Former assistant testifies at Frank Stronach’s sexual assault trial

Defence lawyers are set to call more witnesses today in the sexual assault trial of Canadian auto parts tycoon Frank Stronach.

Frank Stronach’s waterfront condo did not have mirrors on the ceiling, the businessman’s former assistant testified Tuesday, contradicting evidence from one of the complainants in the case.

Jennifer Jackson told the court she worked with Stronach at Magna International from 1977 to late 1981 or early 1982 and was “around him a lot” during that time.

She also lived in the same waterfront building and in a similar unit as Stronach, and as part of her job, outfitted her boss’s condo and did a “walk through” as often as once a week to check that everything was in place, she testified.

The unit had a main bedroom and a small one that was “generally empty,” with no bed, said Jackson, who now sits on the board of Stronach International.

The condo was “sparsely furnished” overall because no one was living there full time, Jackson said, adding she believed it served as an investment property and accommodations for Magna International’s business visitors, as well as a place for Stronach to change clothes on long days.

While she couldn’t remember whether there were mirrors in the unit, Jackson said there “definitely” were none on the ceiling.

Stronach’s condo, in a residential building connected to a waterfront hotel with a rotating restaurant, has come up in several complainants’ accounts, though one woman described going to a midtown apartment instead.

The first of seven complainants to testify at the Toronto trial said she woke up in an unfamiliar room and saw her own face and someone’s back reflected in a mirrored ceiling. She realized it was Stronach and that she was being raped, the woman told the court last month.

Later, as they left the apartment, she saw they were at the harbourfront, the woman testified.

Last week, the seventh and final complainant testified Stronach invited her to his condo after a dinner date and, after she rebuffed his advances on the couch, led her to a small, den-like room. There, she said, he pinned her to a cot and tried to hike up her dress, eventually ripping her pantyhose and penetrating her.

None of the complainants can be identified under a standard publication ban.

Stronach, who became one of Canada’s wealthiest people as the founder of the auto parts conglomerate Magna International, has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges related to alleged incidents dating as far back as the 1970s.

Since the trial began last month, prosecutors have cut down the number of counts on which they are proceeding, and said Monday they are now seeking convictions on seven charges related to four complainants.

On Tuesday, Stronach’s former assistant told the court she sometimes saw her boss at the popular dining and nightclub complex he owned in midtown Toronto. She knew the manager and could use her connections to skip the line for the club and sit at Stronach’s usual corner table, Jackson said.

She rejected the Crown’s suggestion that she made arrangements to see Stronach there or that she saw him in a social capacity, saying instead that she sometimes spent time with him in “social environments.”

Under cross-examination, Jackson said she couldn’t remember any specific Magna visitors who stayed in Stronach’s condo and didn’t know for sure whether he ever stayed there overnight rather than going home.

She agreed a cot could be set up and put away, but told the court she didn’t remember seeing one, and pushed back at the idea that the same could be said about a mirror on the ceiling.

Jackson said she had been “very interested” in the case since the allegations against her former employer emerged, reading media coverage at the time and following the court proceedings closely, including attending the trial on some days.

One of the things she read was one complainant’s allegations regarding the mirrored ceiling, she agreed in cross-examination. 

When questioned again by the defence, Jackson said that while she hadn’t contacted police with the information regarding the ceilings, she “mentioned it to many people in the course of conversation.”

Four other witnesses testified Tuesday, including a former boyfriend of the second complainant, a woman who alleged Stronach groped her in his waterfront condo in the early 1980s.

Last month, the second complainant said she couldn’t remember if she had told anyone about the alleged incident at the time, but if she had, it would have been her boyfriend or her roommate.

Her ex, who is involved in the entertainment and hospitality industries, told the court Tuesday that she never discussed any such incident with him. Nor did he remember her having a roommate, though he agreed it was possible she did.

Court is expected to finish hearing evidence this week, with legal arguments set to take place later this month. Stronach’s legal team has indicated it will seek a stay of proceedings, alleging there was an abuse of power in how prosecutors prepared witnesses for the trial.

The defence began presenting its case Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2026.