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Conservative Leadership Candidate: Belinda Stronach

C

Canuck 36

Guest
I was reading about the Conservative Leadership Candidates over at cbc.ca. Having very little idea as to who Belinda Stronach is, I found her profile to be the most interesting.

Quick summation: Silver spoon & twice divorced (so don't expect her to trump the sanctity of marriage. Possible loss of points with religious & Western voters?)

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On paper, Belinda Stronach doesn't look like an ideal candidate for prime minister of Canada. She has never held any elected office and dropped out of business school after one year, only to go on to hold a seat on the board of directors of her father's company.

But Stronach rose quickly in the ranks of auto-parts maker Magna International to become president and CEO in 2002. And her ambition has expanded beyond the business world. Although she acted as a facilitator in the merging of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives, she originally denied she was seeking the leadership.

At the end of 2003, rumours began to fly that she would, in fact, seek the leadership to ensure the success of the party she helped create.

1966 - Belinda Stronach is born.
1985 - Drops out of York University's business school after one year.
1988 - Becomes a member of the board of directors of Magna International, the auto-parts giant started by her father.
1990 - Marries Magna executive Donald Walker. The couple would later have two children.
1995 - Divorces Walker. Becomes a vice-president at Magna.
1999 - Becomes an executive vice-president at Magna. Marries Norwegian speedskating champion Johann Olav Koss at a ski resort in Colorado on New Year's Eve.
2001 - Replaces her ex-husband as CEO of Magna. Meets and becomes friends with former U.S. president Bill Clinton at a charity golf event.
2002 - Fortune magazine places Stronach at No. 2 on its ranking of the most powerful women in business outside of the U.S.
2003 - Divorces Koss. Plays a role in the backroom deals to form the Conservative Party of Canada.

www.cbc.ca/news/background/conservativeparty/tories_newparty.html

Anyone want to rank her chances? Or has this leadership run always been Stephen Harper's to lose?
 
Belinda Who?

Belinda's other claim to fame is that she helped arrange Eves Fudge-it Budget, circumventing legislative protocol and having himself declared in contempt of the legislature by the (PC) Speaker for turning a serious piece of government business into a cheesy infomercial photo op.

Her chances are low to nil.

...James
 
Re: Belinda Who?

If she were to run, and win, would her father end up running the party? Because that's how it works at Magna - she is the CEO, he actually runs the company.
 
Re: Belinda Who?

Her father ran for the Liberals in 1988.
 
Re: Belinda Who?

I like Belinda. She's kinda like Paris Hilton with brains & *more* money.
 
Re: Belinda Who?

But no videotapes, I would assume...
 
Re: Belinda Who?

She's been getting a legover with Clinton, apparently.
 
Re: Belinda Who?

I don't know if she has more money than the Hiltons...

Ouch. This has gotta hurt. I sort of feel sorry for her. I'm sure she's a nice woman. I don't know why she's doing this to herself. I guess she's been told by these advisors that she's wonderful so many times that she starts to believe it.

Belinda lives and works in a world that daddy built

By MARGARET WENTE
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

Belinda Stronach hates being known as "daddy's little girl." I would, too, if I were her. But that's exactly what she is. Her job comes from daddy. Her money comes from daddy's company. Her house, which sits in the magnificent corporate compound north of Toronto that daddy built, is a stone's throw away from daddy's house. Her first husband was an executive in daddy's company, and her first taste of politics was when daddy ran (unsuccessfully) for office and she knocked on doors for him. Friends say her current interest in politics was inspired by Magna's essay-writing contest, which she administers. It awards scholarships to students who write the best essay on the topic, "If I were prime minister." Her dad started that too.

Today, Ms. Stronach will announce that she wants to be prime minister. No knock on her. She is by all accounts a kind and decent person, but her candidacy is a potent symbol of the Conservative Party's utter desperation. Here are her major qualifications to lead it.

1) She's a dishy blonde.

2) She's really rich.

3) She's interested in public service.

4) She has a spectacular ability to attract the support of once-powerful, superannuated pols, who are often old enough to be her father.

