Peter MacKay

His mother, Eirene Macha MacKay (née Delap; 1938–2017), was a psychologist and peace activist; through her, Peter MacKay is descended from James Alexander, 3rd Earl of Caledon and James Grimston, 1st Earl of Verulam.

MacKay grew up in Wolfville, Nova Scotia with his three siblings.

Peter Gordon MacKay (born September 27, 1965) is a Canadian lawyer and politician.

He graduated from Horton High School in Greenwich, Nova Scotia, and then went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Acadia University/Carleton University in 1987.

MacKay then studied law at Dalhousie University and was called to the Nova Scotia Bar in June 1991.

He worked for Thyssen Henschel, a steel producer, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and in Düsseldorf and Kassel, Germany.

In 1993, MacKay accepted an appointment as Crown Attorney for the Central Region of Nova Scotia.

He prosecuted cases at all levels, including youth and provincial courts as well as the Supreme Court of Canada.

MacKay has publicly stated that the major impetus for his entry into federal politics was his frustrations with the shortcomings in the justice system, particularly his perception that the courts do not care about the impact crime has on victims.

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 represented the riding of Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough from 1997 to 2004, and the riding of Central Nova from 2004 until 2015, when he decided not to run in that year's federal election.

MacKay was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the June 2, 1997 federal election for Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, a riding in northeastern Nova Scotia.

He was one of a handful of newly elected "Young Turk" PC MPs (including John Herron, André Bachand and Scott Brison), who were under 35 years old when elected and were considered the future leadership material that might restore the ailing Tories to their glory days.

In his first term of office, MacKay served as Justice Critic and House Leader for the Progressive Conservative parliamentary caucus.

MacKay was the PC member of the Board of Internal Economy and the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

He also acted as an associate member of the Standing Committees on Canadian Heritage, Finance and the sub-committee on the Study of Sport.

Peter MacKay served as PC Party House Leader from September 23, 1997, to September 12, 2001.

MacKay was re-elected in the 2000 federal election and was frequently touted by the media as a possible successor to PC Party leader Joe Clark.

Many of his initial supporters referred to his strong performances in the House of Commons and magnetism as key attributes that would make him a popular leader.

MacKay has been voted the "sexiest male MP in the House of Commons" by the Hill Times (a Parliament Hill newspaper) for six years in a row.

When asked in a 2001 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation documentary on the resurgence of the PC Party if he would ever consider running for the PC leadership, MacKay quipped, "If there's one thing I've learned in politics it's 'never say never.' Jean Charest taught me that."

In August 2001, he was one of several PC MPs to engage in open cooperation talks with disaffected Canadian Alliance MPs in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec.

Eventually a union of sorts was created between the PCs and the newly formed Democratic Representative Caucus (DRC).

MacKay was appointed House Leader of the new PC-DR Parliamentary Coalition Caucus when it was formally recognized as a political body on September 10, 2001.

The PC-DR initiative collapsed in April 2002, raising questions about Clark's leadership.

Clark announced his impending resignation as party leader at the PC Party's bi-annual convention held in Edmonton, Alberta in August 2002.

MacKay's name was one of the first to be raised as a possible leadership contender.

MacKay was largely seen as the assumed victor of the race from the outset of the leadership contest.

Ultimately, his candidacy was helped by the absence of so-called "dream candidates" such as provincial Progressive Conservative Premiers Bernard Lord, Mike Harris and Ralph Klein who did not run for the leadership.

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.

The son of Canadian politician and Minister of Public Works Elmer MacKay, MacKay received his undergraduate degree from Acadia University and his law degree from Dalhousie University.

MacKay formally launched his leadership campaign in his hometown of New Glasgow in January 2003.

From the onset of the campaign, MacKay insisted that his primary goal upon assuming the leadership would be the rebuilding the fractured conservative movement from within the PC tent.

With the defeat of the Conservatives in the 2015 federal election, he was considered a potential candidate to succeed Stephen Harper as permanent leader of the party.

Between 2015 and 2020, he was a partner with Baker McKenzie at their Toronto office.

On January 15, 2020, MacKay announced his candidacy for the 2020 Conservative leadership race.

He was defeated by former veterans affairs minister Erin O’Toole on the third ballot of the leadership vote.

Since the race, he moved back to Nova Scotia and is now a senior counsel with the law firm McInnes Cooper, and a strategic advisor with Deloitte Canada.

MacKay was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.

His father, Elmer MacKay, is a former PC cabinet minister, lumber businessman, and lawyer.