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; ) was a Centrism, centre to centre-right List of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003. From Canadian Confederation in 1867 unti ...

Peter MacKay Peter Gordon MacKay (born September 27, 1965), a Canadian lawyer and politician, served as Member of Parliament (Canada), Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and as Minister of Justice (Canada), Minister of Justice and Attorney General (20 ...

was elected as leader to replace former Prime Minister

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian businessman, writer, and retired politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. He also served as Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada), leader of the ...

, 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, and that it would not cooperate or merge with the

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 2000 to 2003. The Canadian Alliance was the new name of the ...

. 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 (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

. 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 () 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 Pictou County in a ne ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, 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 candida ...

, 46,

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

lawyer and past Progressive Conservative candidate for parliament. *

, 52,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

farmer and campaigner against

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

and

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

. Runner-up in 1998 leadership election. *

Scott Brison Scott A. Brison (born May 10, 1967) is a Canadian politician from Nova Scotia. Brison served as the Member of Parliament (Canada), Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Kings—Hants from June 1997 to July 2000, and from November 2000 to ...

, 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 2021 Cana ...

, Nova Scotia. * Craig Chandler, 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, entrepr ...

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, 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