Peter MacKay
Peter Gordon MacKay (born September 27, 1965) was the final leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. In December 2003 he agreed to merge the party with the Canadian Alliance to form the new Conservative Party of Canada, of which he is now the deputy leader.
MacKay was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, the son of PC cabinet minister Elmer MacKay.
He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons on June 2, 1997 for Pictou-Antigonish-Guysborough, a riding in northeastern Nova Scotia and served as Justice Critic and House Leader.
MacKay won the Tory leadership convention held on May 31, 2003 after a deal with rival leadership candidate David Orchard. MacKay promised a review of the NAFTA free trade agreement, and also promised that no deal on electoral cooperation would be made with the Canadian Alliance. He soon broke this deal, and the Progressive Conservative Party merged with the Canadian Alliance under the name of the Conservative Party of Canada. MacKay's efforts to sell the merger to the PC membership were successful, as 90.4% of the party's elected delegates supported the deal in a vote on December 6, 2003.
The PC caucus, however, had some holdouts, including long-time Tory MP and former Prime Minister Joe Clark and now-turned-Liberal MP Scott Brison.
MacKay announced on January 13, 2004 that he would not run for the leadership of the new Conservative Party of Canada. On March 22 he was named deputy leader by new Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper.
His companion is Lisa Michelle Merrithew, daughter of former Conservative party Cabinet Minister (Veterans Affairs) (1984-1993), Gerald Stairs Merrithew.
