Caroline Mulroney

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Caroline Mulroney Lapham
Other names Caroline Mulroney
Caroline Mulroney attending ROMA Conference (cropped).jpg
Born 1974
Occupation lawyer, venture capitalist, philanthropist, politician
Known for Provincial cabinet member

Caroline Mulroney Lapham is a Canadian lawyer, venture fund manager and philanthropist.[1][2][3] She is the oldest child of former Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney and his wife Mila's four children.[4] In 2011, Lapham and her three sisters-in-law, Jessica Mulroney, Vanessa Mulroney and Katy Mulroney, co-founded The Shoebox Project, a non-profit that provides toiletries to women living in shelters.[5][6]

On July 30, 2014, Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt appointed Lapham and three other individuals to the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority, a body to oversee a second bridge across the Detroit River that separates Windsor, Ontario from Detroit, Michigan.[3][7] The authority will oversee the new bridge's $4 billion construction, and the management of the bridge, once it has been completed, including setting the bridge tolls.[8] Tom Mulcair, leader of the, New Democratic Party of Canada, mocked her appointment, as an instance of the kind of corruption her father was suspected of.[9] The Business News Network noted: "The Harper government hasn’t explained yet what Mulroney Lapham’s qualifications are to serve as a director of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority."[10]

Lapham and her husband, Andrew Lapham married on September 16, 2000, and had the first of their four children on October 30, 2004.[11][12] Brian Mulroney hired Michael Bublé to sing at Caroline's wedding.[13] Performing at Caroline's wedding is credited with marking the real start to Bublé's career, as it was there that he met influential music producer David Foster.

On December 12, 2015, the Toronto Sun published a profile of Mulroney, in which Christina Blizzard speculated as to whether her father's party would choose her as their new leader, to go head to head with Justin Trudeau, the current Prime Minister, and the son of her father's old rival, Pierre Trudeau.[14] The Toronto Sun quoted an unnamed "tory insider" who was the surprise keynote speaker at a 2009 event celebrating the 25th anniversary of her father's administration, who said: “She certainly has the smarts and the glamour to offset the current prime minister in any future election.”[14] The Sun described her lack of political experience as a benefit, since she "...won’t wear any of the mistakes of the Stephen Harper government." Blizzard noted that Mulroney had not expressed any interest in the party's leadership.

Two days later Kelly McPharland commented on Blizzard's speculation, in the National Post.[15] After briefly paraphrasing Blizzard's praise of Mulroney's beauty, poise and education, but asked: "Sure, but will she play kissy-face with her husband in public, do Vogue covers and be incurably cute? THAT’S what’s important."

References

  1. Ben's big sis gets set to sass our city, National Post. Retrieved on 2015-10-29.
  2. Julie Smyth. Mila Mulroney: Designing woman, Macleans magazine, 2013-07-02. Retrieved on 2015-11-01. “The Mulroneys’ daughter, Caroline, who works part-time for a venture fund and co-founded the Shoebox Project (an organization that fills boxes of necessities and luxuries for women’s shelters), said she learned about her mom’s necklace-making by accident while looking through her jewellery box.”
  3. 3.0 3.1 Steven Chase. Transport Minister says Windsor-Detroit bridge to go ahead, Globe and Mail, 2014-07-30. Retrieved on 2015-11-01. “Ms. Mulroney Lapham, a lawyer and former financial analyst, has most recently worked as vice-president of corporate development at Wellington Financial, Mr. McQueen’s firm. She’s co-founder and executive director of Shoebox Projects for Shelters, a charitable foundation, and has considerable not-for-profit board experience.”
  4. That's a wrap, National Post, 2015-10-15. Retrieved on 2015-10-29. “The non-profit founded by Caroline Mulroney Lapham and sisters-in-law Kary, Jessica and Vanessa has exploded across the country, providing women who are living in shelters with some basic personal care items like deodorant, toothpaste and socks, but also by providing some other "luxury" items like makeup, skin care products.”
  5. The Shoebox Project, Girl about town, 2013-12-05. Retrieved on 2015-11-01. “Launched in 2011 by Caroline Mulroney Lapham and her three sisters-in-law Jessica, Vanessa and Katy Mulroney, the Shoebox Project began with an email to close friends. It took off like wildfire, and news traveled word of mouth.”
  6. Mulroney women join forces with Parliament Hill for holiday charity, CTV News, 2013-12-02. Retrieved on 2015-11-01. “By 2012, the project had spread to 10 cities with 2,700 boxes delivered, purely on the steam of volunteers and a website. Many charities collect donations of necessities and items for children, but few are dedicated solely to lifting a woman's spirits.”
  7. Claire Brownell. Canada, U.S. form new agency to push forward on Detroit-Windsor crossing, Financial Post, 2014-07-30. Retrieved on 2015-11-01. “The appointees to the Bridge Authority’s board are Michael Cautillo, Bridge Authority president and CEO; Mark McQueen, chairman of the board; William Graham, director; and Caroline Mulroney Lapham, director and daughter of former prime minister Brian Mulroney.”
  8. Dave Battagello (2014-07-30). DRIC bridge executive teams loaded with financial expertise, but nobody local. Windsor Star. “The bridge authority will oversee the construction, operation and maintenance of the bridge. That includes preparing the sites and managing the procurement process to select a private-sector partner that will carry out the work. The authority will also set and collect tolls.”
  9. HYPOCRISY ALERT: Mulroney-style patronage from Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, New Democratic Party of Canada, 2014-07-31. Retrieved on 2015-11-01. “All three are donors to the Conservative Party. Perhaps as homage to the previous king of Tory patronage, Conservatives have made Brian Mulroney’s daughter Caroline their latest patronage appointment.”
  10. Raitt unveils panel that will oversee new Detroit-Windsor bridge, Business News Network, 2014-07-30. Retrieved on 2015-11-01. “Caroline Mulroney Lapham, the daughter of former prime minister Brian Mulroney, has been appointed to the board of Crown Corporation that will oversee the construction and operation of a new, second bridge across Canada’s most vital trade link to the United States.”
  11. The In-laws, Canadians in Afghanistan, 2009-06-26. Retrieved on 2015-11-01. “On September 16, 2000, Caroline Mulroney married Andrew Lapham, the son of Harper's editor Lewis H. Lapham. Among the 400 guests were many dignitaries and business leaders, including former US President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush, Queen Noor of Jordan, Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia and his Greek-born wife Katherine, Dino Goulandris, Galen Weston and Ontario Lieutenant-Governor Hilary Weston, former talk show host Kathie Lee Gifford, and media magnate Ted Rogers. She is currently associate director of the Stern School of Business at New York University, having graduated there with a law degree.”
  12. Jane Taber. News for the Mulroneys is simply grand, Globe and Mail, 2004-10-30. Retrieved on 2015-11-01. “The much-anticipated first Mulroney grandchild came into the world early Tuesday morning. Caroline Mulroney, the eldest child and only Mulroney daughter, and her husband, Andrew Lapham, had a seven-pound, four-ounce boy, Lewis Lapham III.”
  13. Michael Posner. Michael Bublé wants to take over the world, The Globe and Mail, 2007-09-22. Retrieved on 2009-06-06. “That was in 2000. Mulroney, an enthusiastic crooner himself, loved the material and promptly hired Bublé. Among the wedding guests was an old Mulroney friend, record producer David Foster, whose résumé includes a veritable Who's Who of pop musicians. Among them: Celine Dion, Barbara Streisand, the Bee Gees, the Corrs, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton.”
  14. 14.0 14.1 Christina Blizzard. Caroline Mulroney Lapham could be Tories' heir apparent, Toronto Sun, 2015-12-12. Retrieved on 2015-12-14. “Tories I’ve spoken to say Caroline Mulroney has the street cred to do that. She has the ability to bring the party together. A number of key Tory organizers are already behind her. She also has the ability to raise money and restore the party so it can win a majority government in the next election.”
  15. Kelly McPharland. Is another Mulroney the antidote to another Trudeau? And other reasons to fear for humanity, National Post, 2015-12-14. Retrieved on 2015-12-14. “The Sun thinks the Tories should fight dauphin with dauphinette, and make Caroline Mulroney their next leader. “She’s beautiful, fluently bilingual and well-educated,” it says.”

