1  2  Next

Hand around Blinda...would have been a better name"who's next'

MacKay denies calling ex-flame Stronach a 'dog'
Updated Fri. Oct. 20 2006 8:33 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay is in hot water after he allegedly referred to his former romantic interest Belinda Stronach as a dog -- a remark he has denied making.

His comment came during a heated exchange in the House of Commons over the government's new Clean Air Act.

While the government was being peppered with questions about the new Clean Air Plan, Liberal MP Mark Holland says a Liberal jokingly asked MacKay about the impact of pollution on humans and animals: "What about your dog?''

According to Holland, MacKay motioned toward Stronach's empty seat and replied: "You already have her.''

"Mr. Speaker, this is clearly shameful and the minister owes an apology to this House," said Liberal MP Mark Holland. "It is a shameful display that he absolutely must apologize for."

Liberal MP David McGuinty said the remark was loud and unmistakable.

"At least 10 members of our caucus heard it loud and clear and it would be very very difficult for the minister of foreign affairs to deny what he said,'' McGuinty said.

In Halifax on Thursday night for a speech to a Tory fund-raiser, MacKay denied saying anything derogatory about Stronach and suggested that his critics consult Hansard.

"I made no dog comment,'' MacKay told reporters, and blamed the fuss on Liberal partisan politics.

"It's what it's all about. It's a distraction away from their own inadequacies.''

Dan Dugas, a spokesperson for MacKay, argued the insult may have never happened because it wasn't transcribed.

"I've checked the official record of House proceedings and there is no such comment," he told The Canadian Press.

But such transcripts usually omit or skip any comments during heckling.

Stronach was meeting with child-poverty groups in Montreal and was not in the House at the time, Liberal officials said.

She learned about the alleged incident during her drive back to Ottawa, when she received hone calls from colleagues.

She issued a brief statement late Thursday: "I am really disappointed that Peter MacKay would say something like that.''

It wouldn't be the first time that the foreign minister compared his ex-girlfriend to a canine.

Shortly after Stronach left the Conservative party in May 2005, MacKay retreated to Nova Scotia to "clear his head" as he explained then.

The Globe showed a picture of the minister looking thoughtful as he posed on his property with a dog.

But that dog was later revealed to belong to a neighbour, not MacKay.

A recent book by National Post columnist Don Martin described MacKay's "volcanic fury" when Stronach revealed her plans to leave the Tories.

"Belinda: the Political and Private Life of Belinda Stronach" also suggests his fiery reaction was enough to make Stronach reconsider her decision.

"Maybe I was naïve in some ways," Stronach told Martin. "I still think it's possible to see someone in an opposite party.

Clearly he didn't agree. I would've liked another day to talk him through it."

Since that high-profile relationship breakdown, Stronach recently became entangled in former Maple Leaf Tie Domi's divorce proceedings.

Both Stronach and Domi were seen attending a charity event together during the Toronto International Film Festival, and Domi's wife Leanne later mentioned Stronach as a potential cause for her marital troubles.

In a Sept. 18 divorce application, Leanne Domi said her marriage was doomed because of an "intimate, sexual relationship'' between Stronach and her husband.

Stronach denied the charge, issuing a statement that "any problems between Tie and Leanne Domi are not related to me."

With files from The Canadian Press

   

Yes, because we all know from recent political history there's no way Stronach is easily influenced.

My eyes are rolling so far I am reading my brain.

   

"oh fuddle-duddle"

   

I can't belive you didn't say...Red rover Red rover let Belinda come over.....

   

CTV poll
What do you think of the latest MacKay Stronach dust-up?

Apologize. Sexist behaviour which must be addressed. 1487 votes 36 %

Ignore it. Typical of workplace romance gone bad. 2623 votes 64 %

Looks like Belinda will just have to suck it up.

   

That's how this whole thing started.

   

Pro-Tory blogs support MacKay, dismiss Stronach
Updated Fri. Oct. 20 2006 5:19 PM ET

Canadian Press

OTTAWA -- Conservatives are not only supporting Peter MacKay -- a handful of them on the Internet are going even further in comparing Belinda Stronach to a dog.

The foreign minister's alleged slur against his ex-girlfriend has been picked up on a variety of pro-Conservative websites and many offer MacKay their wholehearted support.

Some go even farther than MacKay might have Thursday in the House of Commons.

"Peter MacKay should be ashamed: dogs deserve better,'' said Dispatches from the Socialist Gulag, one site linked to by the official Blogging Tories website.

The Politic.com, another blog listed on the Tory blogs site, said: "MacKay should apologize . . . to his dog.''

Yet another website ran a spoof letter from a group of dogs headlined: "We Demand An Apology.''

"In the House yesterday, Mr. McKay apparently referred to one Liberal creature as a `dog,''' said the letter, signed by The Doggerel Party of Canada.

"This is a slander on dogs the world over, as the former minister of complex files is notoriously fickle, attracted by shiny things, disloyal, shallow and generally only useful as a table decoration. As such, she is clearly a CAT.''

The websites listed at www.bloggingtories.ca have no official ties to the Conservative government.

But in recent weeks, the sites have run the same media talking points as those issued by senior officials in government.

And they have mounted fierce public-relations campaigns against government programs that later wound up being axed or downsized, including the Court Challenges Program -- a fund that paid for legal challenges that won new rights for women, minorities, the disabled, and gays and lesbians since the 1970s.

   

Well, look at that. The media discovered the internet, at least when it suits them. Maybe they should tour the garbage over at babble & see what the loony left is doing.

   

Let me guess, what Peter McKay said is perfectly fine and acceptable in your eyes, correct?

   

It's not proper but the media's need to blow this into the story of the day is what's really sad. So far, there are no audio clips, no records, and only a handfull of people who say it happened.
"fuddle-duddle" indeeed.

   

About as acceptable as lying to your partner, dumping your team and crossing the floor to get a plum job.

She's no angel as Mrs Domi will confirm. Boo hoo, somebody said something nasty to poor little rich girl.

He was'nt sexist here, it's about Belinda, not all women. Libs again....yawn.

It's ok to call Rona Ambrose a 'potted palm' though eh? As Mr Coderre did.

Load of old bollocks.

   

I was going to bring up Olivia Chow but I just had lunch.

   

ok. once is enough. it wasn't that funny.

   

I laughed...but i think Jacko is looking for you

   

She treated him badly in front of the media, calling her a dog is an insult to "Dog owners" in Canada. Dogs are loyal and great pals, she was neither to Mckay he should of called her a Skunk.

   

1  2  Next