MacKay keeps nuptials secret

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This article was published 05/01/2012 (5249 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — One of Ottawa’s most eligible bachelors is now officially off the market.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay quietly married his girlfriend, Nazanin Afshin-Jam, at a private ceremony in Mexico on Wednesday.

He released a statement on his constituency website announcing the nuptials.

“Since coming into my life many of you have met Nazanin on her many visits to Nova Scotia. She is the most important person in my life and over the coming months, Nazanin and I look forward to spending more time at home in Central Nova and sharing our happiness with all of you,” MacKay said.

Friends said MacKay popped the question last summer.

Afshin-Jam, 32, is a human-rights activist and president of Stop Child Executions, which tries to draw attention to young people on death row in Iran.

She garnered attention and acclaim in 2003 for her successful campaign to stop the killing of Nazanin Mahabad Fatehi, an Iranian teenager sentenced to death by stoning for killing one of three men who were trying to rape her and her niece. The plea received a lot of attention because Afshin-Jam had just been crowned Miss World Canada. She was subsequently named the first-runner-up in the Miss World contest.

The couple was first spotted in public together last year, although they reportedly met seven years ago, when Afshin-Jam was in Ottawa to speak about human-rights abuses.

Afshin-Jam was born in Iran but fled Tehran with her family following the 1979 Islamic revolution, immigrating to North Vancouver, B.C.

The wedding was a closely held secret, although both MacKay’s parents, former Tory cabinet minister Elmer MacKay and Macha MacKay, are reported to have attended the ceremony.

MacKay, who has been voted the sexiest male MP in polls by Parliamentary newspaper The Hill Times, was engaged twice before but never married.

Lisa Merrithew, the daughter of Gerald Merrithew, another former Mulroney-era cabinet minister, was his first fianc©e, but their relationship ended seven years ago.

Shortly afterward, MacKay began a high-profile romance with Belinda Stronach, who was at the time a Conservative MP. Their breakup was filled with political intrigue as Stronach, an auto-parts heiress, crossed the floor to join Paul Martin’s Liberal government.

Later, MacKay was engaged to Jana Juginovic, the director of programming at CTV News. They announced wedding plans in late 2009 but called off the marriage a few months later.

— The Canadian Press