D. Coulter, Aurora, letter to the editor (The Era-Banner – Newmarket-Aurora)
Newmarket-Aurora MP Belinda Stronach has been trying to win quick political points recently by criticizing the Conservatives for not having enough women in the cabinet. Its cabinet is about 25 per cent female.
To see if Ms Stronach puts her money where her mouth is, I reviewed the family company, Magna, of which she is a former CEO. I checked its annual report to see how many women are on the board of directors and how many women occupy senior executive positions.
As of the most recent Magna annual report, of 12 board members, there are no women. And of 25 senior executives, there [are] zero women.
h/t to reader “JM”
That letter should be forwarded to every Conservative MP.
Apples and oranges.
I personally don’t care a hoot regarding Belinda but comparing an auto parts manufacturer to a political party doesn’t make too much sense.
The list of differences is much longer than the list of similarities.
Sounds like sour grapes on the part of D. Coulter.
Lovely! I hope you track the responses to this! Was wondering if anyone watched cbc coverage this a.m re:same-sex marriage debate.It seemed the “equal”and fair coverage of the Pro/Con sides was very heavily tipped toward…oh,go ahead and guess! The Con side was,from blurb I saw..and I really can’t stomach too much cbc at a time,minimal to say the least.Yet,the Pro side got lots of time,3-4 speakers at the mike.Wander over to the cbc website,readers letters,see comment section re same.I tried posting..will see if it goes up.Was told by my MP to start sending letters/e-mails direct to Bev Oda to complain about cbc..they need to compile lots of complaints,then maybe something can be done. Sammy
Sammy,
This is not a forum or a repository for off-topic dumps.
Sour grapes? Apples & oranges? Hardly! Belinda is paying lip service to female equality, and poorly at that. She’s quick to point the finger, but slow to act herself. After all, that’s HER money we’re talking about. If she can’t get even ONE female on the board, that’s shameful. Sadly, we won’t see the CBC hounding her about any glaring systemic sexist or inequality issues at Magna.
Maybe the women working at Magna have more morals tha bs has.
To butcher a phrase: There are fools, and then there are damned fools.
Does anyone else remember Belinda’s ignominious entree into politics, when she stepped to the podium, got the crowd quiet, then realized her teleprompter wasn’t working? She just stood there blankly, like a deer caught in the headlights, in front of a completely silent room. Couldn’t even come up with a simple joke or even a “hello”! And to think it’s all been downhill from there.
If Peter McKay had cojones, he would have simply said to the media: “I didn’t insult all women…I just called Stronach a bitch.”
The Conservative Party of Canada is the only party in the history of Canada that has ever had a female Prime Minister.
Top that you Libs, oh and shaddup.
doowleb,
Here’s the topper.
Kim Campbell was set up for a fall by Mulroney.
When all other Conservatives were running for the hills Mulroney as a big joke set up Kim to take the final brunt for the most hated government in Canadian history.
A true story…a couple of years later I stopped and talked to him (Mulroney) and Milla on a beach in Mexico, he was still holding his side from laughter.
No, david brown, you are the one who is not making sense.
What is the difference between an auto parts manufacturer and a government (and not simply a political party)?
Both are involved in making short term and long term decisions – economic, legal, and political decisions, based on a knowledge of products, services, economic capacity etc.
I am sure you are not implying that a woman cannot make decisions about an auto parts manufacturing company because ‘cars are for men not women’. So, what’s the difference between the two?
Sammy – I think your point about CBC bias is valid on this thread, because the fact that Stronach has herself claimed that she is speaking for all Canadian women in her claim about poor political representation in parliament etc, – in comparison to her own company’s total lack of women on the board, has not been publicized in the MSM.
There is another story out today where people who KNIT are offended by Belinda’s remarks about knitters as offensive, sexist (as there are many male knitters) and predjudice making knitters appear to be old fashioned “unequal” in society. She insulted all knitters in the house last week and also in her autobiography.
Apples and oranges???
It’s nonesense to suggest that because women weren’t ‘blessed’ with a penis that they can’t fulfil almost every role within a car parts company. I view myself as a bit of a chauvanist(sp?) but I am very respectful of their capabilities.
