Peter MacKay's first political fight in 1997
N.S. crown prosecutor beat three challengers for P.C. nomination
Former Conservative cabinet minister Peter MacKay has lost his bid to replace Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer in a leadership race that had to be pushed back due to the ongoing pandemic.
The result of the leadership campaign saw Ontario MP Erin O'Toole come out on top after three ballots, with O'Toole taking 57 per cent of the vote to MacKay's 43 per cent.
According to CBC News, O'Toole comes from a political family. His father, John O'Toole, was a longtime MPP in the Ontario legislature.
But MacKay's political history goes back a long way, too.
His father, Elmer, was the Progressive Conservative MP for the riding of Central Nova from 1971 to 1983, resigning so that new PC leader Brian Mulroney could run in a byelection and take a seat in Parliament.
Elmer MacKay won it back in the 1984 general election, when Mulroney ran in a Quebec seat, and was a cabinet minister until 1993.
Familiar name
In 1997, Peter MacKay, at age 31, ran for the same party in a new federal riding called Pictou-Antigonish-Guysborough. Its boundaries overlapped a portion of his father's old riding.
"It was the Tories' biggest nominating meeting yet in Canada," said CBC reporter Darrow MacIntyre, as a crowd of 3,000 gathered in a hockey arena in New Glasgow, N.S., on Feb. 15, 1997.
It took three ballots before MacKay was declared the winner.
"I feel, not overwhelmed, I don't know if that's the word," MacKay said when approached by media after the win. "I feel a lot of emotion."
The Progressive Conservatives had been hacked down to two seats in the 1993 federal election, and were trying to regroup as a party before the next election.
"It's such a good showing to have these kinds of numbers out for this riding," said MacKay. "It shows a return to this party, it shows a lot of interest."
The competition
MacKay had "barely" edged out his closest competitor, town councillor Danny MacLeod, by a margin of just over 100 votes, said MacIntyre.
The other contenders were a "retired provincial bureaucrat" and a 26-year-old, Luke Young, who was then taking his second crack at the nomination.
"I am just so pleased to have won this nomination, and I'm really looking forward to the days ahead," MacKay said. "I'm looking forward to ... meeting more people and continuing on this path that we're on."
Winning the nomination meant MacKay could set his sights on the yet-to-be-called general election.
"Now ... MacKay can relax a little while he waits for the real contest to begin," said the reporter.
Political fallout
Just over three weeks later, however, MacKay had something else to focus his attention on.
"Like many others suddenly fired from their job, Peter MacKay went to see his lawyer today," said reporter Phil Withers on Mar. 4, 1997.
MacKay had been told he was being dismissed as a provincial Crown prosecutor in light of his imminent run for political office.
"I think it's wrong. I think it's harsh. I think it's unjust," he told Withers. "I intend to weigh my options and to do something."
Because of the nomination, MacKay had been relegated to desk duty instead of the courtroom for "weeks," said Withers. A judicial inquiry into a jail-cell death had had to be postponed as well.
"Legislation in this province provides that politically restricted employees shall not be candidates," said MacKay's suddenly former boss, Gerry Pitzel.
A reporter asked MacKay if it was relevant that Nova Scotia was run by the provincial Liberals.
"It smells pretty fishy," he said. "You've already laid it out. I'm a Tory candidate. We have a Liberal government."
According to reporting by the CBC six days later, MacKay said he had decided to file a wrongful dismissal suit.
The Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service apologized to MacKay in 2001 and settled out of court.
