Winnipeg Free Press
Wednesday May 18 2005
By Mia Rabson
THREE days before Belinda Stronach defected from the Conservative Party of Canada, she phoned local Conservative candidate Hugh McFadyen to welcome him into the fold.
Although she was rumoured to already be in talks with the Liberals by then, Stronach left no impression of her plans with McFadyen, who had been nominated Friday to run for the party in Winnipeg South.
McFadyen, who helped run Stronach's leadership campaign in Manitoba in 2004, was shocked but biting in his criticism yesterday of Stronach.
"It is a pretty serious negative reflection on her integrity," he said.
Although he downplayed criticism of her inexperience during the leadership race in 2004 and said she brought a freshness to the party, he said yesterday she really wasn't that bright, and he regretted ever having supported her.
"As time went along there were issues in terms of her abilities that were questionable and borderline," he said. "Add to that integrity problems and I guess that makes her perfectly qualified to be a Liberal cabinet minister." Although most local Tories yesterday tried to put on a brave face, it was clear from the first words out of their mouths, Stronach's departure was a major blow.
One by one, each Tory interviewed said virtually the same thing: "I've had better days."
Many prominent Manitoba Tories, including former premier Gary Filmon, former Manitoba finance minister Eric Stefanson, and current Tory MLA Myrna Driedger, were outspoken in their support for Stronach as leader 15 months ago. Neither Filmon nor Stefanson returned phone calls yesterday.
Portage-Lisgar MP Brian Pallister had nothing good to say about his former caucus colleague. "There are no grand principles here, this is about Belinda, this isn't about Canada," he said.
Driedger said she was waiting for more information on why Stronach did what she did, but was still struggling for words even hours after the news had gone public.
"It is surprising that she would join a party, run for leadership of that party, have the interests and the values of that party, and then all of a sudden move over," Driedger said. "That certainly is disconcerting." Like McFadyen, most local Tories suggested Stronach's move was not a reflection on their party, but a sign of her integrity -- or lack thereof -- and of Liberal desperation.
"I think people in Ontario, and all over Canada, will see this as a desperate, unprincipled act," said Michael Richards, Tory strategist and now candidate for the party in Winnipeg South Centre.
Conservative party president Don Plett, from Landmark, Man., said the Stronach scenario doesn't change at all his party's plans to try and bring down the government, or how it campaigns in Manitoba and elsewhere.
"People in Manitoba, and across the country, are going to find this quite offensive that the Liberals have bought another person," he said.
Manitoba Tory Leader Stuart Murray, who has spoken highly of Stronach in the past, and whose political values closely mirror those of the former auto parts tycoon, said Stronach has lost all credibility.
"Do you believe what Ms. Stronach said a week ago against (Prime Minister) Paul Martin or do you believe what she said today?" he said.
Premier Gary Doer said he fears the Stronach story will further sully a profession already tainted in the public's eye.
"We've gone from Desperate Housewives to desperate MPs," Doer said. "I think it increases the public cynicism a bit, which is a problem right now."
-- with files from Paul Samyn