Don Pennel, 55, of Burlington, Ontario, won the leadership of the Family Coalition Party (FCP) of Ontario over Medical Doctor Ted Kryn, 41, of Waterloo, Ontario on Saturday, November 7, 1992. The vote was 69 against 26. It confirmed Pennel in the post he has held since the legal recognition of the party in 1987.
The leadership race concluded the annual FCP Convention of 1992.
Challenger Kyrn emphasized the future. Other parties are steering in a direction without a compass, he said; they have been hijacked by socialism and are now all alike.
The October 26 referendum expressed the unease of Canadians with old parties, he stated. They fabricate issues, but avoid problems; instead of leading the people, they follow the polls and the media. These in turn, promote the issues of moral decline. Governments have become sponsors of vice.
The FCP, Kyrn said, is a caring party and should concentrate on battling the Liberal Party which presents itself as an alternative to Bob Rae’s NDP. In reality, it has the very same anti-life program.
Dr. Kyrn thought that he could be effective as a part-time leader, but did not explain how.
Leader Don Pennell, emphasized his past accomplishments. “I have fulfilled the 1986 mandate to organize the party,” he said. “I have incorporated the policies which the pro-life mandate requested. Now where are the pro-lifers to support us?
“We are precisely on track,” Pennell stated. “What is needed is hand-on management here in Toronto. Vote for experience. Let’s not re-invent the wheel.” The convention agreed.
Full-time position
To this participant it seemed quite clear that the issue which played the decisive role in the race was the ability of any candidate for leader to run the organization. Pennell has been a part-time leader since 1986 but, as a salesman for a Toronto company, he has been able to deal with FCP office and policy matters on a regular basis and this with outstanding devotion and personal sacrifice.
The question of a full-time leader was broached at the convention, but aside from requests for funds from the riding associations to start a fund for this purpose, it was not explored. Neither was the question of o full-time organizer instead of a full-time leader discussed, nor the ability of an out-of-Toronto leader to conduct the part’s affairs by means of fax, modem, telephone conferences etc.
The lack of discussion of this and other aspects of a party leader’s role weighed the balance in favour of the incumbent.
Other topics
In addition to the leadership race (which doubled the number in attendance from the previous day) the convention presented excellent panels on education and agriculture. The education discussion included the situation at the Toronto Board of Education where homosexual promotion and recruiting has been given the green light.
The gathering also listened to a detailed presentation on the booming pornography industry (30 magazines in Canada in 1963; over 500today; one serial killer per year in the U.S. in the early sixties; one per month today).
Outgoing Party President Louis Di Rocco presented a brief overview of the NDP’s employment equity and pay equity approach. A “politically correct “ enforcement agency will be set up to compel businesses and companies to comply with reverse discrimination. The agency itself will be exempt from the Human Rights Code. Companies will be forced to survey their employees based on their racial, sexual, ethnic backgrounds and report them to the NDP government.
Di Rocco was succeeded as President by Gary DeBoer of Wyoming, Ontario.
Participants went home with new determination to build upon the work done and get ready for the provincial election some two years ahead.
