Belinda Stronach Belinda Stronach
Belinda Stronach (born May 2, 1966), a prominent Canadian businesswoman new to politics, ran unsuccessfully for the leadership of the recently-founded Conservative Party of Canada in its 2004 leadership race. Until entering the leadership race in January, 2004, Stronach was the president and CEO of Magna International, a major automotive supplier based in Aurora, Ontario, north of Toronto.
Stronach is the daughter of the founder of Magna, Frank Stronach. She studied at York University (Ontario) business school for a year before dropping out. She is well-known in business circles, having been named the most powerful woman in Canadian business and the second most powerful woman in international business. She is also a close friend of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and former Ontario Premier Mike Harris.
Throughout the summer and into the fall of 2003, talks were undertaken by officials of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance party with respect to a merger of those parties. During negotiations each party had three representatives, and the meetings were overseen by a facilitator. It was later revealed that Stronach was the facilitator. She was among many who had called for PC leader Peter MacKay and Alliance leader Stephen Harper to undertake the merger talks in the first place.
As a candidate for leadership of the new party, she drew a great deal of publicity to the race. Some felt that this has more to do with her being an attractive female than being a strong contender.
At campaign launch, Stronach shocked many with her support of same-sex marriage, an issue strongly opposed by most Conservative caucus members. While this progressive view might help her chances in Ontario, it is unlikely her caucus would follow a lead to support any equality-based legislation. Indeed, she distanced herself from this position by expressing support for a free vote of MPs, cast individually and not along party lines, on this issue. She has also stated that she is against the decriminalization of marijuana, though she admitted to smoking pot in high school.
Many in the media saw her first foray into politics as sophomoric, flubbing obviously-practiced lines, and approaching the podium well before the teleprompter was ready. Stronach stood before the microphone mute for several minutes before the prompter began. Critics also acused her of being a "manufactured candidate," dependent on a high-priced network of professional campaign staff and Magna associates. Insinuations about her paid membership organizers in the province of Quebec hit particularly hard, recalling to some Tom Long's controversial 2000 Canadian Alliance leadership campaign. Supporters defended her "style," and touted her ability to win new and swing voters, especially moderate or socially progressive voters in the province of Ontario.
On February 11, 2004, she abstained from a debate between the Conservative party candidates, leaving Tony Clement and Stephen Harper to debate each other on the CBC broadcast. She later also abstained from a March 14 debate on the Global Television Network. She argued that she ought only participate in party sponsored debates rather than picking and choosing among those organized by outside sponsors.
In her major speech at the leadership convention on March 19, 2004, she promised to serve only two terms if she became Prime Minister, and to draw no salary. She made a major gesture of 'throwing away the script,' but then undercut this somewhat when she was seen referring to cue cards. On March 20, 2004 she finished second to Harper with 35% of the vote. She urged the party to unite behind him and pledged to continue her campaign to become the Tory MP for the riding of Newmarket-Aurora at the upcoming federal election.