Jane Boon: Reflecting on my sexual experience with Frank Stronach

This episode delves into Jane Boone's personal account of her encounter with Frank Stronach, addressing themes of power, coercion, and the murkiness of consent.

1. The power dynamics in professional settings can lead to exploitation.
2. Consent can often be manipulated and murky, especially under coercive conditions.
3. Victims may rationalize or normalize inappropriate behaviors due to power imbalances.
4. Speaking out about such experiences can be therapeutic and can help others.
5. The systemic structures in corporations can facilitate abuse.

1. Background Context

In this chapter, Cheryl Sutherland discusses Frank Stronik's public persona and career trajectory, emphasizing his detachment from Magna International and recent criminal charges.

• Eric Atkins: "He was the face of Magna International, which was one of the world's biggest auto parts manufacturers."

2. Jane Boone's Experience

Jane Boone recounts her initial meeting with Stronik and the mentorship that led to her exploitation.

• Jane Boone: "It thrilled me that maybe I had been identified as somebody with great potential."

3. The Incident

Boone details the events of a night in 1986 that led to a sexual encounter she felt coerced into.

• Jane Boone: "I think I just made a big mistake."

4. Aftermath and Reflection

Boone discusses the long-term impact of the incident and her decision to finally share her story.

• Jane Boone: "What happened to them didn't just happen to them and that they should feel more comfortable coming forward."

1. Trust Your Instincts: Listen to your gut feelings about people and situations.
2. Seek Support: Don’t hesitate to reach out for help or advice when feeling coerced.
3. Document Everything: Keep records of any potentially inappropriate interactions.
4. Understand Consent: Educate yourself and others about what true consent looks like.
5. Empower Others: Share your experiences when safe, to prevent further abuses.

On June 7, the 91-year-old Canadian business magnate Frank Stronach was arrested and charged with sexual assault. On June 26, more charges were brought against him. He’s facing 13 criminal charges from 10 complainants.

News of the charges stirred memories for Vancouver – and New York-based writer Jane Boon. In 1986, when she was a 19-year-old student that had a scholarship from Magna, she had an encounter with Mr. Stronach. While she is not one of the complainants, Boon has been wrestling with the meaning of that night ever since.

Today on the show, the Globe’s transportation reporter Eric Atkins tells us about Frank Stronach and the criminal charges he’s facing. Then, Jane Boon talks about her experiences with him, and how she reflects on that night, more than three decades later.

People

Frank Stronach, Jane Boone

Companies

Magna International

Guest Name(s):

Jane Boone

Content Warnings:

Discussions of sexual assault and coercion.

Greenlight
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Cheryl Sutherland
Before we get started, please note that today's episode deals with sexual content.

Eric Atkins
Frank Stronik was very much the celebrity's CEO. He was the face of Magna International, which was one of the world's biggest auto parts manufacturers. They have 279,000 employees currently at places all around the world.

Cheryl Sutherland
As the globe's transportation reporter, Eric Atkins has been following Frank Stronick's career closely.

Eric Atkins
He's very well known all around the world. He ran for politics in Canada. He at one point founded his own political party in his native Austria. He's worth a few billion, probably to this day, although nobody tracks it anymore because his companies are private. He departed Magna more than ten years ago and sold his controlling shares. And Magna is quick to point out that he has no affiliation whatsoever with the company any longer.

Cheryl Sutherland
On June 7, at the age of 91, Frank Stronik was charged in connection with a sexual assault investigation.

Eric Atkins
He's facing 13 charges, including rape and sexual assault from ten alleged victims. The first set of charges were laid June 7 by Peel Regional police. The second set of charges were laid by Peel police on June 26, and those charges date to alleged incidents that go back to 1977 and include a complaint from this year. Through his lawyer, he denies the charges.

Cheryl Sutherland
Even though these allegations date back to 1977. Serious crimes in Canada aren't subject to the statute of limitations.

Eric Atkins
He's scheduled to appear in court today, July 8. It's likely a set date hearing where they just, he appears could be virtually to have another date set. We're a long way from a trial. A trial like this would take a couple years to get to before a judge.

Cheryl Sutherland
After these charges became public, Jane Boone thought about her own experience with Stronik in 1986.

She was a 19 year old student at the time and part of a competitive academic placement with Magna International.

Then Frank Stronick took an interest in her.

Today she's on the show to tell her story.

I'm Cheryl Sutherland, and this is the decibel from the Globe and Mail.

Jane, thanks so much for joining me today.

