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Elmer MacKay | |
|---|---|
| 44thMinister of Public Works | |
| In office January 30, 1989 – June 25, 1993 | |
| Prime Minister | Brian Mulroney |
| Preceded by | Otto Jelinek (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Paul Wyatt Dick |
| 2ndMinister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency | |
| In office January 30, 1989 – April 21, 1991 | |
| Prime Minister | Brian Mulroney |
| Preceded by | Gerald Merrithew |
| Succeeded by | John Crosbie |
| 27thMinister of National Revenue | |
| In office August 20, 1985 – January 30, 1989 | |
| Prime Minister | Brian Mulroney |
| Preceded by | Perrin Beatty |
| Succeeded by | Otto Jelinek |
| 31stSolicitor General of Canada | |
| In office September 17, 1984 – August 20, 1985 | |
| Prime Minister | Brian Mulroney |
| Preceded by | Robert Phillip Kaplan |
| Succeeded by | Perrin Beatty |
| 4thMinister of Regional Economic Expansion | |
| In office June 4, 1979 – March 3, 1980 | |
| Prime Minister | Joe Clark |
| Preceded by | Marcel Lessard |
| Succeeded by | Pierre de Bané |
| Member of Parliament forCentral Nova | |
| In office September 4, 1984 – October 25, 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Brian Mulroney |
| Succeeded by | Roseanne Skoke |
| In office May 31, 1971 – June 15, 1983 | |
| Preceded by | Russell MacEwan |
| Succeeded by | Brian Mulroney |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Elmer MacIntosh MacKay (1936-08-05)August 5, 1936 (age 89) Hopewell, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Other political affiliations | Progressive Conservative (until 2003) |
| Spouse | [1] |
| Children | 4, includingPeter MacKay |
| Occupation | Politician |
Elmer MacIntosh MacKayPC KC (born August 5, 1936) is a formerCanadian politician.
MacKay was born inHopewell, Nova Scotia, the son of Laura Louise (Macintosh) and Gordon Barclay MacKay.[2][3] He was first elected to theHouse of Commons of Canada as theProgressive Conservative (PC)Member of Parliament (MP) forCentral Nova through a 1971by-election.[4] He was re-elected in subsequent elections, and served as Minister of Regional Economic Expansion in the short-lived (1979–1980) government ofPrime MinisterJoe Clark.
MacKay resigned hisparliamentary seat in 1983 to allow newly elected PC leaderBrian Mulroney to enterParliament through a by-election in MacKay'sNova Scotiariding.[5] In the subsequent1984 election, Mulroney ran in his home riding ofManicouagan,Quebec, and MacKay was again returned to the House as Central Nova's MP.[6]
Following the election, Mulroney became prime minister, and appointed MacKay to theCabinet of Canada where he served asSolicitor General of Canada for a year before becomingMinister of National Revenue.[7] In 1989, MacKay becameMinister of Public Works.[8] From 1989 to 1991, he was also responsible for theAtlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Act.[9] TheoppositionLiberals andNew Democratic Party often accused MacKay of givingpatronage 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 theCanada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
MacKay retired from Cabinet when Mulroney's tenure as party leader ended in 1993, and did not run in the1993 election.
Elmer MacKay's son,Peter, was a PC andConservative MP from1997 to2015; initially he representedPictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, which was formed from Elmer's former Central Nova riding, and from2004 the re-formed Central Nova. Like Elmer, Peter served as minister responsible for ACOA, and forPrince Edward Island. Peter also served as the final leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada before it merged with theCanadian Alliance into the present-day Conservative Party.
MacKay is a longtime associate of then Prime MinisterBrian Mulroney and German businessmanKarlheinz Schreiber, who were negotiating the purchase ofAirbus aircraft forAir Canada in 1988. As a result of subsequentRoyal 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.[10] It is not known why MacKay drafted a letter that was later offered as evidence and supposedly written by Schreiber.
Evidence tabled at theAirbus 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.[11]
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.
| 1988 Canadian federal election:Central Nova | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Elmer MacKay | 19,065 | 48.58 | -12.42 | ||||
| Liberal | Marion Anderson | 15,066 | 38.39 | +12.39 | ||||
| New Democratic | Gloria Murphy | 5,110 | 13.02 | +0.02 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 39,241 | 100.00 | ||||||
| 1984 Canadian federal election:Central Nova | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Elmer MacKay | 21,462 | 61.00 | +0.81 | ||||
| Liberal | Al Lomas | 9,148 | 26.00 | +0.95 | ||||
| New Democratic | Gloria E. Murphy | 4,572 | 13.00 | -0.39 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 35,182 | 100.00 | ||||||
| 1980 Canadian federal election:Central Nova | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Elmer MacKay | 15,576 | 48.03 | -8.55 | ||||
| Liberal | Alvin Sinclair | 11,111 | 34.26 | +4.37 | ||||
| New Democratic | Gary A. Chambers | 5,743 | 17.71 | +4.18 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 32,430 | 100.00 | ||||||
| lop.parl.ca | ||||||||
| 1979 Canadian federal election:Central Nova | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Elmer MacKay | 18,907 | 56.58 | +2.65 | ||||
| Liberal | Lloyd P. Mackay | 9,988 | 29.89 | -6.41 | ||||
| New Democratic | Gary A. Chambers | 4,521 | 13.53 | +4.67 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 33,416 | 100.00 | ||||||
| 1974 Canadian federal election:Central Nova | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Elmer MacKay | 17,459 | 53.93 | -3.02 | ||||
| Liberal | Fern Dunn | 11,753 | 36.30 | +7.33 | ||||
| New Democratic | John Rod Brown | 2,869 | 8.86 | -3.98 | ||||
| Social Credit | John J. Henderson | 292 | 0.90 | -0.34 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 32,373 | 100.00 | ||||||
| 1972 Canadian federal election:Central Nova | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Elmer MacKay | 18,259 | 56.95 | +4.37 | ||||
| Liberal | D. Laurence Mawhinney | 9,288 | 28.97 | -9.37 | ||||
| New Democratic | John Rod Brown | 4,117 | 12.84 | +6.20 | ||||
| Social Credit | John J. Henderson | 397 | 1.24 | -1.20 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 32,061 | 100.00 | ||||||
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| 21st Canadian Ministry (1979–1980) – Cabinet ofJoe Clark | ||
| Cabinet post (1) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| Marcel Lessard | Minister of Regional Economic Expansion 1979–1980 | Pierre De Bané |