While speculation swirls around the identity of the future leader of the united right, to me the most notable name mentioned is the one who has said she isn't interested - for now.
Belinda Stronach is being given credit for playing a key role in bringing the representatives of the two parties together and keeping the process on track until this "historic" agreement was signed. Her interest in the matter has been described thusly:
"I feel that it's important that we have strong parties so we can debate policies, so we can once again create policies and debate policies which are good for Canada and which make for a stronger Canada."...
With Mulroney, Stronach first drafted the outline of an emissary process that would see top negotiators from each side working out the details of an agreement, a source said.
She then got on the phone to Harper, whom she'd never met, arranging to meet him at his Stornoway residence in early June. She told him that corporate Canada wants to see a united right, and argued for the need for a stronger alternative to the Liberals.
Emphasis added. Corporate Canada? Hmm. When the right uses the term "special interests", it's usually meant in a disparaging manner and the implication is that while the left caters (panders?) to those special interests, it's the right that represents the real voice of the people. But given Stronach's role in all this, and the admission that she's acting on behalf of corporate interests, it suggests that the new leader of the Conservative Party will be charged with representing the most powerful special interest of all. There's only one thing that leaves me a bit confused. I thought that was Paul Martin's job.
