 He received 6,547 votes (17.26%) in 1997, finishing third against Liberal incumbent Reg Alcock.In 1999, Mackness was the author of another Fraser Institute document calling for spending cuts and tax cuts.Mackness was a supporter of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement in 1987 ("Globe and Mail", 5 October 1987), and endorsed the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment ten years later ("Winnipeg Free Press", 5 January 1998).