Peter MacKay

“There is no more dangerous country in the world today than Pakistan.”

“I feel guilty about spending so much time away from home and loved ones.”

“We have to be focused on growing the party and getting young people to see us as a viable option.”

“I was a crown attorney in my home town in Nova Scotia, and I learned that victims of crime needed better laws to better protect them. I saw politics as a means to improve this protection for them.”

“I guess my natural inclination is to finish what I started. We have a Conservative government in Nova Scotia. What I want to see is a Conservative government in Ottawa.”

“I find happiness comes from numerous sources in my life. Most often, the happy moments I cherish most are quiet moments with my wife and family back home in Nova Scotia.”

“I want to lead the Progressive Conservative Party, a party that will promote true conservative values and principles. I can tell you right now, I am not the merger candidate. I am not interested in institutional marriages with other parties.”

“It's not as if our party has a leadership campaign underway.”

“What Canada has to do is to have a government connected to the priorities of the people of which it is elected to serve. Those priorities include ensuring medicare is sustainable, support for the military, and tax and justice systems that work.”

“You can't have a discussion about Israel and the region without including Iran and their nuclear ambitions.”

“My gut tells me and continues to tell me that the Conservative party is on a road back to government.”

“If the United States leads a multinational force into Iraq without United Nations backing, Canada should fight beside its neighbour. We've gone from being a middle power to a muddle power on this one.”

“We have to stress our conservative credentials and emphasize that we are the natural, national alternative to the Liberals. Clearly the Alliance has shown it can't break out of its Western box. The Alliance is at single-digit support in three quarters of the country.”