Elsie Wayne

Elsie Wayne
Member of Parliament for Saint John
In office 1993–2004
Preceded by	Gerald Merrithew
Succeeded by	Paul Zed
Mayor of Saint John, New Brunswick
In office 1983–1993
Preceded by	Bob Lockhart
Succeeded by	Thomas Higgins
Personal details
Born	Elsie Eleanore Fairweather (1932-04-20) April 20, 1932 Shediac, New Brunswick
Political party	Progressive Conservative (1993-2003) Conservative Party of Canada (2003-)
Residence	Saint John, New Brunswick
Profession	Businesswoman, community activist, secretary

Elsie Eleanore Wayne (née Fairweather; born April 20, 1932 in Shediac, New Brunswick) is a Canadian politician, who was a Progressive Conservative MP for Saint John from 1993 to 2004.

Political career

In 1977, she was elected to the Saint John municipal council. In 1983, she became the first female mayor of Saint John, and became extremely popular in that city.

In the 1993 federal election, she ran as the governing Progressive Conservative Party's candidate in the riding of Saint John. In this election, the Tories suffered the worst ever defeat for a governing party at the federal level in Canada. Wayne was one of only two Tories elected nationwide, the other being Jean Charest. She was also the only non-Liberal elected in Atlantic Canada that year. She was elected by 4,000 votes, but never faced another contest nearly that close.

In 1998, when Charest resigned the leadership of the PC party to become leader of the Parti Libéral du Québec, Wayne was appointed the PC party's interim leader, a post she held until former Prime Minister Joe Clark was elected party leader later that year.

She supported the merger of the Progressive Conservatives (led by Peter MacKay) and the Canadian Alliance (led by Stephen Harper) in 2003.

Wayne announced her retirement from politics on February 16, 2004 and did not run for re-election in the 2004 election to the Canadian House of Commons.

Political positions

Politically, she was known as being socially conservative, vehemently opposing same-sex marriage. abortion, decriminalization of marijuana, and Viagra for war vets.

Fiscally, Wayne was a strong believer in Canada's social safety net and the welfare state, which was typical for most Tories from Atlantic Canada. She is also among Canada's most vocal monarchists.

Life after leaving parliament

Wayne considered a run for her old seat in the 2006 election, but decided against a comeback. She did, however, serve as chairwoman of the Conservative campaign in Atlantic Canada.

She is married to Richard Wayne and has two sons, Daniel and Stephen. In November 2009, she suffered a stroke. She was released from hospital in February of 2010.

External links

• Elsie Wayne – Parliament of Canada biography

Political offices
Preceded by Jean Charest	Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada Interim 1998	Succeeded by Joe Clark