Peter MacKay

Peter Gordon MacKay MP, LL.B., BA, (born September 27, 1965) is the current deputy leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. He was the final leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC Party). In December 2003, he agreed to merge the party with the Canadian Alliance, forming the Conservative Party of Canada.

Convention and controversy

MacKay entered the first ballot of the PC leadership convention held on May 31, 2003 with roughly 41% of the delegates supporting him. However, on the second ballot, MacKay's support dropped to 39%. On the third ballot, MacKay's support reached 45% but many of his supporters were convinced that he had hit his popular peak. Some analysts noted that the eliminated third-place challenger David Orchard, drew his 25% bulk of delegate supporters largely from the Western prairie provinces. The second-place candidate, Calgary lawyer and former PC Party Treasurer Jim Prentice was viewed as a logical choice for Orchard's western supporters once Orchard was eliminated from the race. However, as the results of the third ballot were called, MacKay's campaign manager, Tory Senator Noel Kinsella, hastily arranged a backroom meeting between MacKay, Orchard and their campaign advisors. During the meeting, MacKay reached a deal with his rival and Orchard emerged from the room urging his delegates to support MacKay. Press officials immediately demanded to know what had inspired Orchard's surprise move. Orchard repeatedly referred to a "gentleman's agreement" made between himself and MacKay that had led to his qualified support.

Related Topics:
PC leadership convention - May 31 - 2003 - David Orchard - Calgary - Noel Kinsella

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MacKay won the final ballot with nearly 65% of the delegates supporting him. For the next few weeks, the specific details of the "Orchard deal" remained vague; a secret between MacKay, Orchard and their advisors. http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/politics/article.jsp?content=20030616_60669_60669 However, it was eventually revealed that the infamous "Orchard deal" promised a review of the PC Party's policies on the North American Free Trade Agreement, no merger or joint candidates with the Canadian Alliance, and a promise to redouble efforts to rebuild the national status of the Progressive Conservative Party. The agreement also included reexamining the PC Party's policies on government subsidies for national railways and preserving the environment. The deal also requested that MacKay "clean-up" the party's head office and specifically requested that the party's National Director be fired. This agreement prompted much outrage and controversy amongst United Alternative supporters and was ribaldly referred to by CA MP Jason Kenney as "a deal with the Devil."

Related Topics:
North American Free Trade Agreement - Canadian Alliance - Railways - United Alternative - Jason Kenney

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At first MacKay seemed to be willing to adhere to the deal. In June, several Clark appointed personnel were let go from the party's main office and MacKay appointed new experienced staff whose loyalties were more closely linked to himself and former Prime Minister and PC Party leader Brian Mulroney. MacKay also appointed a couple of low level staff workers who had been supportive of David Orchard's leadership bid. In July, MacKay struck up a "Blue Ribbon PC Policy Review Panel," chaired by Tory MP Bill Casey, in order to reexamine the party's policies on NAFTA. By this time, many political opponents and fellow Tories began attacking MacKay for the unscrupulous nature of the "Orchard deal." MacKay's conservative rival Stephen Harper suggested that the PC Party had hit rock-bottom when its policies and directions would be beholden to a "prairie socialist." The secretive nature of the deal also led to concerns from within the party's headquarters and constituency associations. David Orchard was seen by many within the party as an "outsider" who was attempting to turn the Progressive Conservative Party into the "Prairie Cooperative Party." Many felt that MacKay's credibility and leadership were heavily undermined by the deal and that there would be no way he could face the electorate in an election widely expected to occur one year later. As media personality Rex Murphy noted in a newspaper column, MacKay's leadership arrived "stillborn" and that perhaps for the first time in recent memory, a party immediately emerged from a leadership convention weakened and even less united than when it entered the convention.

Related Topics:
Brian Mulroney - Bill Casey - Stephen Harper - Prairie - Socialist - Rex Murphy - Stillborn

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