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The Honourable
Elmer MacKay
PC KC
The Honourable Elmer MacKay PC KC
44th Minister 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
2nd Minister 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
27th Minister of National Revenue
	In office; August 20, 1985 – January 30, 1989
Prime Minister	Brian Mulroney
Preceded by	Perrin Beatty
Succeeded by	Otto Jelinek
31st Solicitor General of Canada
	In office; September 17, 1984 – August 20, 1985
Prime Minister	Brian Mulroney
Preceded by	Robert Phillip Kaplan
Succeeded by	Perrin Beatty
4th Minister 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; for Central 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; August 5, 1936 (age 88); Hopewell, Nova Scotia, Canada
Political party	Conservative
Other political; affiliations	Progressive Conservative (until 2003)
Spouse	Eirene Macha Delap (m. 1961; died 2017)
Children	4, including Peter MacKay
Occupation	Politician

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

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 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 ran in his home riding of Manicouagan, 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 the Cabinet of Canada where he served as Solicitor General of Canada for a year before becoming Minister of National Revenue.^[7] In 1989, MacKay became Minister of Public Works.^[8] From 1989 to 1991, he was also responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Act.^[9] The opposition Liberals and New Democratic Party often accused MacKay of giving 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 a PC and Conservative MP from 1997 to 2015; initially he represented Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, which was formed from Elmer's former Central Nova riding, and from 2004 the re-formed Central Nova. 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.^[10] 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.^[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.

Electoral history

v t e 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

v t e 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

v t e 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

v t e 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

v t e 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

v t e 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

References

^ Montague-Smith, Patrick W. (1985). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. Debrett's Peerage Limited. ISBN 9780333378243.
^ "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)
^ "MacKay, Hon. Elmer, P.C., Q.C., B.A., LL.B.", Canadian Parliamentary Guide 2005
^ 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.
^ Plamondon, Bob (2014). Full Circle: Death and Resurrection In Canadian Conservative Politics. eBookIt.com. ISBN 9781456623166.
^ Maloney, Ryan (August 8, 2018). "Jagmeet Singh Follows Path Of Other Leaders By Seeking Seat Far From Home". HuffPost Canada. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^ Clancy, Peter (2004). Micropolitics and Canadian business: paper, steel, and the airlines. University of Toronto Press. p. 175. ISBN 1-55111-570-0.
^ "Twenty-Fourth Ministry". www.pco-bcp.gc.ca. Government of Canada. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
^ "ACOA Ministers since 1987". www.acoa-apeca.gc.ca. Government of Canada. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
^ "Mulroney-era cabinet minister may have helped draft Schreiber letter: report". national Post. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
^ "Peter MacKay's Father and Airbus Scandal".

External links

Elmer MacKay – Parliament of Canada biography

Cabinet post (1)
21st Ministry – Cabinet of Joe Clark
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Marcel Lessard	Minister of Regional Economic Expansion 1979–1980	Pierre De Bané