Elsie Wayne

Elsie Wayne
Wayne in 2007
Member of Parliament for Saint John
In office October 25, 1993 – June 28, 2004
Preceded by	Gerald Merrithew
Succeeded by	Paul Zed
Interim Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
In office April 2, 1998 – November 14, 1998
Preceded by	Jean Charest
Succeeded by	Joe Clark
72nd Mayor 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 (née Fairweather; April 20, 1932 – August 23, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Saint John from 1993 to 2004. She was born in Shediac, New Brunswick.

In 1977, she was elected to the Saint John municipal council.^[1] In 1983, she became the first female mayor of Saint John, and became extremely popular in the city.^{[citation needed]}

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; Charest won his third term at Sherbrooke in 1993. 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 Quebec Liberal Party, 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^[2] and did not run for re-election in the 2004 election to the House of Commons of Canada.

Politically, she was known as being socially conservative, vehemently opposing same-sex marriage.^[3][4] She was also against abortion rights, decriminalization of marijuana, and Viagra for war veterans.^[5][6]

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 was also among Canada's most vocal monarchists.^{[citation needed]}

Wayne considered a run for her old seat in the 2006 election,^[7] but decided against a comeback.^[8] 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.^[9] She was released from hospital in February 2010.^[10] She died on August 23, 2016, at her home in Saint John.^[1]

• Elsie Wayne – Parliament of Canada biography