Peter MacKay is doing his best to mend rifts with Tories angered by a controversial deal he made just before winning the Progressive Conservative leadership race Saturday night.

MacKay cut a deal with anti-free trade activist David Orchard as the race headed into a fourth ballot. MacKay is a staunch free trade supporter but agreed to set up a party panel to review the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The new Tory leader told reporters at a Sunday press conference he hasn't agreed to change the party's position on free trade -- just review it.

MacKay called "inflammatory" the suggestion that some delegates felt he made a deal with the devil to win the leadership.

"I don't see that at all," MacKay said. "(Orchard) has never backed away from a commitment to public life. And so describing him as the devil is very inflammatory and negative and unhelpful and I don't see it that way," he added.

MacKay said he had already gone a long way toward healing any rifts within the Tory party.

"I will continue to make personal efforts to heal that feeling of disappointment," he said.

"This outcome was taken by the membership and they participated and they decided and now we have to be collective in our efforts to demonstrate that we are a party that is ready and prepared to put our internal differences aside and get on with the business of nation building," MacKay said.

Delegates were electrified Saturday as MacKay emerged victorious on the fourth ballot in the Tory leadership race. The showdown in Toronto was filled with surprises as MacKay squared off with Calgary lawyer Jim Prentice.

Even though MacKay was an early favourite, he was forced to fight for his party's top spot. The Nova Scotia MP received a boost after the third ballot after Orchard crossed the floor and threw his support behind MacKay.

"We must walk out of this hall together," MacKay told the convention after winning the fourth ballot. "Rest assured that everyone in this hall is a winner and the country will be a winner for this process."

When Joe Clark said he was stepping aside last summer, he said the Tories needed to be injected with fresh blood and led by a new generation of politicians.

"The good news is that I am widely trusted and popular. The bad news is that we cannot translate those qualities into votes for the party," Clark said.

MacKay emerged as a front runner in the Tory leadership race back in the early spring. Prior to the convention in Toronto, MacKay gave his view on what he believed Canadians wanted.

"I've listened to Canadians in all walks of lives -- in their homes, in their hamlets and their halls -- and what I've discovered is a common concern for the state of Canada today and the direction we are headed," he said.

MacKay is the son of a former federal Tory cabinet minister Elmer MacKay. He earned a law degree from Dalhousie law school in 1990 and later served as a Crown prosecutor in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.

The candidates delivered their final speeches on Friday night. Earlier, the 2,500-plus delegates heard a rousing speech from Brian Mulroney. It was the former prime minister's first appearance at a Tory convention in 10 years.

Voting got underway Saturday afternoon and produced several surprises. Some analysts believed that MacKay would win on the first ballot.

At the beginning of the evening, MacKay's closest rival was Saskatchewan farmer Orchard. That changed after the third ballot as Prentice moved into second place with 30.4 per cent the vote, followed by Orchard with 24.6 per cent of the vote.

Orchard was automatically eliminated and backed MacKay. The 37-year-old MP received 64.4 per cent of the vote on the fourth and final ballot, while Prentice took 35.6 per cent.

A fifth candidate, Calgary businessman Craig Chandler, withdrew from the race on Friday after delivering a speech that some delegates described as a homophobic rant. Chandler concluded by endorsing Prentice.

Prentice spent most of Saturday morning trying to distance himself from Chandler. "I'm profoundly disappointed with the comments Mr. Chandler made last night in his speech," Prentice told reporters as delegates prepared to vote.

With a report from The Canadian Press