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

Nova Scotia Liberal Party The Nova Scotia Liberal Party (officially the Liberal Association of Nova Scotia) is a Centrist politics, centrist provincial political party in Nova Scotia, Canada and the provincial section of the Liberal Party of Canada. The party currently hol ...

. 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. Fran ...

in 1982, MacKenzie worked in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

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

Bausch & Lomb Bausch & Lomb (since 2010 stylized as Bausch + Lomb) is an American-Canadian 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, intra ...

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

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

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, and

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, and one of the largest of its kind in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. 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 was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

’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 most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

. 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 Graha ...

. 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 (; ), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia, and together with the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia makes up the Nova Scotia Legislature. The assembly is ...

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 Canadians, Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Cape Breton-Richmond, formerly Richmond (Nova Scotia provincial electoral district), Richmond in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1 ...

on an interim basis, then

Stephen McNeil Stephen McNeil (born November 10, 1964) is a Canadian politician who served as the 28th premier of Nova Scotia, from 2013 to 2021. He also represented the riding of Annapolis in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 2003 to 2021 and was the ...

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