1. Belinda Caroline Stronach was born on 2 May, 1966 and is a Canadian businesswoman, philanthropist, and former Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2008.
55 Facts About Belinda Stronach
1. 2.
From May 17,2005, to February 6,2006, Stronach was the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal in the government of Paul Martin.
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Belinda Stronach co-founded Acasta Enterprises and served as its director until 2017, when she resigned from the board.
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Belinda Stronach was born in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, to Austrian parents Elfriede Sallmutter and Frank Belinda Stronach, the Magna International founder and chairman.
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Belinda Stronach graduated from Newmarket High School and in 1985 attended York University in Toronto, where she studied business and economics for a year before dropping out to work at Magna.
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Belinda Stronach received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Brock University in St Catharines, Ontario in June 2009 for her charity work with Rick Mercer on Spread the Net.
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Belinda Stronach was hired by her father in 1985 to work at Magna International.
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Belinda Stronach was a member of the board of directors from 1988 until 2004.
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Belinda Stronach was a founding member of the Canadian Automotive Partnership Council and served on the Ontario Task Force on Productivity, Competitiveness, and Economic Progress.
10.
In December 2010, Belinda Stronach resigned her position as executive vice-chairman and her position as board member at Magna International Inc in what the Toronto Star called "a surprise move that reflects a shift in boardroom power", after the Belinda Stronach family gave up control earlier in 2010.
11.
The Belinda Stronach Group is a horse racing, entertainment and pari-mutuel wagering technology company.
12.
The Belinda Stronach Group uses pari-mutuel technology through its subsidiaries AmTote and Xpressbet and is a distributor of horse racing content to audiences through Monarch Content Management.
13.
In May 2012, Anthony Melman and Belinda Stronach announced a partnership and established Acasta Capital Inc Belinda Stronach stepped away from Acasta in July 2017.
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In February 2016, together with business partners Holly Fennell, and Canadian marketing executive Beverley Hammond, Belinda Stronach launched Age Quencher Solutions, a line of all-natural beauty products.
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Belinda Stronach divested of her shares in Age Quencher Solutions in late 2017.
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Belinda Stronach filed a CAN$33 million counter-suit in January 2019, denying the alleged mismanagement and claiming she was protecting the family's funds from her father's investments in "idiosyncratic and often unprofitable projects".
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In 2010, The Belinda Stronach Foundation brought the One Laptop Per Child Program to Canada.
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That same year, The Belinda Stronach Foundation developed and hosted the G20 Summit.
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Alongside Newmarket Mayor Tony Van Bynen, Stronach established Belinda's Place in 2015.
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On November 20,2014, Belinda Stronach co-chaired Covenant House Toronto's Executive Sleep Out 2014 Edition with Tim Lieweke.
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Belinda Stronach has two children from her first marriage, Frank and Nicole Walker.
22.
Belinda Stronach travelled to the California for a mastectomy and reconstruction surgery in June 2007 because the type of surgery was unavailable at the time in Canada.
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Belinda Stronach was among many who had called for PC leader Peter MacKay and Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper to undertake the merger talks in the first place.
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In 2004, Belinda Stronach contested the leadership of the newly formed Conservative Party.
25.
Some media reaction to Belinda Stronach's candidacy was criticized.
26.
Belinda Stronach argued that she ought only to participate in party-sponsored debates, rather than picking and choosing among those organized by outside sponsors.
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Belinda Stronach announced that she would not follow a prepared script during her speech, but then undercut this when she was seen referring to cue cards.
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Belinda Stronach was appointed the International Trade critic in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet.
29.
Belinda Stronach was generally to the left of her Conservative caucus colleagues, supporting abortion rights, gun control and same-sex marriage.
30.
Belinda Stronach spoke and voted in favour of same-sex marriage when the issue came before the House of Commons in 2005; a position she re-affirmed as a Liberal in 2006.
31.
Social conservative elements in Canada were critical of Belinda Stronach, calling her a "Red Tory".
32.
Belinda Stronach is elected as leader of the Conservative Party, social conservatives will no longer have a voice in Canada.
33.
Belinda Stronach cited discomfort with Stephen Harper and the Conservatives' policies as one of her reasons for crossing the floor.
34.
Belinda Stronach supported trade with the United States but said she would like to re-examine and review parts of the North American Free Trade Agreement to ensure, in her view, that Canadians can stand on a more equal footing with US competitors.
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Belinda Stronach was elected chair of the Liberal Women's Caucus and spearheaded the development of The Pink Book, a policy framework that advocated a series of proposals to deal with the most pressing social and economic issues facing Canadian women.
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In May 2005, Belinda Stronach suggested publicly that forcing an early election, especially before passing that year's federal budget, was risky and could backfire on the Tories.
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However, on May 17,2005, two days before the crucial vote, Belinda Stronach announced that she was crossing the floor and joining the Liberal Party.
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Belinda Stronach immediately joined the cabinet as Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal.
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Belinda Stronach championed the one-member, one-vote policy officially adopted by the Liberal Party of Canada in 2009 in an effort to democratize the Party's leadership election process.
40.
Belinda Stronach stated that the party was too focused on Western Canada and "Western alienation" instead of having a broader and more inclusive focus.
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Belinda Stronach had other concerns about the Conservative attitude to Indigenous issues and that Stephen Harper was abandoning the historic Kelowna Accord negotiated by Paul Martin with First Nations' leaders and that Harper did not support an "urban agenda" that would recognize the challenges faced by Canada's Big Cities.
42.
Belinda Stronach did not refer to Harper by name in her press conference, instead using the title 'the leader of the Conservative Party.
43.
Belinda Stronach's move shifted the balance of power in Parliament and allowed Martin's Liberal minority government to survive for the time being.
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Considerable media attention was paid to Peter MacKay, MP, and the deputy leader of the Conservative Party, with whom Belinda Stronach had a relationship of several months.
45.
NDP MP Pat Martin requested an investigation of Belinda Stronach, speculating that she had been promised a senior cabinet post in return for her defection.
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However, while the Conservatives won a minority government, Belinda Stronach defeated her Conservative challenger, Lois Brown, by an eight-point margin.
47.
Some criticism of Belinda Stronach's party switching came under fire.
48.
The National Post used the front-page headline "Blonde Bombshell", and political cartoonists made reference to Belinda Stronach prostituting herself to the Liberal party.
49.
Belinda Stronach had defeated Lois Brown in the Conservative nomination election and barely won her seat in an extremely tight race against Martha Hall Findlay.
50.
Since she started her career in politics, Belinda Stronach has made several television appearances poking fun at herself.
51.
Belinda Stronach played a political reporter in the television mini-series H2O:The Last Prime Minister.
52.
Belinda Stronach said that renewal would involve giving all party members a direct vote on its direction and leadership, among other things.
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Belinda Stronach further cited her wish to spend more time with her growing children, and the creation of a personal foundation to end poverty and disease in Africa.
54.
Belinda Stronach retained her seat in Parliament until the federal election in the fall of 2008.
55.
On December 21,2010, it was reported that Belinda Stronach was leaving Magna effective December 31 of that year.