OTTAWA -- Belinda Stronach, the millionaire head of auto-parts giant Magna International, has decided to seek the leadership of the new Conservative Party of Canada, supporters said yesterday. "She's in the race," a campaign source said. "A formal announcement will be made next week. She's committed to the future of the party and she's committed to the future of the country."
The bid was confirmed by others, including former Ontario cabinet minister Janet Ecker, who is an adviser to Stronach.
Stronach, 37, provides an injection of life to a leadership race that has been denoted by high-profile candidates opting out rather than in.
Two potential candidates, Tory leader Peter MacKay and Calgary lawyer Jim Prentice, announced this week that they won't be making a run.
Only Stephen Harper, the former Canadian Alliance leader who helped negotiate the merger with the Progressive Conservatives, has formally launched a leadership bid for the March 19-21 vote.
Tony Clement, the former Ontario health minister, will announce today he is running, while B.C. MP Chuck Strahl is to reveal his intentions as early as tomorrow.
Confirmation of Stronach's bid comes on the heels of two days of high-profile defections that have painted the newly merged party as unwelcoming to socially moderate conservatives.
Alliance MP Keith Martin announced yesterday he's abandoning the new party to sit as an independent and run for the Liberals in the next election.
On Tuesday, Andre Bachand, the only Tory MP from Quebec, said he will retire rather than run for the new party.
Stronach, as a political newcomer who has never been elected to public office, provides a truly fresh face to the party, said Newfoundland Tory MP Loyola Hearn, who will be House leader of the merged Conservative caucus when the Commons resumes Feb. 2.
"She's going and I'm absolutely delighted," he said in an interview, moments after getting off the phone with Stronach.
"There's nothing as refreshing as seeing somebody from out of the blue, somebody with credibility, known and involved in business or politics or education (enter a leadership race)."
Hearn, who is not backing any candidate, said Stronach has already been causing a stir.
David Docherty, a political scientist at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, said: "They want to make (the merger) look less like the Alliance party is taking over and to some degree this does that."
The daughter of auto-parts magnate Frank Stronach, she has been involved behind the scenes in Ontario and federal conservative politics. She has promoted the participation of young Canadians in political life and is involved in a number of charities.
