The 2003 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held on May 31, 2003, to elect a leader of the

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) was a centre-right federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003. From Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the ...

Peter MacKay Peter Gordon MacKay (born September 27, 1965) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and has served as Minister of Justice and Attorney General (2013–2015), Minister of National Defence (2007� ...

was elected as leader to replace former Prime Minister

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...

, who then 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 (born June 28, 1950) is a Canadian author and 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 ...

. 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 Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship. The term ''Canadian'' can mean a nationality or an ethnicity. Canadian ...

, and that it would not cooperate or merge with the

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed u ...

. 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 The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

. The merger was approved by party members in December 2003. After the merger was approved, Brison announced that he was defecting to the Liberals.

Candidates

, 37, Member of Parliament for

Central Nova Central Nova (french: Nova-Centre) is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 until 1996. In 1996, Antigonish County and part of Guysborough County were placed with Pic ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, former Crown Attorney.( *

Jim Prentice Peter Eric James Prentice (July 20, 1956 – October 13, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as the 16th premier of Alberta from 2014 to 2015. In the 2004 federal election he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a candidate ...

, 46,

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

lawyer and past Progressive Conservative candidate for parliament. *

, 52,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

farmer and campaigner against

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

and

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

. Runner-up in 1998 leadership election. *

Scott Brison Scott A. Brison (born May 10, 1967) is a Canadian former politician from Nova Scotia. Brison served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Kings-Hants from the 1997 federal election until July 2000, then from November 2000 to Febru ...

, 35, Member of Parliament for

Kings—Hants Kings—Hants (formerly Annapolis Valley—Hants and Annapolis Valley) is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. Demographics :''According to the Canada 2 ...

, Nova Scotia. *

Craig Chandler Craig B. Chandler is a Canadian businessman, lobbyist, and political activist. He is co-founder and CEO of the Progressive Group for Independent Business (PGIB). He was a candidate at the federal 2003 Progressive Conservative leadership conventi ...

, 32, executive director of

Progressive Group for Independent Business The Progressive Group for Independent Business (PGIB) is a membership-funded business and taxpayer association in Canada founded in 1992 with the goal of promoting the interests of their membership, which consists of small-business owners, entrep ...

and a social conservative activist in Alberta. Ran on a Unite the Right platform calling on the Progressive Conservatives to merge with the

Withdrawn

* André Bachand, 41, Member of Parliament for

Richmond—Arthabaska Richmond—Arthabaska is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. Geography The riding, north of the city of Sherbrooke, straddles the Quebec regions of Centre-du- ...

, Quebec. Withdrew to support MacKay"Bachand bows out of PC race"
''CBC News''. May 12, 2003. *

Heward Grafftey William Heward Grafftey, (August 5, 1928 – February 11, 2010) was a Canadian politician and businessman. Early life Born in Montreal, Quebec, to a wealthy family, he was a nephew of artist Prudence Heward of the Beaver Hall Group, and wrot ...

, 74, former MP for

Brome—Missisquoi Brome—Missisquoi (formerly known as Missisquoi) is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1925. The original electoral district of Missiquoi existed from 1867 to 19 ...

, Quebec (1958-1968, 1972–1980) and former Minister of State for Social Programs and Minister of State for Science and Technology (1979-1980).

Results

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. After the second ballot, 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. After the third ballot, Orchard threw his support to MacKay after the two men signed an agreement committing MacKay to not merge the PCs with the

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

Candidates

Withdrawn

Results

References

See also