John C. Turmel (born February 22, 1951) is a perennial candidate for election in Canada, and according to the Guinness World Records holds the records for the most elections contested and for the most elections lost, having contested 112 elections and lost 111. The other contest was a by-election that was pre-empted by a general election call. believes in Louis Even's Quebec social credit theory of monetary reform and has also campaigned for the legalization of gambling, the adoption of time banking in the form of Local Employment Trading Systems (LETS) which are interest-free barter arrangements, and for the legalization of marijuana. He describes his platform as "I want no cops in gambling, sex or drugs or rock and roll, I want no usury on loans, pay cash or time, no dole."
Turmel, an electrical engineering graduate, who lists his occupation as "professional gambler" was active in the Social Credit Party of Canada and the Social Credit Party of Ontario in the 1980s, and founded the Christian Credit Party in the 1980s, the Abolitionist Party of Canada in the 1990s, and the Pauper Party of Ontario in 2011.
He wears a white construction helmet, when campaigning,
The colour of his helmet is said to not only refer to the white construction helmets worn by engineers and architects on construction sites, but also to the berets blanc (white berets), the nickname of the Pilgrims of Saint Michael, a radical monetarist faction within the Quebec social credit movement.
Turmel's grandfather, Adelard Turmel, supported the Social Credit Party of Canada from its inception in 1935, and he passed on a belief in social credit monetary theories to his descendants.
He won 46 votes as the Abolitionist Party candidate in the February 13, 1995, Ottawa—Vanier federal by-election.
In June 1996, Turmel ran under the Abolitionist Party banner in a Hamilton East federal by-election and lost.
Turmel won 4,126 votes (2.5% of the total) running for chair of Ottawa-Carleton Regional Municipality in 1997, in which Bob Chiarelli defeated Peter Clark by 2,798 votes. Turmel won 214 votes as an independent candidate in Ottawa West—Nepean in the 1997 federal election. In September, Turmel won 201 votes as an independent candidate in Ottawa West in a provincial by-election.
Turmel ran for the board of the National Capital FreeNet after the previous board reduced the number of seats from 7 to 5. He came 6th, and argues he was cheated out of the only election he ever won.
Turmel appeared in the 1997 Guinness Book of World Records for most elections contested.
He ran as an "independent Abolitionist" in a September 14, 1998, federal by-election in Sherbrooke, Quebec.
In 1999, he won 106 votes as an Abolitionist Party candidate in a March federal by-election in Windsor—St. Clair, Ontario, which was more than the margin by which Liberal candidate Rick Limoges defeated Joe Comartin of the New Democratic Party.
Early 2000s
In 2000, Turmel ran as an independent candidate in the September Kings—Hants (Nova Scotia) federal by-election against Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark. He won 89 votes as an independent candidate in Ottawa West—Nepean in the November federal election.
In the same year, he made a presentation to the United Nations on the interest-free UNILETS resulting in Millennium Declaration Resolution C6 to governments to use an alternative time-based currency to restructure the global financial architecture.<!--Is this statement supportable?-->
In 2002, Turmel attempted to run for the leadership of the Marijuana Party but the leadership election was called off after Turmel showed up to contest the election.
Turmel won 295 votes as an independent candidate in Brant riding in the 2003 October provincial election. His 56th campaign was for Mayor of Ottawa in the November 2003 municipal election, when he collected 1,166 votes.
He also tried to resurrect the Libertarian Party of Canada, but was prevented from doing so when former members re-registered the name first.
Turmel ran as an independent candidate and placed fifth with 120 votes in a May 13, 2004, provincial by-election in Hamilton East. He placed last of eight candidates as an independent candidate in the March 17, 2005, provincial by-election in Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey and placed last in Brant riding with 213 votes in the 2006 federal election.
Turmel was convicted of drug possession in March 2006, resulting from a one-man protest on Parliament Hill in Ottawa three years earlier. Turmel had taken three kilograms of marijuana to the hill, and openly smoked a joint in front of politicians and security officials. He announced plans to appeal. The conviction was rendered on the same day as a provincial by-election in Nepean—Carleton, in which Turmel was a candidate.
In 2003, Turmel acted as a party to Hitzig v Canada, a civil suit instrumental in reforming the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations and the status of medical cannabis in Canada generally.
Turmel ran as an independent candidate in a 2008 by-election in the riding of Guelph. On Monday, August 25, he disrupted a televised debate involving candidates from the four major political parties to which the other four candidates had not been invited to participate. He yelled out his objections so loudly that the moderator of the debate could not be heard. He was eventually removed from the venue, the River Run Centre, by the Guelph police. The by-election was pre-empted by a federal election call in which Turmel re-filed his candidacy for the same riding – he came in tenth out of eleven candidates receiving 58 votes.
On September 10, 2009, police were called after Turmel lost control and disrupted an all-candidates meeting during the provincial by-election in Ontario's St. Paul's riding. Angry at a moderator's rule which forced residents to direct their questions at four of eight candidates, thus effectively limiting his opportunity to speak, Turmel lashed out and ran around the church hall shouting at debate panelists and audience members that he'd go back onstage when he could answer too. At one point, the debate had to pause as a group of attendees attempted a citizen's arrest. Turmel stated that he would "ruin everyone's night" because "mine was ruined".
