http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=TopStories
I have it on good (sitting on the floor of the House) authority that he really said it. And just an FYI, the OFFICIAL record doesn't come out until tomorrow morning. The Blues are unofficial. I will check back tomorrow.
MacKay asked to apologize for insult to Stronach
Updated Thu. Oct. 19 2006 11:16 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay is in hot water after he allegedly referred to Belinda Stronach -- his former romantic interest -- as a dog.
His comment came during a heated exchange in the House of Commons over the government's new Clean Air Act.
After Liberal MP David McGuinty asked how the new clean-air rules would affect MacKay's dog, he pointed to Stronach's empty chair and responded: "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."
According to the Globe and Mail's Jane Taber, speaking on CTV's Mike Duffy Live, Stronach said she was "really disappointed that Peter MacKay would say something like that."
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.
McGuinty's initial dog reference concerned a photograph of MacKay taken shortly after Stronach left the Conservative party in May 2005.
MacKay retreated to Nova Scotia to "clear his head," as he explained then, and 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."
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