Peter MacKay

Peter MacKay 2009

Peter Gordon MacKay , PC , QC (born September 27, 1965 in New Glasgow , Nova Scotia ) is a Canadian lawyer and politician from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. From 1997 to 2015 he was a member of the Canadian Parliament , former Foreign Minister and Defense Minister . From 2013 to November 2015 he was the Minister of Justice of Canada, succeeded by Jody Wilson-Raybould . MacKay was the last chairman of the Progressive Conservative Party and in 2003, together with the chairman of the Canadian Alliance Stephen Harper, decided to merge the two parties to form the new Conservative Party .

Early life and career

MacKay was born the son of a former cabinet member and minister of economics, timber merchant and lawyer Elmer MacKay . His mother is a psychologist and peace activist and lives in Wolfville , Nova Scotia, where MacKay and his three siblings grew up. He attended Horton District High School in Greenwich, Nova Scotia and graduated from Acadia University / Carlton University with a bachelor's degree in 1987 . He then studied law at Dalhousie University and was appointed to the Nova Scotia Bar Association in June 1991. He later worked for Thyssen Henschel in Halifax , Düsseldorf and Kassel .

In 1993 he was appointed Crown Attorney in Nova Scotia, where he represented cases before all courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada . MacKay publicly stated that the reason for his entry into politics was the frustration with the legal system; above all, the courts did not care enough about the impact a crime had on the victim.

Member of Parliament

MacKay was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1997. He was one of the so-called "Young Turks" who were 35 years old when they were elected and were seen as potential leaders who could bring the Conservatives back to their heyday. During his first term in office he was group leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in parliament. He was a member of the Committee on Domestic Economics and the Committee on Justice and Human Rights. He was also a member of the Canadian Heritage, Finance Committees and the Sports Studies Subcommittee. MacKay was re-elected in 2000 and was henceforth viewed as a possible successor to Joe Clark as party chairman.

In 2001 he became chairman of the newly formed parliamentary group consisting of the progressive-conservative and the democratic-representative parliamentary group. When this coalition broke up in August 2002, Joe Clark resigned as party leader of the progressive-conservative and MacKay was again brought into play as a possible successor.

In the parliamentary elections in 2015 MacKay did not run.

Party leader

In 2003 MacKay was elected chairman at a party congress, but only in the fourth ballot. This showed the division of the party, which emerged weakened from this party congress.

Conservative parties merge

After criticism from within its own ranks and poor survey results, MacKay initiated discussions in 2003 with the chairman of the Canadian Alliance about a merger of the two parties in order to counteract a possible insignificance of his party. Delegates from both parties approved the proposal at the end of the same year.

In 2004 he turned down a candidacy for chairmanship of the new party, but was appointed deputy chairman. In the election in the same year he was re-elected.

Minister in the Harper Administration

Foreign minister

When a conservative minority government under Stephen Harper came into office due to an early election , MacKay was appointed foreign minister. The dominant theme of his tenure was the 2006 Lebanon War . His statements, with which he sided with Israel , sparked a nationwide debate, especially among Arabs and Muslim Canadians. During this time MacKay and the Conservative Party as well as the Bush administration rejected the ceasefire demanded by the UN .

Defense Minister

In August 2007, MacKay succeeded Defense Secretary Gordon O'Connor as a result of a cabinet reshuffle . On November 6, 2007, he was unharmed in an attack on a military base in Afghanistan where he was holding talks. In 2008, MacKay announced a 25-year program to upgrade the equipment of the Canadian Armed Forces. Since no detailed breakdown was known in this case, nor was the existence of such a claim, a new election was expected soon. These were then announced in August of the same year. In this election MacKay was re-elected with 46% of the vote. In November 2009, a torture scandal broke out in Afghanistan as a result of which the opposition demanded MacKay's resignation. MacKay was the founder of the Halifax International Security Forum (HISF), which has been inviting high-ranking security experts and defense politicians for discussion every November since 2010.

Minister of Justice

From mid-2013 to November 2015 MacKay was Minister of Justice in Harper's cabinet, his successor is Jody Wilson-Raybould in Justin Trudeau's cabinet .

economy

At the end of January 2016, he became a partner in the international law firm Baker & McKenzie .

Private life

In January 2012, MacKay married former beauty queen, lawyer and human rights activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam . They have a son and a daughter together.

Web links

Commons : Peter MacKay  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Peter MacKay. biographical information on the website of the Canadian Parliament . Retrieved November 5, 2016 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Janyce McGregor: Peter MacKay cites 'love for my family' as he bows out of federal politics. In: CBC. May 29, 2015, accessed November 5, 2016 . 
2. ^ Peter MacKay Joins Baker & McKenzie. (No longer available online.) In: Baker & McKenzie. January 25, 2016, archived from the original on November 5, 2016 ; accessed on November 5, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/peter-mackay-toronto-law-firm-partner-baker-mckenzie-1.3418382. In: CBC. January 25, 2016, accessed November 5, 2016 . 
4. ↑ CBC: Peter MacKay weds former beauty queen
5. ^ Defense Minister Peter MacKay announces the birth of son 'Kian Alexander'. In: CTV. April 1, 2013, accessed November 5, 2016 . 
6. ^ Peter MacKay and Nazanin Afshin-Jam announce birth of baby girl Valentia. In: The Chronicle Herald. September 30, 2015, accessed January 5, 2016 .