During the first mandate, his biggest issue was the Lebanon—Israel—Hezbollah crisis that occurred in July The government decided to evacuate thousands of Canadians from Lebanon to safer locations and many back to Canada. MacKay responded to critics saying that the process was slow, that the boats those which were used to evacuate had limited capacity. MacKay's statements in support of the Israelis during the Israel-Lebanon conflict created a national debate in Canada, especially among Arabs and Muslim Canadians who opposed MacKay's position.
It was also during this period that MacKay made a controversial statement in which he referred to Hezbollah as a "cancer" in Lebanon.
Hezbollah is formally recognized by the government of Canada as a terrorist organization. On July 15, , the cabinet was shuffled, and Mackay became the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, replacing Rob Nicholson, who took over the defence portfolio.
Documents provided to parliament by Peter Mackay indicated that Lockheed Martin had delivered the F mockup used in the photo-op for free, and that the cost was primarily for services to support the news conference and one hundred invited guests. Afshin-Jam holds degrees in international relations and political science.
She is co-founder and president of Stop Child Executions, a human rights group whose aim is to focus world attention on the plight of young people on death row in Iran. In July , MacKay was accused of inappropriately using public funds when he combined the use of a Canadian Cormorant military helicopter for both a search and rescue demonstration, and to transport the minister from a private fishing camp in Newfoundland to Gander Airport.
MacKay, then the Minister of National Defence, defended his use of the military helicopter stating, "Three days into the visit I participated in a search and rescue demonstration with squadron 9 Wing Gander.
I shortened my stay by a day to take part in that demonstration". MacKay had been seen in public dating Jana Juginovic, director of programming at CTV News Channel, after having kept their relationship private for many months.
MacKay's engagement to Juginovic was announced on November 1, MacKay and Juginovic later called off the engagement in June Unlike every previous spending announcement of its kind, no "white paper" or detailed breakdown of this number was available nor was any claimed to exist. This led to widespread speculation that an election was coming. On November 6, , while attending a meeting at Forward Operating Base Wilson, 20 kilometres west of Kandahar City, Mackay was unharmed as two rockets struck the base at about 11 a.
Mackay described the incident: "There was an explosion. It was a loud bang", said MacKay. While Taliban insurgents were suspected of being behind the bombing, it was not believed to be related to the attack in Kandahar. MacKay's campaign was largely based on his leadership skills and a national organization rather than on policies or new directions. MacKay is largely viewed by political analysts as a Red Tory. He voted in favour of same-sex marriage in Following the Conservative victory in the election, Prime Minister Stephen Harper named MacKay as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency; he was also tasked to be the political minister for both his home province, and for neighbouring Prince Edward Island, just as his father Elmer had done between and This referred to MacKay posing for photographs on a farm with his neighbour's dog following his break-up with Belinda Stronach.
MacKay then allegedly pointed to Stronach's vacant chair and replied "You already have her. Stronach has said that the comment was disrespectful to both herself and Canadian women, and has herself asked for an apology.
MacKay has denied referring to Stronach as a "dog". The alleged comment was not heard by Speaker of the House Peter Milliken and it was not recorded in the official Hansard. Afterwards, Milliken and his staff said that they could not hear the remarks on the tape recording. There was speculation that MacKay would return to the province to pursue provincial politics and enter the Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia leadership race to become the Premier.
MacKay would have been considered a front-runner in the race; however, he decided to remain with the Federal Conservatives. The Liberal government lost a motion of non-confidence on November 28, In the resulting January election, the Conservative Party was elected with a minority government. The resulting election, held 23 January , returned a minority Conservative government, and Stephen Harper became the prime minister. In , MacKay became Minister of National Defence , and in he announced that the government would be launching a program to upgrade Canadian military equipment.
In , he announced that the government would be purchasing 65 F fighter jets from Lockheed Martin, which would replace the aging CFs. MacKay and the Department of National Defence were criticized for underestimating the costs of this program. In May , he announced his resignation from federal politics: although he would continue as MP and Minister of Justice until October , he would not run for office in the election.
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Accessed 14 November In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Loring Christie. Mark Parent. Paul Corkum. Peter Mackay. Sheree Fitch. Theodore Harding Rand. William Feindel. David Laird. Derrick Walser. Farmer Brooks. John Ballem. Jon Sim. Troy Gamble. Celebrities born in Year Aamir Khan. Aaron Cox. Aaron Kwok. Abhiram Bhadkamkar. Abigail Thaw.
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