GEORGIE BINKS:
Ambition isn't a dirty word, Belinda
CBC News Viewpoint | May 18, 2005 | More from Georgie Binks
Georgie Binks is a freelance writer living in Toronto. She is a graduate of Queen's University and writes for the Toronto Star, National Post, and Chatelaine. She has written for the Globe and Mail, Homemakers, Elle, Glow and Style at Home, as well as salon.com. Georgie is a former CBC radio and television reporter and editor.
When Belinda Stronach hit the political scene in January of 2004, I winced. Although she had a high profile in the business world as CEO of auto parts giant Magna International Inc., she had little political experience other than her involvement in helping to unite the Reform and Progressive Conservative parties in 2003. Was it reasonable for her to be going after the top job when she hadn't paid her dues?
She certainly wasn't the first person to aspire to the top job without seeking election first. Look at Brian Mulroney, who went after the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives in 1976 without having tested his success with the electorate. In fact, he waited to be chosen leader in 1983 before going after a seat in the House of Commons.
Slowly, though, Stronach found her political feet, winning a seat in the House of Commons in the last election and then discovering, I imagine, that the Conservative party of today is certainly not the Progressive Conservative party of yesteryear.
The reasonable "Red Tories" of years gone by have been eclipsed by the righter-than-right-wing Reformers who now dominate the party. Maybe she hoped she could talk some sense of social conscience into them, and discovered that was impossible.
You can sympathize with her for waking up one day and feeling she was in the wrong party. With the Conservative party's aversion to anything that would benefit women – day care and reproductive freedom, for instance – and their continued attacks on homosexuals, how many women feel at home there?
It's not like women are storming the Conservative party to run for it anyway. In the last election, the Conservatives distinguished themselves as the party with the lowest percentage of female members at 12 per cent. The NDP, Bloc Québécois and Liberals all more than doubled that number.
The Conservatives seem to be taking it the way you would expect them to. Leader Stephen Harper paternalistically spoke about discussing the issue with his wife – the two grownups having a tete-a-tete about that troublesome "ambitious" girl.
It is laughable that Harper accuses Stronach of ambition when most politicians are ambitious. Being ambitious is what gets you ahead, male or female. It's no secret she's ambitious. She did, after all, pit herself against Harper for the job of leader. And when she was running Magna she guided the company to record sales and profits in her two years on the job. Yep, she's ambitious, but I guess that doesn't sit well with Harper and the missus.
Harper also managed to take shots at Stronach on a personal level saying, "If she has such a high opinion of [Conservative deputy leader] Peter MacKay, I would venture today after my discussion with him – she has an awfully tough way of conveying that ... Peter has taken this pretty hard, as you can imagine."
The intention of the remark was to take a jab at Stronach's recent romance with MacKay; it had no place when discussing a professional decision but is par for the course when a woman's choices are discussed in public.
As well, when Stronach talked about how big and complex Canada is, Harper laughed that he didn't think she knew much about "complexities" – the implication, of course, that she's a dumb blonde.
Others Conservatives managed to quickly show their true colours as well, and may be regretting today that microphones were anywhere near them when they heard the news. Ontario Conservative legislature member Bob Runciman told reporters, "She sort of defined herself as something of a dipstick, an attractive one, but still a dipstick."
Tony Abbott, a Conservative MLA from Alberta and an Evangelical Christian minister said, "She whored herself out for power." Maurice Vellacott, a Tory MP from Saskatoon said, "Some people prostitute themselves for different costs and different prizes. She sold out for a cabinet position." Yes, and those were the guys on her side.
When politicians fight there is nothing dirtier – it's like a feeding frenzy of vampires. Does anyone remember the attacks on John Diefenbaker when he was ousted as leader? I would rather watch a bunch of hockey players in the NHL beat each other up than listen to politicians. They throw the word "whore" around so much when referring to their enemies, I expect prostitutes are going to sue politicians pretty soon for implying they have anything in common.
Stronach on the other hand took the high road. Although she said in a very general way that she did not feel Harper was "truly sensitive to the needs of each part of the country" she refused to dirty herself with mudslinging. I watched several interviews with her where journalists tried to lead her down that path and she refused to go.
While I don't feel comfortable in terms of principles with either party Stronach has allied herself with, I think she is a pretty brave woman and I think she has cut herself a great deal. She has done what most men would do: put her ambitions first instead of her heart, and gone for the gold. Was she supposed to stay in the Conservative party because she was dating Peter MacKay?
Maybe MacKay will cross the floor – who knows? Or maybe they will continue to see each other and agree to disagree on how to run the country. Or maybe it's just really none of our business and not really worth anyone's scrutiny. (MacKay was the only Conservative who showed any class saying, "I have a lot of affection for her family, her kids in particular, and so she did what she felt she had to do, and I wish her happiness.")
