Magna beats the Liberal Party with the Belinda Stronach news
Clearly Belinda Stronach has been in discussions with Magna International ahead of her decision to leave politics. It is also just as clear that Belinda Stronach gave the Liberal Party and leader Stephane Dion no heads up whatsoever.
AURORA, ON, April 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Magna International Inc. (TSE:MG.A, MG.B; NYSE:MGA. Following the announcement earlier today by Belinda Stronach, the current Federal Member of Parliament for Aurora and Newmarket, that she will not be standing for re-election as a Member of Parliament in the next federal election, Ed Lumley, Magna's Lead Director commented that: "Our Board of Directors welcomes Belinda rejoining the Magna executive management team as Executive Vice-Chairman. She has extensive experience in the auto industry, has gained national and international exposure as a Minister while in Government and will bring an unparallelled understanding of Magna's unique corporate culture which has been the major contributor to Magna's historical success. As such she will be in a special position to balance the needs of all Magna stakeholders, including shareholders, employees and customers."
Co-Chief Executive Officers, Don Walker and Siegfried Wolf, stated that: "Belinda will play an important role and make a valuable contribution to Magna's ongoing success in the challenging auto industry, particularly in terms of long term strategic planning and related policy decisions, international relationships, public relations, social responsibility and employee and labour relations. Her continuing interest and experience in education and job skills training will also contribute to Magna's future global competitive success."
Meanwhile, the Liberal Party website remains silent on the matter.
Leadership means being ready for action.
I wonder just how much lead time Belinda Stronach gave to the Liberal Party and to Stephane Dion. The news release said Dion was told earlier today, but five hours earlier? Or five minutes? The corporate communications team at Magna had plenty of time, Obviously Magna has known for some time, given that they've agreed to a new position for her to assume once she's available.
Remember, she had to be silent when she crossed the floor to leave the Conservative Party to join the Liberals. This was a delicate political move, in many ways an act of betrayal, and so it had to be done surreptitiously. Stephen Harper could not be made aware of what she was planning. But this is a career move. A disappointment, perhaps, to Stephane Dion, but hardly the sort of thing that had to be sprung on him at the last moment. Dion could have been told days ahead in order to prepare a statement and start spinning the story for the press. Instead, Dion is told only a hour or two before the very public announcement, compared to the days or weeks that she's been in contact with Magna.
Not a good day for Stephane Dion or the Liberal Party.
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Comments
If she doesn't have the sense to resign before taking that job, Dion should at least have the sense to throw her out of caucus.
Posted by: yyc at April 11, 2007 01:30 PM
Hope someone holds the door so it doesn't hit her ass on the way out. No party needs that kind of loyalty.
Poor Steffi is having a hard time keeping his women. The 33% is getting ever harder to reach.
Anyway, Harper had her number long ago, let her know she wasn't dealing with Poppa Frank.
Ironic she didn't have the guts to announce it when the House was sitting.
She's a person of zero substance. Good riddance.
Posted by: Libby at April 11, 2007 02:23 PM
How much does this put Martha H-F out, who was pre-selected as the candidate for Willowdale? I believe that story occured mid-March. If Belinda's decision was in the works for some time, couldn't she have given Martha a heads-up? Or did Martha pick up stakes and move to Willowdale?
Posted by: Phil at April 11, 2007 02:28 PM
She has extensive experience in the auto sector??? Really? It seems to me that it's quite narrow and selective. Has she worked on the assembly line? Has she worked her way up the ladder?
She has gained national and international exposure as a minister in Government??? Really? Doing what??? I think she's made a fool of herself on the national and international stage. People aren't stupid.
Posted by: anonymous at April 11, 2007 02:36 PM
The only reason she was EVER in the party was because she got candy. Only a genuinely stupid person would have expected her to stay around after the candy was gone.
Sorry Steve, but I don't think her departure injures the Liberals in any way. And Dion doesn't need to do anything more than say, "Oh, Stronach left? Well, 'oo cares, she was Martin's."
Posted by: Darrell at April 11, 2007 02:48 PM
"Obviously Magna has known for some time, given that they've agreed to a new position for her to assume once she's available."
don't you think she and Dad sorted this out over Easter dinner?
Posted by: Richard at April 11, 2007 03:32 PM
" ... a new position for her to assume once she's available."
I hope she's not going to try to straddle both her job with Magna & her job as an MP until the next election.
She's already missed quite a few days, judging by her absences from Question Period.
I have said this before, and please forgive my being so repetitive: MPs should be docked for every day they are absent from Parliament, unless they're on some kind of "special assignment."
If Ms. Stronach were to wait to step down from her job as MP until the next election, she would be drawing a salary from taxpayers for doing absolutely nothing.
Posted by: Gabby in QC at April 11, 2007 04:12 PM
Magna probably asked her to keep it quiet until officially announced. I would think that's prudent, not leaking senior staffing changes to the market ahead of time.
