John Pacheco
John Pacheco (born 1969) is a social conservative political activist in Canada best known as the organizer of the 15,000 person rally on Parliament Hill against same-[...] marriage and was an "independent conservative" in the 2006 federal election in Ottawa West—Nepean.
A financial analyst by training, he graduated from Queen's University at Kingston, earning a Bachelors of Commerce (Honours) Degree in 1992. He then went on to obtain another advanced finance degree. He moved to Ottawa, Ontario in 1996. He is the director of The Catholic Legate, a Catholic Apologetics and Evangelization website dedicated to defending the truths of the Catholic faith. He is also director of The Rosarium of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an apostolate whose objective is to oppose contraception and to retract The Winnipeg Statement.
Pacheco first ran for the Family Coalition Party (FCP) in the 1995 provincial election, receiving 858 votes in Kingston and the Islands for a fourth-place finish. The winner was Liberal John Gerretsen.
He campaigned against Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty as an FCP candidate in Ottawa South in the 2003 election, for the specific purpose of confronting him on his support for same-[...] marriage. At campaign launch, he announced his intention to run print and radio advertisements on the issue. During the all-candidate's debate, he accused McGuinty of being a "Kennedy Catholic" and a hypocrite on social issues. McGuinty responded by accusing the FCP of intolerance, saying "For the Family Coalition party to say it stands for inclusiveness is like Colonel Sanders saying he's going to look after the chickens." Pacheco received 562 votes, finishing last in a field of five candidates. McGuinty was re-elected with 24,647 votes.
Pacheco sought the Conservative Party of Canada's nomination for the 2006 federal election in Ottawa West—Nepean but was disqualified as a candidate in April 2005 because of claims he had made on the alleged health consequences of homosexual practices. Pacheco has also described homosexuality as a "social disorder" likening it to alcoholism. The nomination was won by John Baird, a former provincial cabinet minister under Mike Harris. Baird supports same-[...] marriage, but is known as a neo-conservative, having supported and implemented cuts to social services during the Harris government.
Pacheco announced in December 2005 that he would run against Baird as an "independent conservative" on social conservative issues, primarily opposition to same-[...] marriage. His stated intention was to act as a spoiler in the race. Pacheco told the Ottawa Citizen "In the last election, the margin of victory was less than 1,400 votes, so if I can pick up 1,400 votes, or thereabouts, and John Baird loses because of that, the party is not going to be running another socially liberal candidate in this riding... If I'm a spoiler, and spoiling actually does something for the future of this party, that's what I'd like to do." Pacheco won 905 votes, or 1.52% of the total vote in the riding. Baird was elected with 25,607 votes (43.13% of the total), over 5,000 more votes than his Liberal Party opponent.
Pacheco went on to found Social Conservatives United, a social conservative organization based in Ottawa whose purpose is to engage the culture at large on the questions of social conservatism and provide a network for social conservative groups across Canada.
References
"Social conservative runs as independent; hopes to spoil Baird's bid" by Juliet O'Neil, Ottawa Citizen, December 30, 2005.
John Ivison, National Post, Sept 26, 2003.
op cit.