Elsie Eleanore (née Fairweather) Wayne (Born in Shediac, New Brunswick, Canada April 20, 1932) is a Canadian politician. She announced her retirement from politics on February 16, 2004 and did not run for re-election in the 2004 election.

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.

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

Politically, she was known as being socially conservative, opposing topics such as same-sex marriage, abortion and decriminalization of marijuana. Wayne proved to be controversial in frank comments such as in referring to gay rights activism on the issue of same-sex marriage: "If they (same-sex couples) are going to live together, they can go live together and shut up about it."

Fiscally Wayne has been a strong believer in Canada's social safety net and the welfare state. She is also among Canada's most vocal monarchists.

She is married to Richard Wayne and has two sons - Daniel and Stephen.

External links

• Canadian Politics: Riding by Riding - Saint John
• Wayne leaving federal politics
• Conservative Party of Canada Official Website - Elsie Wayne Profile