Belinda, knowing how well the liberal caucus can keep a secret, likely felt she couldn't tell Dion.
After all, we don't want a bunch of insiders selling short on Magna, do we?
Posted by: mecheng at April 11, 2007 04:13 PM
You have a good point in your first paragraph, Darrell. However, consider how big a deal the Liberals (and their supporters - Hello Cherniak) made of her defection. They were using it as proof there was no room in the CPC for moderates. Perhaps the same can now be said of the Liberals, particularly when you add her to all the other Liberal MPs who are not seeking re-election.
Posted by: Brian in Calgary at April 11, 2007 06:25 PM
Belinda's political career.
A pimple on the face of Canadian politics. A blip in the history books.
She has done so little that it's hard to figure if she accomplished anything other than look pretty and act like a jellyfish.
Posted by: Levesque at April 11, 2007 07:53 PM
Hi Brian,
"They were using it as proof there was no room in the CPC for moderates."
They would have said anything to distract people from the fact that they had just sold a ministry for a single vote. As I recall, that didn't work too well either -- didn't a roomful of reporters laugh when Martin allowed that he didn't see anything unprincipled about her stand?
They would, I suspect, have eaten their own stool rather than acknowledge that they were a desperate, unprincipled party that would have given anything for the prop-up vote she brought them.
She was an embarrassment to them, and I'm sure they're happy to be rid of her.
Posted by: Darrell at April 11, 2007 08:12 PM
Never has anyone done so little with so little in such a short time. Politically the only good thing she did was make PMSH look good during the Conservative leadership race.
Posted by: joe at April 11, 2007 09:39 PM
Sounds like she going to be drawing two salaries for a while. Must be nice.
Posted by: dubya dubya at April 11, 2007 09:50 PM
Now Kate at SDA will be disenfranchised without a woman to represent her.
Not!
Dion will have to force one more woman on a liberal constituency that just doesn't want them.
Which is funny I think.
Posted by: DrWright at April 11, 2007 09:52 PM
Double Deeping b….. I hope she will choke on my money
Posted by: george at April 12, 2007 12:01 AM
Darell
I would agree with you to some extent. It really won't affect the libs much. And they are probably glad to get rid of her. I do think however that it does put Dion in a poor optics situation. And to be honest, I derive some joy from his misteps and misfortunes.
I am afraid it is the death by a thousand cuts senario for Dion.
Posted by: missing link at April 12, 2007 12:48 AM
Hi ML,
"And to be honest, I derive some joy from his misteps and misfortunes..."
Well, now that is just shallow and nasty. I feel exactly the same way. >:c)
Posted by: Darrell at April 12, 2007 07:25 AM
Sounds like she going to be drawing two salaries for a while. Must be nice.
"She threw the best parties in Ottawa. She donated her MP's and minister's salary to charity, lent her name and wealth to the anti-AIDS campaign, travelled into the poorest parts of the world and became a forceful advocate for women's issues."
Personally, I have no problem with a person drawing two salaries as long as they are doing two jobs. As long as she can be a federal MP and a VP of a billion-dollar company at the same time, she deserves compensation for both. The question for the constituents of Aurora-Newmarket and the stockholders of Magna International is whether she's doing the job they each expect her to do well.
Posted by: Steve Janke at April 12, 2007 08:53 AM
Bye bye Belimbo...
While part of me is happy Belinda has left politics, another part is sad as other ladies who have worked hard to get elected will be measured and judged, unfairly, in the same light.
Ms. Stronach reminds me of the old saying: “not everything that glitters is gold.”
Posted by: tomax7 at April 12, 2007 09:54 AM
Today Magna Stock took a buck or so drop and the rumor is she's not exactly too popular with some others at Magna International.
However, she's the Boss's daughter and they can put up or shut up, it's a living.
It's always a big problem in any setting when someone holds a position and isn't capable of doing the job. Some others, not so high on the salary scale are burdened with carrying the load.
Poppa Frank is a Canadian success story, she's fortunate to be his daughter and we should have little to say further as long as she stays out of politics, which should be a long time, maybe until she finds her niche, Left, Right or Center.
Posted by: Libby at April 12, 2007 12:00 PM
It's clear that Belinda has no class, and never has.
Belinda is her Daddy's princess and Belinda does what Belinda wants when Belinda wants. End of story.
To H*ll with party loyalty, to H*ll with principles, to H*ll with her constituents, to H*ll with the share holders in her company, to H*ll with her political colleagues (in particular, Martha Hall-Findlay who actually seems to have a lot on the ball, she's just in the wrong party), to H*ll with her children (and other people's families and children).
Belinda is just an all-round, shallow, self-centred, not nice female do...er...person.
Posted by: 'been around the block at April 12, 2007 05:27 PM
 
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