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"Remember at the end of the day you have to be driven by principle and you've got to be driven by passion and your belief in what this country can be."
The Honourable Belinda Stronach, M.P.
Belinda Stronach is a community, business and public leader who cares deeply
about Canada and the broader issues of quality of life both at home and abroad.
She sees the challenges of the future as needs of the immediate - how to keep
Canada prosperous in a competitive global economy that is changing rapidly, how
to safeguard our quality of life and the social support systems that make Canada
unique, how to provide young Canadians the means to meet their potential through
education, learning and skills training, and how to make the world a more secure
place by dealing with crushing poverty and lack of opportunity.
Long recognized as an emerging young leader with vision, the National Post
newspaper had already identified Belinda in 2001 as the most powerful
businesswoman in Canada. In the same year, the World Economic Forum named her a
"Global Leader of Tomorrow." In 2002, she was ranked ..2 by Fortune Magazine in
its list of the world's most powerful women in business, and named one of
Canada's "Top 40 under 40," an annual awards competition that honours the
country's top business innovators less than 40 years of age.
In 2004, TIME Magazine ranked Belinda as one of the world's 100 most influential
people and in 2005 the World Economic Forum named her a member of its network of
global young leaders. Also in 2005, the sustained recognition continued: the
Women's Executive acclaimed Belinda a "trailblazer" and one of Canada's top 100
most powerful women.
Moving from business success and community involvement, Belinda entered public
life to represent the community where she has lived most of her life. First
elected to the House of Commons in the 2004 general election and then re-elected
in the 2006 general election, she is Member of Parliament for Newmarket-Aurora
(Ontario).
On May 17, 2005 Belinda joined the Liberal Government to better safeguard the
principles and values for which she was elected. At the invitation of the Prime
Minister, she joined the Cabinet and assumed responsibility for three separate
and senior portfolios as Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development,
Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal and Minister responsible for Service
Canada.
In addition, Belinda served on four key Cabinet Committees: the preeminent
Operations Committee, Domestic Affairs Committee, Canada-U.S. Relations
Committee, and Aboriginal Affairs Committee. She also served on four
parliamentary Liberal Party caucus committees: Ontario Caucus, Greater Toronto
Caucus, Women's Caucus, and the Social Policy Caucus.
Belinda is the former President and CEO of Magna International Inc., one of the
largest global suppliers of automotive systems and components in the world with
82,000 employees in 22 countries. Under her corporate leadership, Magna
International had record sales and profits in each year and its stock price
nearly doubled in value. While at Magna, she experienced first hand the tough
lessons of the global competitive challenge to Canada, and served on the Ontario
Task Force on Productivity, Competitiveness and Economic Progress.
Belinda is an Honourary Member of the Board of Directors of Southlake Regional
Health Centre in Newmarket, Ontario, and the past Honourary Chair of Southlake's
Nurture the Future Fundraising Campaign.
In 2005, she received the "In Celebration of Women: Achievements and
Initiatives" award for assisting youth in her community.
In support of work to encourage more women to enter public life, Belinda is an
Honorary Director of the Judy LaMarsh Fund of the Liberal Party of Canada. The
fund is named for an earlier trailblazer.