Jane Boone
Well, I'm so grateful for your time and your attention. This is such an important matter. And, you know, the news as it continues to come out about Frank Stronick is so staggering and upsetting to me that I felt compelled to come forward with my own experience with the man dating back to when I was 19 years old and he was the 54 year old CEO of the company that was putting me through university.

Cheryl Sutherland
When Jane Boone was offered a sponsorship from Magna International to attend General Motors Institute, she was thrilled.

Jane Boone
I really, really wanted to go to GMI. I come from a family of carfreaks.

Cheryl Sutherland
General Motors Institute, or GMI, is now called Kettering University.

It's located in Flint, Michigan, and it's where GM used to train its engineers.

The Magna sponsorship meant she spent three months working at Magna and three months at school at GMI. It covered her tuition and living expenses.

Jane Boone
We were all assigned mentors who were among the senior executives at the company.

And then we had the attention and the enthusiasm of the CEO. He would attend our end of term meetings, and he would always have a couple questions for us, and for me in particular, which I adored, because I was the only girl and I felt a little competitive with the guys. And it thrilled me that maybe I had been identified as somebody with great potential. And I caught the eye of the CEO.

Cheryl Sutherland
At the time, Frank Stronick was the CEO of Magna.

Jane first met him as part of the interview process.

Jane Boone
And then when I was in my first year, I had a reason to be at head office, and so I was in his vicinity because he had a large executive management suite, and he saw me and he knew my name, and he invited me into his office.

Cheryl Sutherland
Jane says he took an interest in her and even gave her one on one time in his office.

They talked for half an hour about her ambitions.

Jane Boone
It felt amazing.

I mean, let's face it, he was already kind of a rock star of corporate Canada. And it was known that I had had this audience with him, and the coordinator would sort of point to it, to all the students, as a sign that the CEO was really behind us and really engaged with our professional development.

And I just assumed it was because I was such a good student and I worked so hard. And so I didn't really think it had anything to do with the fact that I was a woman, because, let's face it, I'm a nerd.

I was very studious. I was a very serious kid. If somebody had said, what kind of woman catches Frank Stronick's eye? I would be like, somebody hot and fast.

That was not me.

Cheryl Sutherland
Jane says the attention she was getting from Frank was unusual.

Jane Boone
I didn't attribute to anything other than my great promise, you know? And let's face it, I was naive. So I didn't have the sensors necessary to appreciate male attention in that way. So I just, you know, given the benefit of doubt, if there was even any doubt in my head, I was like, you know, it's of course, because I'm a great student.

Cheryl Sutherland
I want to turn now to the night in question. So this is in 1986. You're 19 years old. You attend this shareholders meeting at Roy Thompson hall in downtown Toronto.

Jane Boone
Right.

Cheryl Sutherland
What happened that night?

Jane Boone
So earlier in the day, as I was entering Roy Thompson hall, my path intersected with Stronix and he was surrounded by people. And he sort of waved me over and he invited me to the after party that was going to be held at his restaurant. And I was jazzed. And then, you know, I showed up at Rooney's and hardly knew anybody.

I felt very out of place, but I felt like I'd accomplished a caper, like I was a student and I had breached the inner sanctum. I was going to see how these executives let their hair down and what they did behind closed doors. Because, you know, when you go to a school like TMI, you're, your celebrities are actually your executives. I wasn't gonna miss a detail.

I was there and I couldn't wait to report back to my friends.

Cheryl Sutherland
So you're at Rooney's. This is kind of this after party. Can you just, like, what was it like? What were you doing? What was going on?

Jane Boone
So I was hanging out at the bar feeling very awkward and self conscious. Cause, like, I didn't know anybody and I was only 19. So I had this crazy idea, like, if they have any idea how young I am, I might get kicked out. Like I'm barely legal here. I'm just gonna pretend like I know what I'm doing. I'll sip a glass of wine and look like I belong and nobody will bother me. And then there was this moment where you could see the light reflected in the hallway into the interior of the restaurant to the bar area where all these flashbulbs were going off. And then there was like a hum. And that was the arrival of Frank Stronick to the facility. It was like a celebrity had arrived at Cannes. It was like a crazy moment.

And I'm standing by the bar and he sees me and he waves me over. And then he takes my hand and he doesn't release it. He's talking to another gentleman. And it felt like an eternity. I'm sort of stuck there with my hand in his. And this guy finally took the hint and left.

And he makes a little small talk and then he invites me into dinner.

It was crazy. I was so excited, so jazzed and kind of disbelieving, like, why is this happening to me of all people? But gosh darn it, I am here for the night. So as you can imagine, the owner's table was the hot table. And, you know, people were drifting by. I was sitting adjacent to Stronik. 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.

