Peter Elzinga

Peter Elzinga (April 6, 1944 – November 8, 2023) was a Canadian politician. He was the executive director of the Alberta's Progressive Conservative Party, a member of Parliament, and cabinet minister in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Elzinga was born in Edmonton, the son of Susan Laanstra and Peter Elzinga. A farmer and rancher by training, Elzinga was first elected to the House of Commons as the Progressive Conservative in the 1974 federal election representing Pembina. He served as president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1986 and was chair of the 1983 PC leadership convention.

Elzinga resigned his seat in the House of Commons to run in the 1986 Alberta provincial election. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta as the member for Sherwood Park and joined the cabinet of Don Getty as minister of agriculture. In April 1989, he became minister of economic development and trade, a post he held until December 1992.

Elzinga co-chaired Ralph Klein's successful bid to win the leadership of the Alberta PC Party in 1992, and subsequently became deputy premier and minister of federal and intergovernmental affairs. Elzinga did not run for re-election in 1993 provincial election. He chaired the PC Party's election campaign that year, and the subsequent campaigns in the 1997, 2001 and 2004 provincial elections. Elzinga returned from the private sector to serve as Klein's chief of staff from 1998 to 2004.

In 2018, Elzinga joined Atlas Growers as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Elzinga died on November 8, 2023, at the age of 79.