Francis MacKenzie (born May 7, 1960) is a former leader of the

Nova Scotia Liberal Party The Nova Scotia Liberal Party is a centrist provincial political party in Nova Scotia, Canada and the provincial section of the Liberal Party of Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Nova Scotia, under the leadership of Zach ...

. He won the leadership for the party on October 23, 2004.

Early life

Following graduation from

St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Franc ...

in 1982, MacKenzie worked in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

in sales and development roles for Sealtest/Ault Foods, and

Bausch & Lomb Bausch + Lomb is an eye health products company based in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the world's largest suppliers of contact lenses, lens care products, pharmaceuticals, intraocular lenses, and other eye surgery products. The compan ...

Canada. He also served for several years as General Manager for MacKenzie Standardbreds, a horse racing enterprise operating in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

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, and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and one of the largest of its kind in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Returning to Nova Scotia in 1989, MacKenzie became Director of Sales for the

Halifax Citadels The Halifax Citadels were a professional ice hockey team based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They played in the American Hockey League between 1988 and 1993. They were created by the relocation of the Fredericton Express and filled a void left by th ...

hockey franchise for two years. In 1992, he graduated with an Executive MBA from Saint Mary's University. He was then hired as Executive Director for the Town of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

’s Economic Development Commission, a position he held until 1996 when the town became part of the

Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

. From 1996 to 1997, MacKenzie was the vice president and general manager of the Greater Halifax Partnership, a business/government partnership involved in economic development for the metro area.

Political career

In 2002, he ran for the Nova Scotia Liberal Party leadership, and came in second to

Danny Graham Daniel Graham (born 1978) is an American football player. Daniel Graham may also refer to: * Bob Graham (born 1936), Daniel Robert Graham, American politician *Daniel O. Graham (1926–1995), American general and political activist *Danny Graham ( ...

. In 2004 Graham stepped down from the party's leadership for family reasons, triggering another leadership campaign. MacKenzie re-offered and won. Although serving as leader for over a year he did not attempt to win a seat in the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia of the province of Nova Scotia ...

until the 2006 provincial election. MacKenzie led the Liberals to a poor showing; reducing their caucus from 11 MLAs to 9 MLAs (only 1984 had fewer seats). MacKenzie failed in his effort to win his own seat in

. He said that he would meet with the president of the Liberal Party of Nova Scotia in order to discuss the future of the party. MacKenzie resigned shortly after the election, and was succeeded by

Michel Samson Michel P. Samson (born 1972) is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Cape Breton-Richmond, formerly Richmond in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1998 to 2017. He was a member of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party. ...

on an interim basis, then Stephen McNeil in April 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackenzie, Francis 1960 births Living people Canadian people of Scottish descent Nova Scotia Liberal Party politicians Nova Scotia political party leaders Politicians from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. Francis Xavier University alumni