By Nicole Hunt
Family Coalition Party (FCP) candidate Danny Moran believes that our society is crumbling.
This is why Moran, born and raised in Ottawa, is now running to become MPP for Ottawa-Centre, after years of behind the scenes political work.
“So many problems can be traced back to family problems and lack of stability,” he says.Government after government are more interested in providing the best tax breaks instead of helping.”
Moran says tax breaks result in reduced social programs, evidence that society has lost compassion towards those who are struggling.
Moran says he has seen the effects of drug abuse and alcoholism through his daily travels in Centretown and his work on the Board of Directors for Ottawa Area Intergroup, which works with over 130 chapters of Alcoholics Anonymous.
“I see people on the street, homeless people, teenaged mothers, and the tragic thing is people just walk right past them now,” he says.“They don’t even notice anymore.”
Moran believes that this shift in values has come as people move away from their churches and communities and look to the government for help.
“Fifty years ago if your family had difficulties, the family, the church, the neighbourhood, people in your community would help you get back on your feet,” he says.
Moran also advocates for more provincial attention to Ottawa, especially when it comes to improving transit and shifting responsibilities back to cities to ensure they can deal with homelessness and mental illness at a local level.
Moran’s devotion to his Roman-Catholic religion influences his views on education. The FCP began promoting the concept of faith-based school funding in 1990.
Moran says there is room for faith-based education within the public system.
“Funding faith-based education is absolutely necessary if we’re going to get back some of the life in our culture,” he says.
The FCP also supports the referendum question on electoral reform, though Moran says that his opinion is conditional on the basis of how list candidates are selected.