It should have hit the headlines: over 11,000 Ontario voters so jaded with the position of all three provincial parties that they put their signatures on a form seeking registration of a new political party. The fact that the media as a whole ignored the ceremonial handing over of the thousands of forms to the electoral office speaks volumes. An old newspaper slogan is “all the news that’s fit to print.” Today, the slogan should be ‘only the events that media-types want reported!”

The Interim salutes the Family Coalition Party leaders and workers and congratulates them in reaching their signature goal in just four short months.

FCP leaders are under no illusions: they know that they have just begun to walk a very long road and that there are may obstacles to overcome. But pro-lifers can have absolute confidence in the fact that at the heart of the FCP is the principle that the party will never compromise in demanding protection for the unborn.

Ontario’s premier David Peterson is said to favour a June election. If the rumours re accurate, the FCP may well be registered too late for the party to participate officially this time (given goodwill, it can take up to six weeks for the formal registration process to be completed). The Liberals should not however think that his next election with or without the FCP – will be clear sailing.

The national pro-family survey reported on in this issue of the Interim reveals a high level of disenchantment and skepticism on the part of pro-life voters. Many of the respondents indicate that they base their voting decision on the candidate’s stand on the abortion issue – and they will cross party lines to vote pro-life.

Five years ago, when the Pro-life Party of Canada attempted to get off the ground, pro-lifers were so entrenched in support of the three mainline parties that the new party failed to gain enough support. As more pro-lifers become disturbed by the anti-family policies of the Liberal and Conservatives, more of them will chose the positive pro-family alternative.

This change in voting patterns and the positive response to the new party are significant trends, even though they have not yet been noticed by the media which is usually hungry to spot changing patterns. We have no hesitation in predicting that abortion will be the issue in the next Ontario election and the record of all three parties speaks for itself.