95+4.37
Liberal D. Laurence Mawhinney9,28828.97-9.37
New Democratic John Rod Brown4,11712.84+6.20
Social Credit John J. Henderson3971.24-1.20
Total valid votes32,061 100.00

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Mulroney</span> Prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993

Martin Brian Mulroney is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Clark</span> Prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980

Charles Joseph Clark is a Canadian businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Progressive Conservative Party of Canada</span> Canadian centre-right political party from 1942 to 2003

The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a centre to centre-right federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Charest</span> Premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012

John James "Jean" Charest is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012. Prior to that, he was a member of Parliament (MP) between 1984 and 1998. After holding several Cabinet posts from 1986 to 1990 and from 1991 to 1993, he was the leader of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party from 1993 to 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter MacKay</span> Former Canadian Member of Parliament

Peter Gordon MacKay is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and has served as Minister of Justice and Attorney General (2013–2015), Minister of National Defence (2007–2013), and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2006–2007) in the Cabinet of Canada under Prime Minister Stephen Harper. MacKay was the final leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and he agreed to merge the party with Stephen Harper's Canadian Alliance in 2003, forming the Conservative Party of Canada and making MacKay one of the co-founders of the current conservative wing of Canadian politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allan MacEachen</span> Canadian politician

Allan Joseph MacEachen was a Canadian politician and statesman who served as a senator and several times as a Cabinet minister. He was the first deputy prime minister of Canada and served from 1977 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984.

David Orchard is a Canadian author and political figure, member of the Liberal Party of Canada, who was the Liberal Party candidate for the Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River in the 2008 federal election.

The Unite the Right movement was a Canadian political movement which existed from around the mid-1990s to 2003. The movement came into being when it became clear that neither of Canada's two main right-of-centre political parties, the Reform Party of Canada/Canadian Alliance (CA) and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC), was independently capable of defeating the governing Liberal Party. The objective of the movement, therefore, was to merge the two parties into a single party. The goal of uniting the right was accomplished in December 2003 with the formation of the Conservative Party of Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Moore (politician)</span> Canadian politician

Robert S. Moore is a Canadian lawyer, politician, and former Minister of State (ACOA) and Regional Minister for New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Marc Lalonde was a Canadian politician who served as a cabinet minister, political staffer and lawyer. A lifelong member of the Liberal Party, he is best known for having served in various positions of government from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s, including serving as the Minister of Finance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcel Masse</span> Canadian politician

Marcel Masse, was a Canadian politician. He served as a Quebec MLA, federal MP and federal cabinet minister.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 Progressive Conservative leadership election</span>

The 2003 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held on May 31, 2003, to elect a leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Peter MacKay was elected as leader to replace former Prime Minister Joe Clark, who then retired as party leader. In the end, five candidates emerged as challengers for the leadership by the convention date. Two other candidates had participated in the race but both withdrew as contestants before the vote. Quebec Member of Parliament (MP) André Bachand withdrew his candidacy from the race due to financial concerns and backed Peter MacKay. Former Cabinet Minister and Quebec MP Heward Grafftey also withdrew his candidacy from the race due to health concerns and backed David Orchard.

Karlheinz Schreiber is a German and Canadian citizen, an industrialist, lobbyist, fundraiser, arms dealer and businessman. He has been in the news regarding his alleged role in the 1999 CDU contributions scandal in Germany, which damaged the political legacy of former Chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl and involves the former Federal Minister of Finance of Germany Wolfgang Schäuble as well as the Airbus affair in Canada, which was linked through allegation to former prime minister of Canada Brian Mulroney. He was extradited to Germany on 2 August 2009, and convicted of tax evasion.

Peter L. McCreath, is former chairman of the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation, President of PMC Communications Inc. and a former Canadian politician.

Pierre H. Vincent, is a Canadian tax lawyer and former politician.

John Horton McDermid, PC, FRI is a former Canadian politician.

Norman Spector is a Canadian journalist and former diplomat, civil servant, and newspaper publisher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Campbell</span> 19th Prime Minister of Canada in 1993

Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell is a Canadian former politician, diplomat, lawyer, and writer who served as the 19th prime minister of Canada from June 25 to November 4, 1993. Campbell is the first and so far only female prime minister of Canada. Prior to becoming the final Progressive Conservative (PC) prime minister, she was also the first woman to serve as minister of justice in Canadian history and the first woman to become minister of defence in a NATO member state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral history of Joe Clark</span>

This article is the Electoral history of Joe Clark, the sixteenth Prime Minister of Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral history of Brian Mulroney</span>

This article is the Electoral history of Brian Mulroney, the eighteenth Prime Minister of Canada.

References

  1. ↑ Montague-Smith, Patrick W. (1985). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. Debrett's Peerage Limited. ISBN   9780333378243.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2015-09-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ↑ "MacKay, Hon. Elmer, P.C., Q.C., B.A., LL.B.", Canadian Parliamentary Guide 2005
  4. ↑ Hill, Tony L. (2002). Canadian politics, riding by riding: an in-depth analysis of Canada's 301 federal electoral districts. Prospect Park Press. p. 40. ISBN   0-9723436-0-1.
  5. ↑ Plamondon, Bob (2014). Full Circle: Death and Resurrection In Canadian Conservative Politics. eBookIt.com. ISBN   9781456623166.
  6. ↑ Clancy, Peter (2004). Micropolitics and Canadian business: paper, steel, and the airlines. University of Toronto Press. p. 175. ISBN   1-55111-570-0.
  7. ↑ "Twenty-Fourth Ministry". www.pco-bcp.gc.ca. Government of Canada. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  8. ↑ "ACOA Ministers since 1987". www.acoa-apeca.gc.ca. Government of Canada. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  9. ↑ "Mulroney-era cabinet minister may have helped draft Schreiber letter: report". national Post. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  10. ↑ "Peter MacKay's Father and Airbus Scandal".
21st Ministry – Cabinet of Joe Clark
Cabinet post (1)
PredecessorOfficeSuccessor
Marcel Lessard Minister of Regional Economic Expansion
1979–1980		 Pierre De Bané
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.