Elsie Wayne

Elsie Wayne
Wayne in 2007
Member of Parliament forSaint John
In office October 25, 1993 – June 28, 2004
Preceded by	Gerald Merrithew
Succeeded by	Paul Zed
Interim Leader of theProgressive Conservative Party of Canada
In office April 2, 1998 – November 14, 1998
Preceded by	Jean Charest
Succeeded by	Joe Clark
72ndMayor of Saint John, New Brunswick
In office 1983–1993
Preceded by	Bob Lockhart
Succeeded by	Thomas J. Higgins
Personal details
Born	Elsie Eleanore Fairweather (1932-04-20)April 20, 1932 Shediac,New Brunswick
Died	August 23, 2016(2016-08-23)(aged 84) Saint John, New Brunswick
Political party	Conservative(2003-2016)
Other political affiliations	Progressive Conservative(1993–2003)
Residence(s)	Saint John, New Brunswick
Profession	Businesswoman activist secretary

Elsie Eleanore Wayne(néeFairweather;April 20, 1932 – August 23, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as aProgressive ConservativeMember of ParliamentforSaint Johnfrom 1993 to 2004. She was born inShediac, New Brunswick.

Political career

In 1977, she was elected to theSaint Johnmunicipalcouncil.In 1983, she became the first femalemayor of Saint John,and became extremely popular in the city.

In the1993 federal election,she ran as the governingProgressive Conservative Party's candidate in the riding ofSaint 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 beingJean Charest;Charest won his third term atSherbrookein 1993. She was also the only non-Liberalelected 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 theQuebec Liberal Party,Wayne was appointed the PC party'sinterim leader,a post she held until formerPrime MinisterJoe Clarkwas elected party leader later that year.

She supported the merger of the Progressive Conservatives (led byPeter MacKay) and theCanadian Alliance(led byStephen Harper) in 2003.

Wayne announced her retirement from politics on February 16, 2004and did not run for re-election in the2004 electionto theHouse of Commons of Canada.

Political positions

Politically, she was known as beingsocially conservative,vehemently opposingsame-sex marriage.She was also againstabortion rights,decriminalization ofmarijuana,andViagrafor war veterans.

Fiscally, Wayne was a strong believer in Canada'ssocial safety netand thewelfare state,which was typical for most Tories from Atlantic Canada. She was also among Canada's most vocalmonarchists.

Later life and death

Wayne considered a run for her old seat in the2006 election,but decided against a comeback.She did, however, serve as chairwoman of the Conservative campaign in Atlantic Canada.

She was married to Richard Wayne, with whom she had two sons, Daniel and Stephen. In November 2009, she suffered a stroke.She was released from hospital in February 2010.She died on August 23, 2016, at her home in Saint John.

Electoral history

2000 Canadian federal election:Saint John—Rothesay
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Elsie Wayne	16,751	50.9	-12.2
	Liberal	Paul Zed	9,535	29.0	+13.1
	New Democratic	Rod Hill	2,989	9.1	-1.3
	Alliance	Peter Touchbourne	2,980	9.1	-0.7
	Marijuana	Jim Wood	461	1.4	+1.4
	Green	Vern Garnett	131	0.3	+0.3
	Natural Law	Miville Couture	52	0.2	-0.5
Total valid votes			32,899	100.0

1997 Canadian federal election:Saint John—Rothesay
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Elsie Wayne	22,227	63.1	+19.8
	Liberal	Diana Alexander	5,612	15.9	-17.7
	New Democratic	Larry Hanley	3,679	10.4	+6.3
	Reform	George Richardson	3,467	9.8	+3.6
	Natural Law	Christopher B. Collrin	232	0.7	n/c
Total valid votes			35,217	100.0

1993 Canadian federal election:Saint John—Rothesay
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Elsie Wayne	15,123	43.3	+0.2
	Liberal	Pat Landers	11,736	33.6	-5.0
	Independent	Joe Boyce	3,685	10.6	+10.6
	Reform	John Erbs	2,171	6.2	+6.2
	New Democratic	Shirley Brown	1,443	4.1	-8.4
	Canada Party	Jim Webb	368	1.1	+1.1
	Natural Law	Christopher Collrin	252	0.7	+0.7
	National	Joy Hobson	146	0.4	+0.4
Total valid votes			34,924	100.0

External links

• Elsie Wayne – Parliament of Canada biography