Belinda Stronach:
The Woman Behind the Headlines
By Susan McClelland

Reader's Digest
August 2007



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It was Belinda Stronach's first vacation with her entire family since she entered politics three years ago. Her parents, Frank and Elfriede, her brother Andrew's family, and her own children, Frank Jr., 15, and Nikki, 13, stayed at property they owned near Miami over Christmas 2006. The holiday provided Stronach with an opportunity to sit down with her father, Frank, and really talk business. Frank heads up Magna International Inc., the billion-dollar automotive parts company that he founded. Belinda used to be his right-hand as president and CEO but resigned in 2004 to run for the leadership of the Conservative Party. She had been in politics ever since.

But during the Florida family retreat, father and daughter began talking about the possibility of Stronach leaving politics. "Will you give any thought to coming back [to Magna]?" Frank asked her early one morning at breakfast. She hadn't considered it up until then, but over the next three months, the two discussed the prospect further. Then, in April, Stronach announced she wouldn't run in the next election, but would return to Magna as vice chairperson.

While Stronach won't say whether her 75-year-old father is thinking of retiring and asked her to return to Magna to take the helm, she did say, "He's getting on in age and is looking to the future." Part of what motivated Stronach to return to the company was the possibility at the time of Magna teaming up with Onex Corporation to buy Chrysler. Stronach, 41, doesn't regret her decision now despite the fact that private equity firm Cerberus ended up outbidding Magna. Other deals are in the works: In early May, for instance, a Russian firm controlled by Oleg Deripaska invested $1.54 billion (US) in Magna, in a move aimed at expanding Magna into the Russian auto market. "The auto industry is under intense competitive pressure," says Stronach. "We're looking to new markets and my father greatly appreciates that I am present to make decisions and play a role."

Stronach's retirement from politics shocked the nation, as has nearly every move she's made as a politician. In May 2005 the Newmarket/Aurora MP-unhappy with many Conservative party policies, including its position on Quebec sovereignty and same-sex marriage (and after losing the party leadership to Stephen Harper)-became a Liberal. Prime Minister Paul Martin handed her the vacant position of Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development in a move that saw columnists from coast to coast screaming patronage. Stronach-at that time only 39-was, after all, a political neophyte. She was re-elected in 2006 as a Liberal MP. Until she leaves politics at the next election, she'll attend caucus meetings and major votes in Parliament.

She also remains committed to some of the work she started as a Liberal MP, work that often didn't make the front page. Within a year of joining the Liberals, Stronach became chair of the Liberal Women's Caucus, co-penning the Pink Book: A Policy Framework for Canada's Future, which called on Ottawa to allocate $1 billion over five years for early education and child care. Then, this past January, Nazanin Fatehi, a 19-year-old woman sentenced to death in Iran for killing a man who tried to rape her, was exonerated: Stronach had found Nazanin a lawyer and rallied political support from Governor General Michaëlle Jean and former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy.

Stronach says women's issues need to be more at the forefront of Canadian politics. Canada ranks near the bottom of Western nations in the number of women elected to government. This is most noticeable in the lack of commitment to pursue long-term solutions to issues like pay equity, she says. When asked about her heroes, she names Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the Liberian president and the first female head of an African country, whose March visit to Canada Stronach coordinated. "Here's this woman, setting up rehabilitation programs for child soldiers, trying to kick-start her country's economy, all the while dodging bullets from would-be assassins," says Stronach.

This is a side of Stronach Canadians haven't seen much of. Media coverage has often focused on her clothes or love life, particularly the nature of her relationship with former Toronto Maple Leaf tough guy Tie Domi. So who is Belinda Stronach? She was born in Newmarket, Ont., in 1966, and says she had a "normal" upbringing. Despite her father's worth (thought to be more than $600 million today), Belinda and her brother weren't coddled with private schools, expensive wardrobes or exotic vacations. Getting a Camaro for her 16th birthday was, says Stronach, "my first clue that my family was different: none of my friends got cars." She dropped out of her first year in the business and economics program at York University to join Magna, where she'd worked during summer PLURAL?. "My father often jokes, 'Imagine what we could have become if we had university degrees?'" says Stronach with a laugh, adding with more seriousness that her father had expected her to stay at home and raise kids. "I remember telling my dad at an early age that I wanted his job one day. It was a real eye opener for him because it broke all the conventions he was used to."

Fast-forward to her life in politics, where she has had a rough ride. While sneers and jibes are common among MPs during the House of Commons' Question Period, Stronach has been greeted by outright laughter and cackles whenever she stands up. She was even infamously referred to as a dog-in Parliament-by her former boyfriend, Conservative foreign affairs minister Peter MacKay. (He allegedly replied to a Liberal's question about his own dog: "You already have her.")

When asked about her breakup with Peter MacKay, which happened when she crossed the floor and joined the Liberals, Stronach becomes introspective. "People often ask, why didn't I discuss it with Peter earlier," she says finally. "Given the pressure I was under and the decision that I was making, I just don't think I could have handled it any other way. He was Deputy Leader and I was extremely sensitive to his position. If I had gone to him sooner, he would have had a responsibility to tell the leader. I wouldn't have asked him not to."

