Good morning. Jane Boon reflects on her encounter, at age 19, with auto magnate Frank Stronach, who has been charged with 13 sex crimes – more on that below, along with Boeing’s plea deal and blistering bi-coastal heat. But first:
Today’s headlines
- Canadian soccer fans are ready for a David-vs-Goliath Copa semi-final against Argentina and Lionel Messi
- The Biden administration is pressing Canada to pay its fair share in NATO military spending as the alliance’s summit begins in Washington
- A hangar near a NORAD base in Inuvik catches the eyes of China and Russia, raising national security concerns
- Ticketmaster warns a data breach has compromised some customers’ credit card numbers and personal information
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Frank Stronach in 2013.Matthias Schrader/The Canadian Press
In her words
‘The issues of consent were murky’
The sexual assault trial of billionaire businessman Frank Stronach has been adjourned until Oct. 7, after a brief proceeding at a Brampton, Ont., courtoom yesterday morning. Stronach, the founder of auto parts manufacturer Magna International, did not appear in person or on video, and the judge imposed a publication ban on the names of the 10 complainants. In June, Stronach was arrested and charged with 13 sex crimes, including rape, sexual assault and forcible confinement, in allegations that stretch from 1977 to 2024.
Recently, novelist Jane Boon wrote in The Globe about an encounter she had with Stronach nearly four decades ago, when she was a 19-year-old student on a prestigious Magna scholarship. Stronach, then 54, had taken an interest in Boon, first at her school’s end-of-term meetings, where she was singled out for encouragement, then on a visit to the company’s headquarters, where they spoke for half an hour in his office, and, finally, at a shareholder meeting in 1986.
Stronach invited Boon to the afterparty held at his Toronto restaurant, Rooney’s. At the end of the night, she says, Stronach told his driver she’d had too much to drink and to fetch Boon’s hatchback – Stronach would take her back to his guest house in Markham himself. They had sex, and while she is not one of the complainants, Boon has wrestled with the meaning of that evening ever since. This week, she spoke with The Decibel about their encounter; here is some of what she said on the podcast.
On being seated with Stronach at the afterparty:
“I was so excited, so jazzed, and kind of disbelieving – why is this happening to me, of all people? But gosh darn it, I am here for the night. The owner’s table was the hot table. And you know, people were drifting by. I was sitting adjacent to Stronach. Bill Davis, who had been the Premier of Ontario but was then a board member at Magna, sat with us for a while. I mean, it was pretty heady stuff for a 19 year old. And so I hardly said a word. I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. I didn’t want to embarrass my host.”
On Stronach’s repeated invitations to his guest house:
“Halfway through the evening, Stronach turned to one of his assistants. There were a couple of women sitting at the table who worked for Stronach. By this time, he understood that I was working at one of their divisions in Guelph, so I was about an hour away from home. And he asked her if the guest house was available that night because he didn’t want me driving back to Guelph. It was right in front of me, it was right in front of her, it was right in front of the table. I mean, anybody who was listening would have heard this. And she goes, ‘Oh, it’s available, Mr. Stronach. Jane could stay there.’ And then she turned to me, and she’s like, ‘Oh, this is great. It’s a wonderful house, it’d be very comfortable.’ And I was like, I’m fine. I didn’t want to be the kind of girl that needed that kind of help. I mean, I was very self-sufficient. And so I declined. The offer was made again. And I declined again. There was the sense of, like, is this dodgy? I knew it was, like, kind of weird. But he had said this to his assistant, a woman who presumably would know if it was dodgy. And she was telling me it was safe.”
Jane Boon in 1985, when she was selected for a scholarship by Frank Stronach.Supplied
On having sex with Stronach:
“The issues of consent were murky. I never said no, I never said yes, I was just: Let’s get this over with. But it was all in my head. So what is that? It’s not correct. I think we can all agree that 54-year-old CEOs should not be hitting on 19-year-old students in their employ. They should not be taking them in a car, half an hour north of Toronto, to an isolated home. They should not be having sex with them. And that, I think, is inarguable. It was wrong. He should have known better. And he put me in an awful position. There was no easy way to extract myself. There was no easy way to say no.”
On coming forward now:
“One of the things that I’ve seen with women who make serious allegations against powerful men is that anonymity may empower them, but it also means that they’re viewed as less credible by people. I don’t have a legal case against him, I don’t think, but the facts of my situation are so appalling that attaching a face and a name to a story of abuse of power – and let’s face it, it was exploitive and coercive – might be helpful to those other women, so that they know that what happened to them didn’t just happen to them, and that they should feel more comfortable coming forward, if that’s what they want to do.”
On her sense of the system that surrounds Stronach:
“He couldn’t have done this with me if he didn’t have access to that guest house, if he didn’t have a room full of colleagues willing to look the other way while he sat with a 19 year old, if he didn’t have a driver who could take my car. … He was adept at creating systems to manufacture parts. But that effectiveness at creating systems to make parts also was used to, in my opinion, identify women, and then to get them alone. And it’s a travesty that it was allowed to go on for as long as it was, and that the consequences to these other ladies were so dire. I mean, I wasn’t a victim of sexual violence, thank goodness. But there are 10 women who say they were.”
The Shot
‘I couldn’t breathe, I was trying to cover my baby.’
The Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv, after a Russian missile attack.Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
At least 36 people were killed in a Russian missile barrage that hit Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital. The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting today to discuss the strikes. Read more here.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: The heat wave that’s been scorching both sides of Canada continues today, with parts of B.C. hitting the low 40s and humidex readings in Nova Scotia climbing into the high 30s.
Abroad: Boeing has accepted a plea deal – and will pay nearly US$250-million – in order to avoid a criminal trial over its 737 Max crashes in Indonesia and in Ethiopia.
Making waves: Vancouver’s massive ocean-side pool was set to close indefinitely – until an even bigger public outcry helped save it (so grab your towels for Aug. 7).
Staying put: In an interview yesterday, Joe Biden said he had no intention of stepping aside but did have an idea for anyone who thinks he should: “Run against me. Announce for president. Challenge me at the convention.”