Frankly, Ms. Stronach has been accused of a number of things but I’ve never heard anyone suggest for a minute that she actually did a good job working for Magna. This has NOTHING to do with the fact that she’s female.
David Brown the name suits, your so full of it your eyes are probably brown. Mulroney was regressive Conservative and going into the election they were ahead in the poll’s. The back stabber Kim lost the election all by herself.
ET,
The cracks are starting to show in your logic.
If you had ever worked in the auto parts industry (I did for 8 years) then you would know that your similarities are not that similar at all.
Besides, to get on the board of directors you generally have to be appointed. Appointees are selected usually because they own large stock positions. I’m sure woman do own Magna stock but prefer their husbands or proxies to sit in on boring stuffy meetings rather than waste their own time.
Women are more than capable executives but the auto parts industry is dominated by men.
Hear Hear ET…I was just about to catch DB on his implication that on the basis of his “apples and oranges” statement women must not be qualified to make important decisions within the auto industry…such a sexist posting from a lefty
You want apples and oranges…how about BS saying quite clearly that McKay’s QP comment was a knock against all women….what a load of crap. I know a lot of women, and thankfully none of them have any of BS’s personality traits.
I must say that I did read in the paper that McKay did apologize to BS, but in such a high pitch that only she could hear.
TGIF: BS had a long week in the boardroom*. Fairytale? Well, hows about Rumplestiltskin?
Belinda Stronach’s quote, “I don’t sit at home and knit Friday nights” …-
*boardroom: the close-knit group of (male?) advisers surrounding ex-Liberal PM, Paul Martin, Jr. Paul, Jr., was impotant(!), indeed.
The Liberals gave their only female leadership candidate 1% of the vote. The rest of them didn’t run probably because they knew it would be a complete waste of time and money. I mean, when they’d rather have Bob Rae and his disastrous record as premier than a woman, what realistic chance does a woman ever have of leading that party? If any party is an Old Boys Club (emphasis on old), it’s the Liberal Party.
Tony W.
Are you talking about the same election?
Popular support for the Mulroney-Kim-Conservatives was below 10% when they were blown into oblivion losing official party status altogether.
The Conservatives of Brian Mulroney have little to do with the current.
The BM PCs were just like the libs, the country run at the intersection of Bay Street and Sussex drive. The consequences were the splintering of the PCs into the Joe Clark conservatives(patsy pseudolibs) the Bloq (psuedoseparatists) and reform ( the progressives) . The resulting merger of course left out the palm up socialist maritime libs until the empty suit(P.McK) jumped on board. one thing you can give to Paris Stronach, she did start some dialogue.
Bucky,
Why is so important to catch me?
By keeping an open mind you’ll learn more.
Liberals are hyprcrites, at least the Conservative party, et al can say they have had a woman as their leader, Elsie Wayne(Interim) and Kim Campbell.
The NDP can say the same, Audrey McLauglin and Alexa McDonough.
And the Liberals….(insert sound of crickets).
I guess Liberals want women in the party as long as their not in charge. Sounds like Magna.
DB you should make sure your brain is running before you put your mouth in geer. Mulroney turned over a party that was ahead in the polls. It was all Kim and the liberal media that lost it.
Tony W.
Are you talking about the same election?
Popular support for the Mulroney-Kim-Conservatives was below 10% when they were blown into oblivion losing official party status altogether.
Posted by: David Brown at October 24, 2006 12:59 PM
Actually Kim lost the election herself.
Remember the “let’s make fun of Jean Cretien’s physical disability campaign”.
It was a complete disaster that she never recovered from.
Voters are funny that way.
How many women tried for the leadership of the libs. How many are left and what %age of votes did she get. Talk about a sexist party with no respect for women. And, how many women were voting at these delegate meetings. Did they vote for a woman? Another company suffering from being off the gravy train. Big job losses in Montreal at Bombardier.
She wants an apology for all Canadian women:
I mentioned the current issue to my Mother, Sister, Girlfriend & 21yr Old Niece. My niece spoke for all when she put as.