External links

  • Shinan Govani. Shinan: Kiddie talk, 2010-10-18. Retrieved on 2015-11-02. “Toronto’s Caroline Mulroney Lapham, the only daughter of former prime minister Brian Mulroney, has dipped her feet, we see, into blog waters — signing on as co-editor of a precocious website called GoGoNews (GoGoNews.com).”
  • Weddings; Caroline Mulroney, Andrew Lapham, 2000-09-17. Retrieved on 2015-11-02. “Ms. Mulroney Lapham, a mother of four, had stopped working as a lawyer in New York in the summer of 2005, shortly before the birth of twins and the family’s move back to Toronto. Two years ago, she started visiting the site daily and chatting with her brood (who are all under the age of 6) about stories and jokes that took their collective fancy.”
  • Rick Salutin (2015). What Was I Thinking?: The Autobiography of an Idea and Other Essays. Toronto: ECW Press. ISBN 1770907343. Retrieved on 2015-11-02. “My first Globe column was a defence of Frank magazine, the scuzzy satirical journal that everyone in Ottawa reviled and read. Frank had run a "contest" for young Tories, who were invited to "deflower" Caroline Mulroney, the prime minister's 16-year-old daughter. His popularity was at low ebb and still plunging, so he'd start bringing her to Conservative Party events, especially of the young, in order to quite blatantly boost his standing.” 
  • Jennifer Ditchburn. Mulroney women join forces with Parliament Hill for holiday charity, 2013-12-02. Retrieved on 2015-11-02. “An informal Christmas donation idea thought up by the Mulroney family women two years ago has spilled over into a major grassroots charitable drive across Canada, including among Canada’s political movers and shakers.”
  • Dave Batagello. DRIC board appointees have close ties to political leaders, 2014-07-31. Retrieved on 2015-11-02. “Also on the WDBA as one of four members is Caroline Mulroney Lapham, daughter of former prime minster Brian Mulroney. Along with her Conservative government ties, she recently worked with McQueen as vice-president of corporate development at Wellington Financial. McQueen also served for her dad in the prime minister’s office as an executive assistant for a few years in the early 1990s.”
  • Hubert Bauch. Media embrace unfair to PM's daughter, 1991-09-24. Retrieved on 2015-11-02. “What happened to Caroline Mulroney when the national media latched on to her as this summer's new face in Canadian politics is a sorry example of how hurtful it can get.”
  • Jonathan Ferguson. PM's daughter belle of the ball, 1991-08-10. Retrieved on 2015-11-02. “Caroline Mulroney, 17, has emerged as the country's leading political debutante. Tall and striking like her mother, the Mulroneys' eldest frequently accompanied her father on walkabouts among the 2,500 delegates.”