Belinda, the Stronach
Well, it was a rather interesting week in Canadian politics. At the very least, within the nation's capital. A real cliff-hanger, that one. Will the NDP-assisted federal budget pass - or will it not? Many people willed it to pass, realizing that within its constructs was the potential to make this country a more livable, more citizen-humane place. And don't we need it, if only to make us feel better about ourselves. That is, if you're a moderately well-off citizen, thinking of the plight of the indigent poor, the homeless, the low-wage earners, the single-parent families, the children, the children, oh the children. Oh yes, foreign aid, assistance to students, the retired poor. Damn the tax breaks to wealthy corporations so eager to suck as much taxpayer-funded 'relief' as they can.The above by way of being a not-too-terribly oblique way of moving us on to the - well, one of the stars, of that historical, hysterical vote in the House of Commons. Belinda, she of the immensely wealthy Magna car-parts empire. This woman, born with the proverbial diamond-studded spoon-in-mouth, lauded as one of the most influential and wealthy women in business (gasp) worldwide, has determined that her real place is not in the corporate boardroom but rather in the boardroom of the nation. If she is truly the corporate marvel as CEO of Magna as her curriculum vitae attests, then she well may become an outstanding parliamentarian. If she is, however, as many pundits claim, Daddy-Frank's little girl, placed by birthright into a most prestigious corporate position, surrounded by high-priced and eminently capable corporate types who actually do the work and accede credit to her, then well, it's another story. Then the story becomes that of the spoiled, bored, itching-for-power entity that many take her for.
There is ample reason to believe in both scenarios. Member of Parliament (Liberal-cum-Conservative) Stronach was bored with higher learning and left after her first year of University. There was a first marriage not terribly long lasting, then another which, although terminated also, managed to produce two children. Which may mean nothing more than that this woman may have a very active mind, tending toward boredom with unrelieved monotony. The requirement to focus one's mind in acquiring a good post-secondary education requires discipline and drive to ensure one's future employment prospects. The requirement to consider the well being of another person as equal in importance to one's own requires a certain amount of fortitude and certainly patience - usually rewarded with the satisfaction (made up of equal parts happiness and companionship; a modicum of tedium) of a successful marriage. If every whim ever expressed has always been fulfilled without even a soupcon of effort, perhaps the will to succeed by one's own effort will be understandably absent. On the other hand, simply because someone has been the recipient of such good fortune as to have all one's needs more than amply looked after, it should not necessarily rule out the possibility that a social conscience exists leading to a desire to put one's good fortune to the use of others.
That MP Stronach was more than a trifle discomfitted by many of the positions taken by the Alliance/Conservative party was obvious to anyone who could read a newspaper. Ms. Stronach voiced her opposition to some key positions espoused by her erstwhile party, most notably on abortion rights, on gay marriage, and most latterly, on the need to drag the country, kicking and screaming into another election. So much so that the leader of the party, gave her a dressing down, simply to remind her that he was the leader, she was the disloyal follower. Belinda, one gathers, balks at following anyone. And, in a sense, more power to her. Fact is, if some position so grates against the essence of someone's sense of fairness and ethics, let alone morals, then going with the flow would make her - what?
So she made her deal. Over to the Liberals. Good on her, if she realizes that that party more represents her own way of thinking, and as a result represents what she feels is in the best interests of Canadians overall. Yet, and yet. If one holds such strong principles, why would it take the enticement of a cabinet position to make the switch? That Paul Martin felt sufficiently endangered to offer the position is one thing; that he felt he had to, to secure her newfound loyalty to the Liberal cause is another altogether.
Oh, Belinda, woman of mystery. Are you the complex creature you appear to be, or are you a far simpler being? Will we ever know. You chose to leave a party that you yourself had a great hand in engineering. You chose to leave a budding personal relationship in search of a greater truth. Will we ever be privy to that greater truth, as it really is? Therein lies the mystery.
No mystery about the mass hysteria seen within the party you so wisely left. The misogynistic outpouring of scorn left no secret that the party is well peppered with slime-scrabbling proto-humans. Supposing that the New Conservative Party did have a support base among women in this country, it's entirely possible, post-Belinda, that women voters take a good hard look at the type of primitives they may be voting for in the next election. Not too soon, one hopes; the election, that is.
Only time will tell if Belinda Stronach is a principled politician whose concerns for the best interests of the country led her to cross the floor of the House of Commons - or whether she may be the unprincipled opportunist whose crass self-interest propelled her actions in a bid (a successful one at that) to propel herself a trifle higher on the political merry-go-round. I'd like to believe the former, and devil take the latter.
posted by Pieface @ Sunday, May 22, 2005
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