Boss urges Magna workers to back Stronach

By BRIAN LAGHI and GREG KEENAN
From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Workers at massive Magna International are being urged by one of their
highest-ranking executives to support former chief executive officer
Belinda Stronach for the Conservative leadership, sparking accusations of
strong-arm tactics by her opponents.

The revelation comes as party members put on a final sprint to recruit
members in time for the March 20 vote. Individuals have until midnight
tomorrow to buy memberships. In a letter to company presidents, general
managers and corporate officials, Magna International executive
vice-chairman Manfred Gingl asks that they remind employees of the race and
distribute membership forms to those who want them.

"Please find attached a membership form for distribution to interested
employees," Mr. Gingl writes in the Feb. 24 memo. "I would
appreciate your co-operation in ensuring that an appropriate reminder is
communicated to all employees in your division in the few, final days left,
so that they can help make a difference in the future direction of our
country."

Mr. Gingl is one of two executive vice-chairmen of Magna, which has about
20,000 employees in Canada and is a global auto-parts powerhouse with sales
last year of $15.3-billion (U.S.). He is a friend of Frank Stronach, Ms.
Stronach's father, the company founder. Before leaving to seek the
leadership, Ms. Stronach acted as chief executive officer.

"Belinda needs our help," wrote Mr. Gingl. "... This is a
rare opportunity for all of us to stand up and be counted." An
official with the leadership campaign of Tony Clement said the letter is
inappropriate and employees might see it as a pressure tactic. "In
politics, certain interest groups are often leveraged upon to vote for one
candidate or another, but I think this goes beyond that," said Asad
Walli. "I think what this shows is an ignorance of the political
process that you can use corporate influence to make something like this
happen." Mr. Walli said shareholders would also be upset.

But a spokesman for Magna said the memo was a simple response by a manager
to employees who wanted to know how to support Ms. Stronach. Jim Warren,
the company's director of communications, said Ms. Stronach's campaign was
unaware of the memo. "A vote for the leader of the Conservative Party
is a secret ballot. If someone buys a membership, they're free to vote for
any one of the three candidates."

John Reynolds, campaign co-chair for Stephen Harper, said using company
resources to recruit support is questionable. "I don't imagine the
shareholders of any public company would be really thrilled about their
employees using their time to be working on a campaign," Mr. Reynolds
said.

Magna has a unique corporate culture, reflecting the entrepreneurial views
of Mr. Stronach, who ran as a Liberal in the free-trade election of 1988
and who stood at his daughter's side in January as she announced her bid
for the leadership. The company has a charter of rights that provides for
profit-sharing and stock ownership by all employees.

Also yesterday, a memo issued by Stronach campaign director John Laschinger
warned that Mr. Harper may well get a surprise in his riding of Calgary
Southwest when votes are counted. "This is not for public consumption,
but you might be interested to know that by this afternoon, we will have
added 500 new members in his riding," he wrote in the memo, a copy of
which was obtained by The Globe and Mail. Mr. Laschinger also notes that
next week begins the formal start of a so-called "Persuasion
Phase" of the Stronach campaign.


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