In September of 2006, then-Foreign-Affairs-Minister Peter MacKay met U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in Nova Scotia. The two clasped hands and smiled after a news conference, and the rumours began to swirl.
Photographers happily snapped photos of the pair enjoying a walk by the water on September 12. But MacKay, voted the "sexiest male MP in the House of Commons" by Parliament Hill newspaper the Hill Times for six years in a row, was no stranger to the gossip columns. In his career, he has had almost as much attention paid to his personal life as his politics.
MacKay is from rural Nova Scotia, the son of former Tory cabinet minister (and friend of Brian Mulroney) Elmer MacKay. The 42-year-old rugby fan grew up in the Annapolis Valley, and attended law school at Dalhousie University.
He was appointed to the position of Crown Attorney for the central region of Nova Scotia and he fought cases at all levels, including the Supreme Court. MacKay has said the perceived flaws of the justice system and the lack of attention courts pay to the victims of crime were the main reasons he entered politics.
In 1997, he won the Pictou-Antigonish-Guysborough riding and was re-elected in 2000 before becoming the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in 2003.
He suffered a decline in popularity after assuming that party leadership, and allowed unite-the-right talks between Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance officials.
The parties merged in October, 2003, and MacKay soon announced he would not run for the leadership of the newly-formed Conservative Party of Canada. Stephen Harper won the leadership and named MacKay deputy leader.
In May 2005, MacKay was once again the subject of gossip columns. He was dumped by his girlfriend and fellow MP Belinda Stronach after she crossed the floor and joined the Liberals, much to the surprise of MacKay.
After the Conservative election victory in 2006, MacKay was named Minister of Foreign Affairs and then Minister of Defence in 2007. He is the incumbent MP for Nova Scotia’s Central Nova riding.
MacKay is set for a showdown with Green party leader Elizabeth May in that riding, since popular Central Nova NDP candidate Alexis MacDonald is not on the ballot this year, and May is armed with a Green-Liberal pact that makes MacKay her only real competition.