Stronach has somehow mastered the capacity to stay focused. (Gregg MacEachern, her executive assistant, offers one explanation: "She's all Zen.") Says Stronach, "Why do I put up with everything? Well, I spent a year telling people that I entered politics because I want to give back to my riding and my country." Then she adds: "I often ask myself: When I'm 80-or whatever age I am when I am about to die and it's just me and my conscience-will I have any regrets? Do I feel good about what I did with my life? That's what motivates me."

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The day I spent with Belinda Stronach in Ottawa was marked by occasional polite interruptions, as she talked to pals of hers on the Hill-she seemed happiest around other female MPs-and constituents. One young man with a backpack slung over his shoulder said he was visiting Ottawa from her riding. He didn't expect to meet his MP and was speechless when Stronach walked out of her office to shake his hand. "I think what has happened with Belinda is that people look at the trappings of her celebrity and not her substance," says Winnipeg Liberal MP Anita Neville.

Indeed. In her research paper Who Framed Belinda Stronach?, professor Linda Trimble of the University of Alberta analyzed national media coverage of Stronach during the 2004 Conservative leadership race. She found it was far more negative, and focused on her clothes and wealth, than that of the other male candidates. Columnists used phrases such as "daddy's girl," and "coddled career," and mentioned her platform and campaign far less than the other politicians'. Heather Mallick of the Globe and Mail went so far as to say Stronach's campaign made her ashamed to be a woman.

At her core, Stronach says, is a real commitment to her family, albeit it's not the conventional kind. She's been married and divorced twice. Her first husband was Donald Walker, Co-CEO of Magna, who is Nikki's and Frank's dad. Stronach's second walk down the aisle was to Norwegian Olympic speedskating star Johann Olav Koss. She's good friends with both men, the former of whom shares parenting of their two children. "There are times when Don, his wife Joan, their kids, my kids and my mum and dad go on vacations without me," says Stronach. "See. We're close."

Stronach won't comment on whether she has a boyfriend at the moment, or whether she's happy to return to private life so she'll no longer be under the microscope. "My children did play a part in my decision to return to Magna," she says, changing the subject. "I have two teenagers. I want to spend more time with them before they head out of the house to university."

While the House of Commons was in session, Stronach tried never to miss one of Nikki's horse-jumping competitions, commuting every weekend from Ottawa to Newmarket. Leaving politics will also enable Stronach to keep a more watchful eye on the escapades of her teenagers. "Frank asked me a while ago if he could have his semi-formal after-party at our house," Stronach says. "I thought back to my teenage years and said, 'OK. And I'll be there.'"

Among her public duties, one of Stronach's newest projects is Spread the Net, which she started with the CBC's Rick Mercer. It's co-sponsored by UNICEF and raises money for mosquito nets to protect children in Africa from malaria, the number one killer of children on that continent. Mercer and Stronach first met while taping This Hour Has 22 Minutes, when the pair skated on the Rideau Canal. (At one point, Mercer asked Stronach, a Conservative at the time, "Are you sure you're with the right party?") The two have been friends since. Stronach says she'll stay involved in Spread the Net after she leaves politics. She will also see through projects she committed to while in politics, like the building of a homeless shelter for women in her riding. Most of all, Stronach wants to continue to encourage more women to become leaders. "I became more aware, more in touch, with the biases that some people hold against the great contributions women can make," says Stronach. "I will certainly advocate corporations to do better by promoting more women to management positions. We don't have enough women business leaders, let alone politicians."

As for the racy tabloids and the bitter remarks made about her in the press, Stronach says, "The outright lies like I hate flying commercial or I don't like going to remote parts of Canada... these comments did bother me." And the nastiness in Parliament? "That this is tolerated and encouraged changes the co-operative spirit that should exist in politics," she says. "It's up to politicians to work together to come up with solutions."

What Stronach says she liked most about politics was sticking by her values, even if they conflicted with her party's position and landed her in the media spotlight. "I always stuck to my principles and tried to do what was in the best interest of my community, the country and women," she says. "I made some tough decisions. It would have been easier to do nothing and go with the flow. But I did what I felt was right. To me, this was a great personal accomplishment."

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On her family's wealth: "I don't think people appreciate how poor of a beginning my father had. He landed in Canada because it was the first country that accepted his visa. He found a job, got fired from a job, saved enough money to take a bus to Kitchener where he begged for a job, that eventually gave him enough money to buy a tool kit to start his own company."

Most outrageous question ever asked: "Seasoned journalists walk up to me and whisper, 'I'm embarrassed to ask you this, but my editor wants to know what label of clothing you're wearing.'"

Pet peeve: "It frustrates the heck out of me when well-to-do Canadians don't support charities. I do a lot of fund-raising and there are people who see me coming and run. It is amazing how tough it is to get these people to donate. I think, 'You did well in this country. You should give back.'"