MacKay dishes on ‘quaint’ oceanside wedding ceremony
MP proposed to former beauty queen in Ireland
I was impressed by her intelligence and commitment to help others
PETER MACKAY
Although Defence Minister Peter Mackay tied the knot in Mexico with his new wife, the ceremony was filled with touches of home.
Mackay, who spoke exclusively to The New Glasgow News Thursday after his nuptials to Nazanin AfshinJam, said he proposed to his new wife in Valentia, a little island on the southern tip of Ireland that is his great-grandfather’s ancestral home.
“We both wanted a very personal and family oriented ceremony in a location that was easily accessible to both of our families,” Mackay said of the couple’s decision to wed in Mexico.
“We were married by local reverend, Glen Matheson of New Glasgow, (N.S.), in a beautiful, quaint, traditional hillside chapel overlooking the ocean. Our families and loved ones took part in the service.”
Mackay was quick to share the news of his marriage via his website on Wednesday shortly after the wedding occurred.
“Pictou County is my home and my family has lived there for five generations. I feel truly connected to the area and, as such, I wanted to share our happy news with our friends and neighbours first,” he said.
“Nazanin feels completely at home in Pictou County and the community has been welcoming to her. Nazanin grew up on the West Coast but feels very comfortable in Nova Scotia. She has attended lots of local events including my annual Christmas gather- ing the last two years. We look forward to calling Pictou County home.”
Mackay said he met his new bride professionally when he was foreign affairs minister through her work saving children on death row in Iran, but began dating later in 2010.
“I was impressed by her intelligence and commitment to help others,” he said. “She is a very caring and compassionate person. I came to admire her kind heart and the fact that she loves children and animals.”
Afshin-jam is Iranian-born and was once named one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. She became Miss World Canada and runner-up Miss World in 2003, then went on to receive world wide fame during her successful effort to save from execution a young Iranian woman who at age 17 had stabbed a would-be rapist to death.
She t hen cofounded Stop Child Executions, a group dedicated to ending capital punishment of children in Iran.
Afshin-jam, who holds international relations and political science degrees from the University of British Columbia, also serves on the board of directors of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. She previously served as a global youth educator with the Red Cross.
The couple is now enjoying a honeymoon.
“We will be back home in Nova Scotia next week and I look forward to sharing time with family and friends and helping those in the riding before Parliament resumes later this month,” he added.