Focus appoints new president
Reform Party chief of staff to leave Ottawa post
By Debra Fieguth ChristianWeek staff
VANCOUVER–After almost a year-long search, Focus on the Family Canada has named a new president to head the Vancouver-based organization. Darrel Reid, 40, will assume the position on June 1.
For the past two years Reid has been chief of staff for Reform Party leader Preston Manning. Before that he was director of policy and research for the Reform caucus, a position which provides him with good background for handling issues concerning the Canadian family, says Focus vice-president Jim Sclater.
Reid earned a Ph.D. in History at Queens University, Kingston, before going to work for the Reform Party in Ottawa.
Reid is anxious to maintain a Canadian identity for the Canadian branch of Focus on the Family, which was founded in the U.S. by pediatrician James Dobson more than 25 years ago.
"I’ve been completely convinced that the board and Dr. Dobson are passionately concerned about developing a uniquely Canadian approach to Focus on the Family," Reid says. "The core issues of concern for the family are the same. However, how they are applied in Canada will be different."
Increase effectiveness
Board chair Mark Boehmer of Toronto adds that the board is looking forward to seeing the 15-year-old Canadian organization "increase its effectiveness in Canada." Focus Canada has grown from a tiny, one-person operation in March 1983 to a staff of 58, a mailing list of 162,000 and more than 500 volunteers.
