| |
|
In 1977, she was elected to the Saint John municipal council. In 1983, she became Saint John's first female mayor and became extremely popular in that city. In the 1993 election, she was only one of two Tories elected to parliament, along with Jean Charest in one of the worst election defeats in history.
As a Member of Parliament she represented Saint John County, New Brunswick. She supported the merger of the PC and Canadian Alliance parties in 2003 and was made Deputy Leader of the new Conservative Party of Canada.
Politically, she was known as being socially conservative, oppposing topics such as same-sex marriage, abortion and decriminalization of marijuana. She is especially remembered for the controversial statement she made in August 2003, during a session of Parliament: "If they (same-sex couples) are going to live together, they can go live together and shut up about it." This statement angered Tory MP Scott Brison and contributed to his defecting to the Liberals a few months later. Fiscally she is a strong believer in Canada's social safety net and the welfare state.
She is married to Richard Wayne and has two sons - Daniel and Stephen.