never remarried. Elmer MacKay, on the other hand, married twice more and had another daughter, Rebecca, whom Peter considers as full a sibling as Cethlyn, Mary, and Andrew.
Peter was always involved in sports, with a passion for hockey, football, baseball, and rugby. Not known for raw talent and finesse, he was skilful as a mucker and grinder, someone who would tough it out in the corners, fighting for an edge against any opponent who came his way. Peter’s rough-and-tough sportsman side is offset by a not-so-well-known aptitude for art and drawing, a passion he studied at university and something to which he might well return if the day ever comes when he doesn’t feel the need to be so engrossed in politics.
Despite a father in cabinet and a community-minded activist mother, Peter was adamant in his youth that he was not going to be a politician. He knew from experience that achieving the life–work– family balance could be next to impossible. Even today, it seems this struggle persists. “I really don’t want to miss having a family. It weighs heavily on my mind,” said MacKay. The divorce and the love from his grandparents explain why MP Peter MacKay introduced Private Member’s Bill C-309 to amend the Divorce Act. Had it not died on the order table, the bill would have given interested grand- parents automatic legal standing in divorce cases, entrenching an undeniable interest.
Peter was a steady student who accomplished the trilogy of a strong B average, an active social life, and a daily dose of sports. His passion for competitive team sports eclipsed any interest in politics that one might expect in the kid of a politician. Beyond talking poli- tics around the dinner table or on the long drives between his parents’ homes, Peter showed little interest in partisan activity. He shunned any form of student politics. His first meaningful exposure came when he was seventeen, in the 1983 by-election in Central Nova. Peter’s father, Elmer, resigned the seat so Brian Mulroney, newly elected leader of the PC party, could enter the House of Commons. Peter worked as driver for Mila Mulroney and her assis- tant, Bonnie Brownlee. He enjoyed the glamour of driving powerful and beautiful people past the local ball fields where his friends were playing, but what he remembers most about the by-election was when hockey legend Bobby Orr came to the riding to help Mulroney. Such was Peter’s early superficial involvement in politics.
Peter went to Carleton University for his first year of under- graduate studies and to play varsity football. He thought moving to Ottawa would allow him to spend more time with his father. (Elmer had resigned his seat in 1983 in favour of Brian Mulroney, but he ran successfully for the same seat in 1984, when Mulroney ran in Quebec.) But it didn’t turn out that way. Football was also a problem, as he was red-shirted and didn’t play.
After spending a second summer working in the High Arctic on supply boats, Peter returned for second-year studies at Carleton and another round of football tryouts. Within a few weeks, Peter was told that his grandfather MacKay was dying. A gnawing feeling that he was not where he was supposed to be overcame him, so he packed his bags and returned to Wolfville. Returning home to Nova Scotia in a time of personal crisis and stress would become a pattern repeated many times in Peter’s life. Peter finished his undergraduate degree at Acadia and graduated in 1987 with a bachelor of arts, majoring in history and politics.
“I always wanted to be a trial lawyer,” MacKay had declared in his high school yearbook. It was a good choice for a competitive rugby player. However, he thought he would always be a defender, not a prosecutor: “That was probably my mother’s altruistic influence; that it was a noble thing to do.” He studied law at Dalhousie University and was called to the bar in 1991. It was not long, however, before MacKay fell into his father’s footsteps and set up a private practice in New Glasgow. His law office was above the local pizzeria, not more than a few blocks from where his father had set up his practice. “I had some clients who were the sons of the people my father defended: for him it was bootlegging, in my generation it was drugs.” He gained some international experience early in his legal career on a six- month contract in Kassel, Germany, where he gave legal and strategic advice to Thyssen Henschel, a large defence contractor.
Returning to Canada, MacKay took per diem legal work for the Crown prosecutor’s office. The office was short-staffed because of an inquiry into the Westray coal mine disaster, and within months Peter was brought on full time. “It seems throughout my entire life, I don’t wade into things. For some reason or another, I always get thrown into the deep end. But it can be a great way to learn,” MacKay said.
Working as a Crown prosecutor exposed Peter to a host of public and community interests. He worked with the police, victim advocacy groups, government agencies, and with people in deep crisis and conflict. “It showed me a much bigger world than I had worked in before.” He learned to be discreet and to use careful judgment. The failings of the criminal justice system confirmed MacKay’s politics. His mother’s commitment to social and environmental jus- tice had left its mark on his thinking, but MacKay came to the conclusion in his mid-twenties that his overall thinking was fundamentally conservative. MacKay believes in being tough on crime, and in particular on young offenders. He is tight-fisted, or as his friends say, “He has nickels in his pockets as heavy as manhole covers.” His frugality applies to taxpayers’ money as well as to his own, which is just the way his constituents want him to be. He also carries the work ethic, community mindedness, and entrepreneurial interests of his grandfather. Put it all together and you have what MacKay calls a “practical conservative.” His mother is a frequent and meaningful sounding board for him, although she might disagree with her son’s vocation.
As a Crown prosecutor, MacKay handled everything from shoplifting to first-degree murder cases. Although it may not have been apparent at the time, being in court and making arguments daily turned out to be good training for the House of Commons. He even made it to the Supreme Court of Canada, arguing a precedent- setting case concerning the police seizure of video gambling equipment where no warrant had been obtained. As he is inclined to do, MacKay describes the setting with a metaphor to sports: “If I had been a ball player, it would be like playing in Yankee Stadium.”
Peter felt he had found his niche. He loved the job and the people he worked with. But he was summarily fired as a Crown prosecutor on March 4, 1997, because of a perceived conflict between being a non-political public servant and being a candidate for political office.
They are all conservative politicians, but they are substantially different men. MacKay is the most sensitive, Harper the more temperamental, and Manning the most detached. When it comes to religion, Manning is in a league of his own. In their spare time MacKay talks sports, Harper conservative economic theory, and Manning Canadian history. If you were out for an enjoyable and fun dinner with the three of them, you would want MacKay to do most of the talking.
Manning and Harper would be more likely to sign up for a debate, especially if the subject is dry and requires a painstaking amount of research. MacKay is the Boy Scout of the three, a dutiful soul who never wants to disappoint. If they were not in politics, Manning would lead a think-tank, Harper would be a tenured and well-published university professor, and MacKay would be commissioner of the National Hockey League.
In the mid-1980s, the paths of Manning, Harper, and MacKay had yet to converge. Brian Mulroney was about to make his mark on the nation.
CHAPTER 4
MULRONEY LEADS CANADA, MANNING LEADS WESTERN DISCONTENT
Joe Clark’s nine-month tenure as prime minister aside, in 1984 the federal Progressive Conservatives had not formed a government for a generation. Not since John Diefenbaker was last prime minister in 1963, twenty-one years earlier, had the Tories enjoyed real and lasting power. Brian Mulroney changed all that.
In the September 4, 1984 federal election, Progressive Conservatives took 211 out of 284 seats. It was a stunning and over- whelming victory that few predicted.
With such a huge majority, Mulroney was expected to transform government and the nation. The government moved quickly on a number of fronts to secure some easy wins to demonstrate that the direction of government had changed. It eradicated the much-hated National Energy Program (NEP) and repealed the Petroleum Gas Revenue Tax, issues of greatest concern to westerners. It replaced the restrictive