” B.S is nothing more then a 2 faced skank & if anyone should apologize, B.S should. Apologize to her Constituants, The Domi Family & all Canadian Women (and that’s for thinking that she is defending Women’s rights)”
Kitchener Conservative,
The first female president of the USA could very well be a liberal Democrat.
Just because there hasn’t been a woman Liberal leader doesn’t mean there couldn’t be 3 in a row in the future.
David Brown said:
“If you had ever worked in the auto parts industry (I did for 8 years) then you would know that your similarities are not that similar at all.
Besides, to get on the board of directors you generally have to be appointed. Appointees are selected usually because they own large stock positions. I’m sure woman do own Magna stock but prefer their husbands or proxies to sit in on boring stuffy meetings rather than waste their own time.
Women are more than capable executives but the auto parts industry is dominated by men.”
And your point is? Politics is dominated by men. The auto parts industry is dominated by men. BS was the head of a major company and she took no steps to correct the imbalance. Today’s word is “hypocrite”.
David Brown,
should of, could of, would of. Who cares.
I guess you’re clairvoyant now.
The Liberals could also elect a monkey as their leader, oops they did that already.
Who cares about the US. They could easily elect a republican. Condi Rice is a good example.
david brown – the fact that you worked in the auto parts industry for years doesn’t validate your opinion that women cannot function as executives in that industry.
Whether the industry is making lace nighties, publishing Harlequin Romances, researching and producing pharmaceuticals, or manufacturing radio parts or car parts – it’s an industry and has to be based around similar economic concepts of resources, manufacture, sales etc. So, the gender of the executive is utterly irrelevant. There are a lot of women PHDs in Economics, a lot with MBAs, etc.
Are you actually trying to claim that a woman cannot ‘understand’ the car industry???
Your comment that women might own stock, but prefer ‘their husbands or proxies’ to sit in on boring meetings’ – shows your own ignorance and obvious sexist bias.
By the way, would you provide some proof that this is the case about women, wanting their husbands, to sit in on the meeting? Proof? Evidence?
“As of the most recent Magna annual report, of 12 board members, there are no women. And of 25 senior executives, there [are] zero women.” Boy, I’ll bet that keep Belinda busy, if you get my drift….wink, wink, nudge, nudge!
“Women are more than capable executives but the auto parts industry is dominated by men”
Well David Brown,i’ve worked in the auto industry for 30 years and that statement is complete bull.Go into the exec offices of the big automakers and you will find women in many prominent positions.
Looks like you opened your mouth without thinking and made a sexist remark.I’m sure you will apologize right away for such glaring sexism.
“And of 25 senior executives, there [are] zero women.”
“”Women are more than capable executives but the auto parts industry is dominated by men”
See how your words came back to haunt you.
Some get DB a ladder…he’s dug himself into a big hole.
Better yet, let’s all get some shovels and complete the burial of this guy.
I have called the CBC talkback line several times demanding they ask bs to apologize to women for her immoral behaviour, and saying she speaks for all women. She doesn’t speak for me or any other women I know. I also asked them why, if the libs are so open to women, and not sexist, why Martha only got 1% support to be leader. Anyone know why all the e-mail addresses at the end of an article can’t be accessed. Guess they don’t want to know what people really think.
RE: Belinda puts down knitters.
That sure reminds me of the famous Hillary Clinton quote.
“I could have stayed home & baked cookies & had teas, but what I decided to do is fulfill my profession. The work I have done has been aimed to assure women can make choices.”
It generated an angry response from many women. Hillary Clinton then claimed she actually HAD done her share of the baking and the serving.
“I’ve made my share of cookies and served hundreds of cups of tea. It never occurred to me that my comment would insult mothers who choose to stay home with their children.”
We need people like D.Coulter, BryanR and his family members running this country.
Its a shame people spend so much time reporting and discussing the life of Belinda Stronach. She is simply not worth it. She brings nothing to the discussion of politics and does nothing to bring more women into politics.
One word describes Liberals on the subject of women, HYPOCRITES.
Belinda S. is in the same category for standing up and reading the Liberal scripture in the House.
She knows it’s bu**s**t propaganda, if she doesn’t she’s out of her league.
