Reply #23: and you still fondly believe ...

[iverglas]

her philosophical beliefs were definitely more center than the faux Con party

... that "philosophical beliefs" have something to do with the political positions and activities of the corporate élite.

Me, I believe that an election at this time was not in Belinda's intersts. And that a Liberal government is very much in Belinda's interests.

Belinda lives (very, very well) off the avails of daddy's corporations, daddy having spent decades doing things like fighting unionization and railing against (and evading) taxes, and the corporations now making fresh millions from the opportunities presented by business-friendly politicians outside Canada.

Frank moved himself to Switzerland to avoid taxes, and production to places that are nice to him ... can't find a damned link now, but the manner in which he extracted his auto plant in Austria from unionization is apparently regarded as less than legal.

Oh my goodness. Things one had forgotten (the Liberal connection, not the neo-Nazi connection; I don't forget that):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Stronach

He sought the York Simcoe seat in the Canadian House of Commons in 1988 as candidate for the Liberal Party, but was not elected. He is the father of Belinda Stronach, the Conservative MP for Newmarket-Aurora.

Magna International has also been noted also for its connections to the Ontario PC Party and the Ontario Liberal Party, ...

Also a major figure in Austria, Frank Stronach has been noted for his support for several members of Jörg Haider's Austrian Freedom Party.

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/todaysnewsarchive/ttodaysnewsviewarchive.asp?ArchiveDate=02/04/2000
(heh; quickest reference)

Magna official part of new Austrian cabinet

Karl-Heinz Grasser, the Austrian spokesman for Magna International Inc., the auto-parts conglomerate founded by racing mogul Frank Stronach, was sworn in as Austria’s finance minister Friday as a controversial coalition government took the reins in Vienna.

The 31-year-old Grasser, Austria’s youngest finance minister in modern history, is a member of the right wing Freedom Party, which has five members in the new cabinet.

The Freedom Party’s leader, Joerg Haider, stands on an anti-immigrant platform and has stated his belief that some Nazi policies were sound. Despite the fact that Haider did not accept a cabinet position and apologized for some of his past statements, the European Union has threatened Austria with sanctions and Israel withdrew its ambassador in protest to the Freedom Party’s ascendancy.

... Stronach also has developed ties with other political figures. Former Chancellor Franz Vranitzky, a member of the Social Democratic Party, is a member of the Magna board of directors.

Belinda is indeed not Frank, but she's also not the People's Candidate.