I was just very quiet. And I was also sipping little bits of wine because I wasn't a drinker. I don't care for wine, but I needed something to do so I wouldn't feel self conscious.

Cheryl Sutherland
Jane says that the service at the restaurant was impeccable and that her glass, just like everyone else's, was always filled.

Jane Boone
And then about halfway through the evening, Stronik turned to one of his assistants, and there were a couple of women sitting at the table who worked for Stronik. And 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.

Cheryl Sutherland
So you heard that?

Jane Boone
I did. 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, Mister Strana. Jane could stay there. And then she turned to me and she's like, oh, this is great. It's a wonderful house. You'll be very comfortable. And I was like, I'm fine. And 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. And there was like, this sense, like, is this dodgy? I knew it was 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 so, you know, the alarms weren't going off. I was just confused. I mean, this is really weird.

But the signals continued to be really mixed. Like, there was this moment where he invited me to dance. We danced on the dance floor. And, you know, this is his restaurant surrounded by his people.

We had to be noticed. And later in the evening, I'm sitting at a table with Stronik after we danced, and his driver comes up and.

Stronick analysis to the driver. Jane has had too much to drink. She can't get back to Guelph. I'm going to take her to the guest house. You drive her car.

Jane, give him your keys.

Cheryl Sutherland
So what'd you do?

Jane Boone
I was an obedient little moron. I opened my bag, I pulled out my keys, I handed it to the driver. Meanwhile, I wasn't even convinced that I had had too much to drink. But this was a grown up. This was a man in a position of authority. This was the owner of the restaurant and the guy who pays my salary. Am I really going to argue with him?

So I handed over my keys, and I sort of had this dawning realization.

Oh, my gosh.

I think I just made a big mistake.

And I think it means I'm going to have to sleep with this man.

I think this is where this is going.

I was disbelieving. I mean, I was just so, so alien to my experience at that stage. I was like, what am I gonna do? I mean, this is crazy.

Cheryl Sutherland
Jane recalls a driver taking her car while Frank drove her to the guesthouse in his.

Jane Boone
And I was sitting there, just sort of going through all my options. Well, what if I say I have my period?

Hmm? Well, he might have other ideas. Okay, that's not going to work.

What if I start to cry?

Hmm? Will I elicit some sympathy? And then I. Then I had the realization, oh, I don't know how to do that. And I'm like, okay, I guess I'm just going to have to play this out. I want to be an engineer. Engineers are tough.

I can have sex with this man. I can do it.

It's. What's it going to take, 30 minutes?

I can manage that.

And meanwhile, we're in the car, and as he's driving, and, like, I'd given the driver my keys, I had no idea where my car was.

And then I had these panicky thoughts, well, what if I piss him off? Will he put me on the side of the road? How will I get my car? How will I get home? What will I tell my mom? And, dad, it was just a really awkward and unsettling experience being in that car. And so we get there, and, you know, it was up a flight of stairs, and it was like this sort of kind of a terrifying climb. And we get in the room, and he did this thing where he opened the curtains to show me the scenic vista ahead of us.

And then we began, and I was pretty freaked out, so I said absolutely nothing. And then I have to applaud his efficiency, because then it was over.

Cheryl Sutherland
So you had sex?

Jane Boone
Yes.

Cheryl Sutherland
Was it consensual?

Jane Boone
I never said no. I never said yes. It was murky.

I was sort of, okay, let's do this in my head. And so it doesn't fall into any of those neat categories that are helpful if you're speaking to the police. And I did speak to the police about this, and I told them at the time.

Cheryl Sutherland
You spoke to the police?

Jane Boone
So, no, no. I spoke to them the day after I learned of the rape allegations.

I called them up that morning, the Saturday morning, and said, you know, something pretty awful happened to me when I was 19.

I don't think I would be an easy complainant, but let me explain to you how it happened. Let me explain to you the mechanisms that enabled it to happen. And let me discuss the infrastructure that existed to enable stronik to identify women and then to get them alone, because, quite frankly, I believe I was the only one in that restaurant who didn't know that I was destined to be Frank's midnight snack that night.

And that pisses me off.

Cheryl Sutherland
We'll be right back.

Greenlight
Hey, parents. Greenlight is here to take one big thing off your to do list. Teaching your kids about money. With a greenlight debit card and money app of their own, kids and teens learn to earn, save, and invest. You can send money instantly, set flexible controls, and get real time notifications of your kids money activity. Set up chores and put allowance on autopilot to reward them for their hard work. Then learn about the world of money together. Get one month free when you sign up@greenlight.com. podcast.