I have this mental image of somewhere out in cyberspace DB, agitfact, bob, BCL, maryjane and the others are sitting around when a bell rings that Kate has posted again. They check a list to see who is next and that troll is delegated to comment against whatever is said. The rest keep score of how many bloggers try to respond to the troll and the one with the most wins the pot.
So running a government is nothing like running a business? Come on now Mr Brown, that explains the problems for the last 13 years under the Lieberals. I gather that Mrs Brown lets you blog for her too since you already handle her stock portfolio.
Conservative Epitaph
Confusion
David Brown you are still operating in a Librano$ mindset.
Your statement that board appointments “are made because they own large stock positions” is right out a Neanderthal Librano$ Manuel “How to control an interventionist economy with very little of your own skin on the line and by using other peoples money to self-deal”. The Manuel comes complete with book jacket comments by Magna, Power and Bombardier.
The good news is that modern Boards choose people (men and woman) based on talent (versus Librano$ patronage) and they try to end up with a diversity of talent on their Board. Often this means the new Board member had nothing to do with the company in the past and therefore holds zero shares, although they are encouraged to buy some shares once on the Board.
The bad news is some investors rightly complain that Directors these days don’t have enough “skin in the game” as you old fossils like to say. Anyway like a true Librano, you’ve got it backwards.
Texas,
Mrs. Brown is CFO of an Ontario Corporation and a big fan of Paul Martin.
Where do you think I get my pro Liberal leanings from.
She handles my stock portfolio and does an excellent job.
Conservative Epitaph
Confusion
Posted by: David Brown at October 24, 2006 02:30 PM
WOW, that’s awesome man. Did you come up with that yourself of did one of you classmates think that gem up for you. Makes you wonder what they’re teaching in grade 5 these days.
How about this one
Liberal Epitaph:
Lie, Steal, Pardon, Appoint to office
Kitchener Conservative,
Truly amazing and very conservative…Accuse somebody of something then turn around and do the very same thing yourself.
Have you not been reading all the posts regarding hypocrites?
David Brown:
“If you had ever worked in the auto parts industry (I did for 8 years) then you would know that your similarities are not that similar at all. Women are more than capable executives but the auto parts industry is dominated by men”
I’m sure you are sincere about this. Was the auto parts industry you were employed in a wrecking yard perhaps?
If you ever claim to have worked in the court system, please mention if you mean food court.
It is unfortunate Belinda gets so much media time. It must be aggravating to all the hardworking and talented MP’s of all political parties who are continually upstaged by the likes of her and the Garth Turner types.
David Brown commented “apples and oranges”. Should have said “two sets of rules – one for Liberals and one for the rest of us”. Mr. Brown, both Magna and the government are Canadian organizations. Who cares what they do when you are discussing the principle of women in senior positions? Belinda is a self-serving hyprocrite.
I’m wondering if one day we’re all going to wake up and find that Kate has been having a big chuckle by being David Brown…. Nahh!!!!
I noticed there’s no KateNews(tm) symbol 😉
We now know why DB has so much time on his hands. His wife is the breadwinner and makes all the decisions. He reminds me of the joke about the end of the world. St Peter asks all the men who were henpecked to stand in one line, and explain why they ignored his rules. One lone man, (probably DB) stood in the line of non henpecked husbands. St Peter starts to congratulate him, and asks why he was in that line. My wife told me to stand here, he replied.
DB,
Caught the Robert Fripp reference. I’m a big fan too.
Belinda is the Hillary of Canadian politics, nobody gets under the conservative skin more.
Amazing.
As for the BS being a hypocrite, on that issue for sure. If she didnt do anything while she was “in power” then she cant really go about casting stones can she. Not that this matters to her, definitely SHAMELESS (without shame, or in her case incapable of shame)
We wont even speak about her brother using strippers to support his Shetips business, which is now undergoing a major revamp. Yup the whole fan damily is supportive of women and getting them into positions….but not of power.
D Brown, you sound like you have an intelligent wife, why you would be fooled by the likes of BS I cant speak to. Anyway, glad she, BS, is in the Liberal party….you’ll learn. I am so looking forward to hearing how she feels Iggy treats her, or even Rae. I cant imagine either of them giving her anything important to do, but her shoes are nice (as Anne McLeallan put it).
Minister of complex files indeed.