Profile DR BC President Robert Allington

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Tom Morino

Tom Morino, chairman of Democratic Reform BC's Elders' Council, was the first leader of Democratic Reform BC. Tom is a native son of British Columbia, who was born and raised on Vancouver Island. Outside of the political realm, Tom is well known in Victoria and other Capital Region communities for both for his criminal law career and volunteering with various organizations. He served as a municipal councilor in Sooke and was twice a candidate for the Liberal Party in BC, once in 86 and again in 91.

Subsequent to the 1996 election he distanced himself from the Campbell Liberals and chose to support an independent candidate in his home riding (Malahat-Juan de Fuca) in 2001.

In 2003 and 2004, together with other founding members of the party including current President Robert Allington and Membership Chair Lyne England, Morino set about establishing a centrist alternative to the right-leaning BC Liberals and the left-oriented BC NDP. His efforts resulted initially in the formation of the BC Democratic Alliance, which brought together supporters of the former Progressive Democratic Alliance.

photo Tom Morino at the Legislature

The BCDA group reached out to similarly minded political organizations among them BC Moderate Democratic Alliance, LINK BC, the Citizen's Action Party, and the BC Labour Party. By the fall of 2004, a new party -- the BC Democratic Coalition -- was formed which brought together membership from each of these groups. In October 2004, after intensive negotiations, BC DC and the Reform Party of BC formed a strategic alliance. In the photo at the left of the screen, we see Morino surrounded by reporters at the BC Legislature as the alliance is announced. In January of 2005 most of the board of Reform BC and a substantial part of their membership joined with members of the All Nations Party of BC and the BC DC to create Democratic Reform BC, with Morino as leader.

Although he withdrew from public life after the 2005 BC election, he remains an inspirational and important part of the party. He was appointed in 2006 as chairman of the Elders' Council, a dispute resolution body provided for by the DR BC Constitution.