Stronach has a huge job ahead of her as minister of human resources. The biggest part of it will be to oversee the implementation of the Gomery inquiry's recommendations. No one in this country could possibly want that job, could they?
Or maybe it's just the perfect challenge for an ambitious woman.
LETTERS:
I thought your column regarding Belinda was excellent, well-written and said exactly what I have been feeling for quite some time with respect to politics and more specifically, to women in politics.
I am reminded of the 1993 Election when Kim Campbell was Prime Minister. I lost count of how many times someone commented on what she was wearing, including the use of words like "frumpy", "unflattering" and sentences such as "she wore that suit last week" seemed to appear all the time and yet no one bothered to comment on whether or not Chretien had worn the same suit day in and day out (changing one's tie does not mean it's a new suit).
It is sad to see that after 12 years, the same insults are flying whenever a woman does something that a man does every day. In fact, Scott Brison got less flack when he did the same thing last spring but perhaps that is because he's a man (albeit a gay man) and not a woman.
It is unfortunate that verbal assaults on women are somehow OK after all the gains they have made.
Don Kearne | Toronto
Sincerest thanks, Georgie for pointing out that Belinda Stronach is the
victim of sexism in the hallowed halls of the Parliament Buildings. It is
little wonder that she jumped ship from a caucus who obviously consider
women to be a lower form of political life.
The remarks from the
"gentlemen" who used to be her colleagues are vicious. I couldn't believe
what was said, and not only what was said, but the complete non-reaction of
the male reporters in the scrums. When Ms. Stronach was being called an
"attractive dipstick", nobody even blinked at the comment. While at home, I
was busy scraping my jaw off the floor.
I'm sick and tired of women being appraised based on their appearance. It
seems that if you're youthful-looking, blonde, attractive and a female, any
accomplishment that you will ever make in your life will be because of your
looks.
Nobody points out that Ms. Stronach turned Magna around financially.
All we ever hear is how "daddy" handed it to her. Nobody cares that Forbes
magazine has dubbed her the second most powerful business-woman outside of
the U.S., but everybody cares that she's been married twice and was
romantically involved with Peter Mackay.
I was considering a run at politics myself, but given the treatment of Ms.
Stronach, I'm having a second thought. You see, the problem is, although
I'm intelligent, hardworking and an excellent communicator, I'm also blonde.
I've been told that I'm pretty, and (gasp) I have a nice figure. Combine
that with the fact that I'm reasonably youthful, and I might as well paint a
bull-eye on my forehead for the abuse that will be hurled in my direction.
Belinda, we know that you're an accomplished businesswoman, that you're
intelligent, compassionate, and chock-full of ethics and integrity.
Otherwise you wouldn't have done what you did. Congratulations! You may
well have single-handedly saved Canada from the vultures of the
Conservative/Bloc coalition. Not too bad for a "dipstick"!
I'd also like to pass on my hearty single-finger salute to Stephen Harper
and his nasty bunch of sexist good-ole-boys. You will all be eating
Belinda's dust before long. Her star is rising while yours is being
self-consumed like a black hole.
Deborah Burton
I too winced when Belinda Stronach hit the political scene. You are correct, she had no political experience other than her involvement in helping to unite Canada's right of centre parties.
I'd agree with you that the Conservative Party of today is not the Progressive Conservative party of yesteryear.
However, it is unfair of you to suggest that today's Conservatives do not have a social conscience. Means and outcomes aside, you cannot suggest these people do not care about their fellow citizens. To do so is intellectually dishonest.
I can sympathize with her for waking up one day and feeling she was in the wrong party FOR HER. I cannot sympathize for her grievously erroneous decision to join said party in the first place and then attempt to take control of it. She obviously did not understand herself back then, and she has caused harm to many others as a consequence.
May I suggest to you that a truly brave thing would have been for her to sit as an independent.
"She has done what most men would do: put her ambitions first instead of her heart, and gone for the gold."
Reid Fulton | Mississauga, Ontario
Well done, Ms. Binks. Tony Abbot and Maurice Vellacott in particular should be ashamed. They have shown without a doubt that they cannot be taken seriously except as enemies of social progress. I wonder if words like "whored" and "prostitute" would so quickly spring to their lips if they were to pontificate on a male floor-crosser.
I'd call these "gentlemen" dinosaurs, but there are fates worse than extinction. Showing oneself to be viciously prejudiced is one of them. The Conservatives just lost a potential vote.
Uday Arthur Chavan | Lac La Biche, Alberta
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