Canada’s defence minister tied the knot Wednesday way south of the border, according to his website.
Peter MacKay married Nazanin Afshin-Jam in a private ceremony reported to have taken place in Mexico.
Afshin-Jam is Iranian-born and a former Miss Canada World who has since become a high-profile human rights activist. The trilingual pilot was once named one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world.
"I am overjoyed to announce Nazanin Afshin-Jam and I married at a private ceremony surrounded by family and loved ones (Wednesday)," MacKay wrote on his personal website. "She is the most important person in my life and over the coming months, Nazanin and I look forward to spending more time at home in (the riding of) Central Nova and sharing our happiness with all of you."
The new Mrs. MacKay holds an international relations and political science degree from the University of British Columbia, and attended the elite Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris.
She's also a licensed pilot, earning her wings in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, achieving the rank of warrant officer first class. She's also a recording artist and stars in her own music videos.
Born in Iran, her family fled to Spain when she was a baby after the regime sentenced her father to death. She was inspired to help people when she saw the lashing scars on her father's body.
The family eventually moved to Vancouver.
Afshin-Jam became Miss World Canada and runner-up Miss World in 2003, then went on to receive worldwide 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 then co-founded Stop Child Executions, a group dedicated to ending capital punishment of children in Iran.
She is now a powerful voice against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran, saying the United Nations should be ashamed for welcoming him.
The previous year, MacKay and former politician Belinda Stronach went through a public split, during which MacKay described his heart as being “a little banged up.”
In the summer of 2010, MacKay’s love life was again front and centre when he ended his engagement with Jana Juginovic, a CTV executive.
Afshin-Jam met MacKay more than five years ago on Parliament Hill.
The new bride was born in Iran, but fled Tehran with her family following the 1979 Islamic revolution and immigrated to North Vancouver.
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