Lynne Scime

Who is Lynne Scime?

Lynne Scime is a veteran social conservative activist in Canada and is the current president of the Family Coalition Party of Ontario.

She was chosen as national president of REAL Women in 1987, and was quoted as being opposed to divorce, the homosexual lifestyle, and as being pro-life from birth to natural death. Scime supported free marriage counselling to prevent divorce and encouraged tax breaks for single-income families to encourage say-at-home parenting. She also expressed conservative views on foreign policy.

Scime opposed affirmative action programs, arguing that "getting jobs is not for everyone". She claimed that her organization would instead address issues such as "how a woman can pick a husband to fulfil all her needs". Scime herself was a stay-at-home mother for many years, and managed her husband's medical practice.

Her leadership of REAL Women proved controversial, and she was opposed by members who wanted to broaden the group's support base by moderating its conservative and Christian elements. One of Scime's opponents accused her of trying to turn the group into a "biblically based" movement aligned with the Christian Heritage Party, rather than a broad coalition involving other religious groups. There were also accusations that funds had been mismanaged under her leadership. Scime was narrowly re-elected leader of REAL Women in 1988, but immediately resigned to form a right-wing splinter group called Family Forum. Unlike REAL Women, Scime's new organization opposed government funding for pressure groups.