Cheryl Sutherland
I wanted to ask you, because you wrote a piece for the Globe of Mail about the night, and you said that what happened, it wasn't rape, but it certainly wasn't right. What do you mean by that?

Jane Boone
Well, like I said, 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.

What is that? It's not correct, but I think we can all agree that 54 year old CEO's 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.

I was out of my depth with a guy who knew how to get me into a position where I was extremely vulnerable, where my posture, as it was happening, was baffled. Acquiescence.

You know, I was just there going along with it. And now that I've learned about all the allegations of sexual violence, I feel quite fortunate that that was my posture, because it was an evening that could have turned out far, far worse.

I feel quite fortunate that that's all that happened.

Cheryl Sutherland
So I want to talk about what happened after that night. Did you tell anybody?

Jane Boone
So, you know, I just want to put it out there. He didn't sleep over.

I spent the night rehashing the whole thing, freaked out and just trying to figure out what to do, because there was no easy path for me. I didn't trust Magnus Hrtaine. He was on the board of the university where I was attending. So it wasn't like that was an outlet that I could discuss this with.

If I had a problem, it would have been me that had to do something, and that something would have been to leave Magna.

So if I left Magna, I was leaving Gmi. I just decided to stick it out.

I made a pretty cold assessment. You know, it's not that hard to miss a CEO if he's around. So I. If I learned that he was going to be making a site visit, I would hide in the bathroom or just make myself very scarce.

And then at the end of term meetings, when he would show up, I would just sort of disappear into the background. And there was never any attempt to rekindle what had happened that one night.

It wasn't very interesting. I don't think he checked that box and he'd moved on to. And that was fine by me because the last thing I wanted was a repeat invitation.

Cheryl Sutherland
So this was in 1986. We're now in 2024.

Why did you want to share your story now?

Jane Boone
So one of the things that I've seen with women who make serious allegations against powerful men is that the anonymity may empower them, but it also means that they're viewed as less credible by people.

And I thought by coming forward, I don't have, like, 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 exploitative and coercive, might be helpful to those other women so that they know that.

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. And then what I also wanted to do was to speak to the infrastructure around Stronik. 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.

Cheryl Sutherland
What you're describing there is kind of this system put in place.

Jane Boone
Yes, yes. And 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 ten women who say they were.

Cheryl Sutherland
So, again, just to clarify, you're not a complainant and you're not involved in any of Sronick's charges?

We don't actually have any information at this point on the charges against Frank Stronick. We don't know the stories of the other people here, but I do want to ask you, what was your reaction when you did hear about the charges against him?

Jane Boone
I was staggered, but I wasn't surprised.

And the duration that it started in the eighties, and now we know in the seventies, just so devastating that so many women have had so many bad experiences in his wake. It changed my life in ways small and large. I stopped wanting to work at Magna, for instance. I chose job assignments that wouldn't give me a path to a career there.

And then I became a little skeptical of men in positions of authority over me. I mean, it just sort of changed the dynamic in my dealings with bosses.

So I made different decisions in terms of the kind of work I undertook at Magna and then afterwards. And then I started writing once I learned how to do that through my husband's example. And then more recently, I've started writing fiction. But you can even see the threads of that experience with Stranach in it, because for my first novel, and a game that people play with first novels is trying to figure out what demons the author's working out in the book.

And my protagonist is a woman who's the loyal deputy to a very rapacious and reckless executive who uses her as a human shield while he has myriad affairs and makes bad business decisions.

And there comes a time when she refuses to do that anymore, where she no longer consents to be in that role. And the final act of that novel is called consent, and it digs pretty deeply into that topic. And it's not an accident that this is something that has informed my curiosity and my thinking since then.

Cheryl Sutherland
Jane, thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing your story. I really appreciate it.

Jane Boone
You're most welcome. Thank you for your time today.

Cheryl Sutherland
That's it for today. I'm Cheryl Sutherland. Our producers are Madeline White, Rachel Levi McLaughlin and Michal Stein. David Crosby edits the show, Adrienne Chung is our senior producer, and Matt Fraynor is our managing editor. Thanks so much for listening.

Greenlight
Hey, parents. Greenlight is here to take one big thing off your to do list, teaching your kids about money. With a greenlight debit card and money app of their own, kids and teens learn to earn, save, and invest. You can send money instantly, set flexible controls, and get real time notifications of your kids money activity. Set up chores and put allowance on autopilot to reward them for their hard work. Then learn about the world of money together. Get one month free when you sign up@greenlight.com. podcast.