Giuseppe Gori, a self-employed
computer consultant, was named to the leadership of Ontario's Family 
Coalition
Party at its 10th anniversary convention in Hamilton recently. In
taking the post, he replaced Don Pennell, who had led the party since its
inception.
Gori came to Canada in 1978
from Italy, following a work reassignment from his employer at that time,
IBM Corporation. He began his involvement with the FCP shortly after the
party was formed and over the years has served on its policy committees,
and as chair, executive VP and deputy leader.
The Interim had the opportunity
to interview Gori recently and ask him about the state of the party, the
pro-life and pro- family movements and his plans for the future.
The Interim: What
is the current state of the FCP?
Gori: I think we are
in great shape ... because we have a new leader and can start with some
new ideas. We had a successful convention and we have a very committed
executive ... I'm very pleased with the executive we have. I think we're
in the best shape we've been in in the last five or six years.
The Interim: In what
direction is the FCP moving?
Gori: First of all,
I want to say that we're very clear about our principles and who we are.
We are, of course, pro-life and intend to stay that way. We see that other
parties, both federal and provincial, don't want to take a stand on moral
issues ... I think that's the main reason we're different from the Reform
Party. Moral issues cannot be decided by majority vote. The other parties
don't have any principles at all regarding life issues.
We want to become a recognized
political party. The objective is to become a major party within five years
or so and elect (members) in the next (provincial) election, which should
be in two years or so. I think it is critical for the FCP leader to be
at the leaders' debate before the election ... Unfortunately, this province
and country are run more by the media than by political parties.
So the strategy we want
to follow is to be able to appeal not only to the media, but to the majority
of people by changing our image to appear more as a political party and
less as a movement of some kind.
Fringe party?
The Interim: Some
people within the pro-life, pro-family movement believe it's futile to
work with so-called fringe or secondary parties. They figure it's better
to work within mainline parties. How do you respond to people who feel
that way?
Gori: There are two
responses. First of all, we, as a pro-life movement, have worked
within major parties for many years. There are currently organizations
such as Liberals for Life. But the success we have had with that has been
very, very limited ... There is no fairness and no democracy.
Secondly ... the people believe
mostly what the media tells them. So we have an absurd situation where
the democratic process is distorted - the government, instead of doing
what the people want, does what the media wants.
But we think this tide is
going to change. We see a movement toward moral conservatism and family
and traditional values. We need to be there with solid principles.
Interim: How do you
think we can bring about a change in society towards a respect for life,
a better morality and respect for family, apart from politics?
Gori: There are a
number of things in my mind. Stop watching TV, stop believing what the
media tells you and start finding information for yourself. I never became
a pro-lifer until I got the information first-hand and looked into the
issue. Prayer groups, associations and movements of one kind or another,
political action - the bottom line is that you have to reach one person
at a time.
The Interim: Any last
comments?
Gori: The only other
thing I would add is that even though people agree with us, they sometimes
vote at election time for a candidate from another party. The reason is
that that candidate seems to have an economic solution, which is more important
in the voter's mind.
We don't want to be perceived
as a party that is "traditional," in the bad sense of the word. We want
to see a limited role for government, so that people can do for themselves
what they are able to do for themselves.
