The
FCP determined the result of the 1990 by running candidates in
67 mostly rural ridings where conservative vote was strong.
Although people came to the FCP from both major parties, being
frustrated and realizing their impotence in affecting government
decisions on the abortion issue. However, most of the FCP votes
came from people who would have voted for the Progressive
Conservatives, who at the time, had the largest number of MPPs
in favour of pro-family policies.
In
11 ridings the FCP received more votes than the difference
between the winning candidate and the second placed candidate.
For example, in the riding of Halton, the FCP candidate
(Giuseppe Gori) received about 2,500 votes, while the winning
candidate (NDP Noel Duignan) received only about 500 and 1000
votes more than, respectively, the Liberal and the PC
candidates.
Particularly
upset were the Progressive Conservatives, who saw their
opportunity to overcome the Liberals slip and saw their nemesis
(the NDP) achieve a Majority government lead by Bob Rae.
The
"fault" for that historical "left swing" was
attributed, by both friend and foe, to the FCP. Was the Bob Rae
government "disastrous" for Ontario? Did it produce a
reaction and the Mike Harris majority that followed? Would the
Progressive Conservatives have ever won the 1990 election? Would
the Liberals have continued their "reign" in Ontario,
as it happened federally, and avoided the Mike Harris years?
These questions will probably remain a matter of
speculation.
The
historical fact is that in matters of abortion and definition of
family, none of the three big parties delivered social
conservative measures. In this sense, from the point of view of
pro-life, pro-family voters, the impact that the FCP had in the
election of Bob Rae had no short-term effect on saving human
lives or protecting the traditional family from attack, but had
a long term effect of reinforcing many pro-lifers in their
determination to succeed politically in Ontario through this new
party.
