Elmer MacKay

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

Life and career

MacKay was born in Hopewell, Nova Scotia. He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons as the Progressive Conservative (PC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Nova through a 1971 by-election.^[1] 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 in order to allow newly elected PC leader Brian Mulroney to enter Parliament through a by-election in MacKay's Nova Scotia riding. In the subsequent 1984 election, Mulroney moved to a Quebec riding, and MacKay was again returned to the House as Central Nova's MP.

Following the election, Mulroney became prime minister, and appointed MacKay to the Canadian Cabinet where he served as Solicitor General of Canada for a year before becoming Minister of National Revenue.^[2] In 1989, MacKay became Minister of Public Works. From 1989 to 1991, he was also responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Act. The opposition Liberals and New Democratic Party often accused MacKay of doling out 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, is the Conservative member for Central Nova, a re-creation of the same riding his father once represented. His son has served as appointed minister responsible for ACOA, and for Prince Edward Island, positions previously held by his father.

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.^[3] 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.^[4]

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.

References

1. ↑ 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. 
2. ↑ Clancy, Peter (2004). Micropolitics and Canadian business: paper, steel, and the airlines. University of Toronto Press. p. 175. ISBN 1-55111-570-0. 
3. ↑ "Mulroney-era cabinet minister may have helped draft Schreiber letter: report". national Post. 
4. ↑ "Peter MacKay's Father and Airbus Scandal". 

External links

• Elmer MacKay – Parliament of Canada biography

v t e Cabinet of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (1984-1993) Perrin Beatty Suzanne Blais-Grenier Pierre Cadieux Kim Campbell Jean Charest Joe Clark Robert Coates John Crosbie Dufferin Roblin Roch La Salle Elmer MacKay Flora MacDonald Don Mazankowski Thomas Michael McMillan Gerald Merrithew Charles Mayer Brian Mulroney Lowell Murray Bernard Valcourt Pierre H. Vincent Michael Wilson

v t e Ministers of National Revenue Ministers of Customs and Inland Revenue(1918-1921) Sifton Reid (acting) Burrell Wigmore Ministers of Customs and Excise (1921-1927) Wigmore Baxter Bureau Boivin Stevens Euler Ministers of National Revenue (1927-present) Euler Ryckman Matthews Lawson Ilsley Gibson MacKinnon (acting) D. MacLaren MacKinnon (acting) McCann Nowlan Flemming Garland McIlraith Benson Chrétien Côté Gray Stanbury Basford Cullen Bégin Guay Abbott Baker Rompkey Bussières R. MacLaren Beatty MacKay Jelinek Turner Anderson Stewart Dhaliwal Cauchon Caplan Keyes McCallum Skelton O'Connor Blackburn Ashfield Shea

v t e Ministers for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Merrithew Mackay Crosbie Reid Dingwall Manley Tobin Rock McGuire MacKay Ashfield Valcourt Shea

v t e Ministers of Public Works McDougall Langevin Mackenzie Tupper Langevin Smith Ouimet Desjardins Tarte Sutherland Hyman Pugsley Monk Rogers Ballantyne Carvell Reid (acting) Sifton Reid (acting) McCurdy Bostock King Perley Ryckman Elliott Stewart P. Cardin Michaud (acting) Fournier Harris (acting) Winters Green Walker Green (acting) Fulton Deschatelets L. Cardin McIlraith Laing Dubé Drury Buchanan Ouellet Nielsen Cosgrove LeBlanc Lapointe La Salle McInnes Jelinek (acting) MacKay1 1As part of substantial governmental reorganization, the position was merged with that of the Minister of Supply and Services to create the position of Minister of Public Works and Government Services on July 12, 1995.

v t e Solicitors General of Canada Curran Tupper Fitzpatrick Carroll Lemieux Bureau Meighen Guthrie Fauteux McKenzie McMurray Cannon Fauteux Cannon Dupré Jean Lapointe Garson Campney Macdonald Balcer Browne MacNaught Pennell Turner McIlraith Goyer Allmand Fox Basford (acting) Blais Lawrence Kaplan MacKay Beatty Kelleher Beatty (acting) Blais Cadieux Lewis Gray Scott MacAulay Easter1 1The office of Solicitor General was abolished and the office of Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness was in force April 4, 2005.