To her handlers' incredulous delight, Ms. Stronach's bashful, will-she-won't-she act has turned her into a media celebrity. She has garnered oceans of ink by the ingenious strategy of refusing to say a word about what she thinks on any substantive topic. This pleasant situation will, alas, end today, when she will be forced to open her mouth. She will reveal that she believes in prosperity and democracy, and that she can bring people together. You read it here first.

Ms. Stronach's backers refer to her as a spectacularly successful CEO. So, with uncharacteristic credulity, do the media. That is polite, but untrue. The company her father founded is, indeed, a spectacular success, but who's to say whether Ms. Stronach's contribution has made the least bit of difference one way or another to shareholder value? Her contribution consists mostly of promoting the Magna corporate values that were developed by her dad. Magna's far-flung operations are run by the presidents of its various autonomous divisions (she is president of the holding company). Its strategy and acquisitions are handled quite brilliantly by a couple of seasoned executives who've been around for decades.

What, then, are Ms. Stronach's accomplishments? Well, she dropped out of university after a year, held various ill-defined positions in the company, and started a designer-clothing business. She's been married and divorced twice, and is friends with a charismatic former U.S. president who is no doubt happy to give her political advice. She's established herself on the good-works circuit, and is seen at the most worthy fundraisers. She played a role as a political matchmaker that has, perhaps, been a touch exaggerated. She has hired Bonnie Brownlee, Mila Mulroney's former image consultant, to be her image consultant, and she has got Brian Mulroney to say awfully nice things about her.

"Our career paths are pretty similar," he said the other day, referring to his tenure as chief of Iron Ore Co. before he became leader of the Progressive Conservative Party. Which is about like saying that Mr. Mulroney's career path is pretty similar to Winston Churchill's because they were both in politics.

It may or may not be an accident that so many of the men who are so enthusiastic about Ms. Stronach have such close ties with Magna. Former premiers Mike Harris and Bill Davis are current and former members respectively of the Magna board. It's certainly no accident that these men are desperate to field a warm body who will represent their interests — roughly, the interests of the remnants of the old PCs and Ontario's Big Blue Machine. Ms. Stronach no doubt has been carefully taking notes and writing down their good ideas.

It's at this point where desperation melds into cynicism. What is it about the juvenile nature of Canadian politics that whenever things get most bleak and hopeless, someone decides to field a woman? Politicians of every party have at some time or other convinced themselves that playing the gender card will make them look fresh, modern and inclusive, instead of tired, dull, and stale (rhymes with male). And who's to say they don't have a point? Stephen Harper? He's got all that western, gun-toting, Bible-thumping, redneck stuff tied like an anchor round his ankles. Tony Clement? Great guy, for an earnest nerd. But Belinda! She's hip! She's urban! She wears a dress! She'll do wonders for the women's vote! And the media are kissing the ground in front of her, because she adds some spice and sex appeal to an otherwise terminally dull event that is a sure-fire ratings-killer. Best of all, they'll never admit it, because that would be sexist.

No wonder Paul Martin is cackling happily into his scotch. He remembers the last blonde bombshell in Canadian politics who caused such a fuss. Her name was Kim Campbell.


© 2004 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 
Re: Belinda Who?

in favor of gay marriages? why, is she a lesbian? it doesn't make sence! if she is idiologically liberal, and economically on the right, we already have martin, i mean martin is not bangable, thats maybe the only difference.

god damn austarians, they're hot!
 
Re: Belinda Who?

in favor of gay marriages? why, is she a lesbian?
Click to expand...
If it were only lesbians who were in favour of sex-same marriages, then polls would likely hover around 2% of Canadians favouring the idea of same-sex marriage. However, the majority of Canadians can step-aside from their own sexuality and be in favour of what they feel is only fair and equal.

Moreover, if you are suggesting that Ms. Stonarch should turn her back on her progressive-side in order to disntinguish herself from Martin, than that's really sad. One because she wouldn't be running an honest campaign. And two, because Martin is quasi-progressive at best.
 
Re: Belinda Who?

the fact is there arent many conservatives in favor of gay marriages, so i don't think this will work out in her favor
 
Re: Belinda Who?

The fact that she's widely considered to be a puppet for the old PC hierarchy without an original thought in her head won't work in her favour either, unless her handlers can sign up droves of 'instant conservatives' to vote for her.
 
Re: Belinda Who?

I hear Mr. Basi out in BC has some free time these days...
 
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