Progressive Conservative leadership convention, 2003
Encyclopedia
The 2003 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held on May 31, 2003 to elect a leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

. Peter MacKay
Peter MacKay
Peter Gordon MacKay, PC, QC, MP is a lawyer and politician from Nova Scotia, Canada. He is the Member of Parliament for Central Nova and currently serves as Minister of National Defence in the Cabinet of Canada....

 was elected as leader to replace former Prime Minister Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...

 who had retired as party leader. In the end, five candidates emerged as challengers for the leadership by the convention date. Two other candidates had participated in the race but both withdrew as contestants before the vote. Quebec Member of Parliament (MP) André Bachand withdrew his candidacy from the race due to financial concerns and backed Peter MacKay. Former Cabinet Minister and Quebec MP Heward Grafftey also withdrew his candidacy from the race due to health concerns and backed David Orchard
David Orchard
David Orchard is a Canadian political figure, member of the Liberal Party of Canada, who was the Liberal Party candidate for the Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River in the 2008 federal election.Previously, Orchard was a member of the now defunct Progressive Conservative...

.

The results of the race produced immediate controversy when it emerged that winner Mackay had signed an agreement with David Orchard in order to get elected. This deal promised the party would review the Canadian-American Free Trade Agreement, and that it would not cooperate or merge with the Canadian Alliance
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...

. This controversy continued when MacKay ignored the agreement, and signed an agreement to merge his party with the Canadian Alliance to form the new Conservative Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...

. The merger was approved by party members in December 2003.

Candidates

  • Peter MacKay
    Peter MacKay
    Peter Gordon MacKay, PC, QC, MP is a lawyer and politician from Nova Scotia, Canada. He is the Member of Parliament for Central Nova and currently serves as Minister of National Defence in the Cabinet of Canada....

     - Member of Parliament (winner 64.4% on final ballot)
  • Jim Prentice
    Jim Prentice
    James "Jim" Prentice, PC, QC is a Canadian lawyer, and politician. In the 2004 federal election he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a candidate of the Conservative Party of Canada...

     - Calgary
    Calgary
    Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

     lawyer (35.6% on final ballot)
  • David Orchard
    David Orchard
    David Orchard is a Canadian political figure, member of the Liberal Party of Canada, who was the Liberal Party candidate for the Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River in the 2008 federal election.Previously, Orchard was a member of the now defunct Progressive Conservative...

     - Saskatchewan
    Saskatchewan
    Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

     farmer
  • Scott Brison
    Scott Brison
    Scott A. Brison, PC, MP is a Canadian politician from Nova Scotia, Canada. Brison has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Kings-Hants since the 1997 federal election. Brison was originally elected as a Progressive Conservative but crossed the floor to join the Liberal Party in 2003...

     - Member of Parliament
  • Craig Chandler
    Craig Chandler
    Craig B. Chandler is a Canadian businessman, pundit, and political and religious activist. He is a co-founder and executive director of the Progressive Group for Independent Business...

     - Executive Director of Progressive Group for Independent Business
    Progressive Group for Independent Business
    The Progressive Group for Independent Business is a membership-funded right-wing business group in Canada founded in 1992 with the goal of promoting "less government, lower taxes and political accountability" in Canada. The PGIB claims to have a membership of roughly 6500...


Dropped out

  • André Bachand
    André Bachand (Progressive Conservative MP)
    André Bachand is a Canadian politician, who represented the riding of Richmond—Arthabaska as member of the Progressive Conservatives from 1997 to 2003....

     - Member of Parliament - backed MacKay
  • Heward Grafftey
    Heward Grafftey
    William Heward Grafftey, PC, QC was a Canadian politician and businessman.-Early life:Born in Montreal, Quebec, to a prosperous family, he was a cousin of artist Prudence Heward, and wrote "Chapter Four: Prudence Heward" in the 1996 book Portraits of a Life..His father, Major Arthur Grafftey, was...

     - former Science and Social Programs Minister

First ballot

  • MACKAY, Peter Gordon 1,080 (41.08%)
  • ORCHARD, David 640 (24.34%)
  • PRENTICE, Jim 478 (18.18%)
  • BRISON, Scott 431 (16.39%)
  • CHANDLER, Craig (Chandler successfully removed from first ballot after dropping out)

Total ballots cast 2,629.

Chandler withdrew before voting began to endorse Prentice. Estimates suggest that Chandler had six committed delegates from Calgary ridings who voted in favour of Prentice.

Second ballot

  • MACKAY, Peter Gordon 1,018 (39.67%)
  • ORCHARD, David 619 (24.12%)
  • PRENTICE, Jim 466 (18.16%)
  • BRISON, Scott 463 (18.04%)

Total ballots cast 2,566.

Brison dropped off and supported Prentice. Brison was the only candidate to gain votes on this ballot compared to his first ballot result; all of the other candidates lost votes.

Third ballot

  • MACKAY, Peter Gordon 1,128 (45.01%)
  • PRENTICE, Jim 761 (30.37%)
  • ORCHARD, David 617 (24.62%)

Total ballots cast 2,506.

Orchard threw his support to MacKay after the two men signed an agreement committing MacKay to not merge the PCs with the Canadian Alliance
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...

, and to hold a review of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.

Fourth ballot

  • MACKAY, Peter Gordon 1,538 (64.79%)
  • PRENTICE, Jim 836 (35.21%)

Total ballots cast 2,374.

See also

  • Progressive Conservative leadership conventions
    Progressive Conservative leadership conventions
    The first Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership election was held in 1927, when the party was called the Conservative Party. Prior to then the party's leader was chosen by caucus....

  • Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, 2004
    Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, 2004
    The 2004 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election took place on March 20, 2004 in Toronto, Ontario, and resulted in the election of Stephen Harper as the first leader of the new Canadian Conservative Party...

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