Elmer MacKay, longtime Progressive Conservative MP for Nova Scotia, dead at 89

OTTAWA – Elmer MacKay, a Nova Scotia politician who spent more than two decades representing the Central Nova district in the federal government, has died at age 89.

Peter MacKay, one of his five children and a former MP who also represented the Central Nova district, confirmed his father’s death in a social media post.

The younger MacKay said his father died after an “extraordinary life” of hard work and public service.

He said his father had “legions of friends.”

“He loved the forest, poetry, sport, law and good debate, the Yankees and especially his family,” he wrote. “Sleep well Pop, you earned your rest.”

Elmer MacKay was first elected in 1971 with the federal Progressive Conservatives and he remained with the party until his last day in office in 1993.

In 1983, MacKay gave up his seat to allow new Progressive Conservative leader Brian Mulroney to run in a byelection. MacKay was re-elected in 1984.

In a post on social media Friday, Mulroney’s son Mark Mulroney said that decision was “an extraordinary act of generosity that changed the course of our family’s life and helped shape the course of Canadian history.”

In an interview, Mark Mulroney said some of his earliest memories are of “going around Central Nova in a station wagon” and spending the summer at Pictou Lodge as his dad and Elmer MacKay campaigned together. 

He said the pair shared a “beautiful friendship.”

“My dad used to often say that he would never forget what Elmer MacKay did for him,” Mulroney said. 

“Mr. MacKay was a man of integrity and generosity, and just a loyal friend.”

MacKay held several cabinet posts in Mulroney’s government, including minister of national revenue and minister of public works. He was also minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

He was a lawyer before he became a politician and his dedication to politics continued into recent years.

Tyler Cameron, the campaign manager for the Conservative candidate in Central Nova in the 2025 election, said MacKay stopped by the headquarters daily during the campaign to offer advice or pick up signs. 

“There was Elmer MacKay the politician, but there was also Elmer MacKay the community guy that helped so many people but never, ever wanted credit for it,” Cameron said.

In a social media post Friday, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston remembered MacKay for his dedication to his constituents.

“He served in the cabinets of two prime ministers and held some of the most demanding portfolios in the federal government, but he never lost sight of his Pictou County roots,” Houston wrote on X.

“Elmer kept his name and number in the phone book so you could always get a hold of him … He was a great person who was always eager to help people.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre posted a tribute on social media Friday calling MacKay a friend.

“I regularly sought his advice and observations, drawing on his deep knowledge of history to guide us in the present,” Poilievre wrote. 

He said MacKay was a “remarkable man” and that people loved him.

“In Nova Scotia, I still hear stories of Elmer showing up at the homes of the less fortunate right before Christmas with a bundle of gifts and a fresh turkey for supper, never publicizing his generosity,” Poilievre wrote.

He said MacKay’s decision to allow Mulroney to run for a seat was a “significant act of loyalty and selflessness.”

Last summer, Damien Kurek resigned from the House of Commons to allow Poilievre — who lost his seat in the April 2024 election — a chance to return to Parliament.

Rob Batherson, a former Conservative Party of Canada president from Nova Scotia, pointed out that MacKay was one of Poilievre’s supporters in the leadership campaign in 2022 and attended some of his rallies in recent years.

“It’s important to have somebody of Elmer MacKay’s stature, somebody who was a key in the Brian Mulroney government, speak so strongly in favour of Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative Party of Canada,” he said.

“He had gravitas, he had institutional memory, and as someone who served in government, he knew what it took to win.”

Tributes poured in on Friday on social media, especially from conservatives and Nova Scotians.

Former Quebec MP Jean Charest said that when he joined government, he found MacKay was “generous with newcomers and deeply attached to his home province of Nova Scotia.”

Sen. Leo Housakos said MacKay was “a giant of Nova Scotia politics and a stalwart of our Conservative movement. Above all, a true gentleman and family man who never forgot his Pictou County roots.”

MacKay and his wife Sharon helped build the Nova Scotia SPCA facility in Stellarton, which opened in 2024 and bears their names.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2026.

— With files from Sarah Smellie in St. John’s