Dragon's Den
On January 13, 2010, Turmel appeared on the CBC television show Dragons' Den pitching his Local exchange trading system scheme, asking the panel of entrepreneurs to invest $100,000 for a program which would use poker chips from a local casino as currency at local businesses in Brantford, Ontario. The "dragons" said they didn’t understand Turmel's presentation and mocked him. Kevin O'Leary told Turmel he should "burst into flames" and fellow dragon Jim Treliving told Turmel he was "blowing air up a dead horse's ass". Turmel initiated a lawsuit against the CBC as a result of the program. His complaint was rejected by the Ontario Court of Appeal in July 2011. On December 8, 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada denied Turmel's subsequent request for leave to appeal. He indicated, however, that he would be willing to serve as prime minister if offered the role by Canada's elected parliamentarians, as per William Aberhart's rise to the premiership of Alberta in 1935 if the Engineer's Dream Team of chosen other party candidates were elected.
Pauper Party
Turmel contested the 2011 Ontario provincial election as founder and leader of the newly formed Pauper Party of Ontario. stating "we want no cops in gambling, sex or drugs or rock and roll, we want no usury on loans, pay cash or time, no dole." Turmel has subsequently run in Ontario by-elections under the "Pauper" banner.
Recent by-elections
In 2012, Turmel again ran as an independent, this time in the March 19 federal by-election in Toronto—Danforth to choose a successor to Jack Layton. He ran on a campaign pushing for mass production of marijuana to fight cancers he says are coming from the "nuclear fallout that hit us from Fukushima".
In 2023, he was a candidate in the Hamilton Centre provincial by-election, the Oxford federal by-election, the Scarborough—Guildwood provincial by-election, and the Kitchener Centre provincial by-election.
In 2024, he contested the Milton provincial by-election, the LaSalle—Émard—Verdun federal by-election, and the Bay of Quinte provincial by-election.
Vexatious litigation
According to the Attorney General of Canada, Turmel is a "perennial litigant" and has filed at least 67 court proceedings since 1980. In 2022, Canada's Federal Court labelled Turmel a "vexatious litigant", which prevents him from introducing a new application to the Court unless he had a court order to allow it.
Appearance before Parliament
On June 6, 2018, Turmel appeared as a witness before the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the Trudeau Government's proposed changes to the Canada Elections Act.
During his appearance Turmel argued for free and equal broadcasting time for all candidates and fair auditing rules for candidates with only minor campaign expenses.
He also discussed the time banking software "LETS", being arrested, and being invited to give speeches at the United Nations.
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|February 18, 1980
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|Ottawa Centre
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!36
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!40
|March 25, 1996
|Federal by-election
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|Abolitionist Party
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|0.28
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!42
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|Independent
|211
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!46
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|Federal by-election
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|Abolitionist Party
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!47
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|Ottawa West—Nepean
|Independent
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!48
|November 15, 1999
|Federal by-election
|Hull—Aylmer
|Independent
|51
|0.29
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!51
|November 13, 2000
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|Ottawa
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|677
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!52
|November 27, 2000
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!53
|March 22, 2001
|Provincial by-election
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|61
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!54
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|Provincial by-election
|Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey
|Independent
|120
|0.37
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!55
|October 2, 2003
|Provincial
|Brant
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|295
|0.66
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!56
|November 10, 2003
|Municipal/Mayor
|Ottawa
|N/A
|1,166
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!57
|May 13, 2004
|Provincial by-election
|Hamilton East
|Independent Abolitionist
|120
|0.50
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!58
|June 28, 2004
|Federal
|Brant
|Independent
|373
|0.70
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!59
|March 17, 2005
|Provincial by-election
|Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey
|Independent Abolitionist
|85
|0.31
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!60
|January 23, 2006
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|Brant
|Independent
|213
|0.40
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!61
|March 30, 2006
|Provincial by-election
|Nepean—Carleton
|Independent
|112
|0.37
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!62
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|Provincial by-election
|Parkdale—High Park
|Independent
|77
|0.27
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!63
|November 13, 2006
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|Brantford
|N/A
|226
|0.84
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!64
|February 8, 2007
|Provincial by-election
|Burlington
|Independent
|90
|0.40
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!65
|September 17, 2007
|Federal by-election
|Outremont
|Independent
|30
|0.13
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!66
|October 10, 2007
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|Brant
|Independent
|272
|0.57
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!67*
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|Federal by-election
|Guelph
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!68
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|58
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!69
|March 5, 2009
|Provincial by-election
|Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock
|Independent
|92
|0.26
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!70
|September 17, 2009
|Provincial by-election
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|Independent
|51
|0.19
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!71
|November 9, 2009
|Federal by-election
|Hochelaga
|Independent
|69
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!72
|February 4, 2010
|Provincial by-election
|Toronto Centre
|Independent
|67
|0.25
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!73
|March 4, 2010
|Provincial by-election
|Ottawa West—Nepean
|Independent
|230
|0.81
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!74
|October 25, 2010
|Municipal/Mayor
|Brantford
|N/A
|61
|0.22
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!75
|October 6, 2011
|Provincial
|Brant
|Pauper Party
|87
|0.20
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!76
|March 19, 2012
|Federal by-election
|Toronto—Danforth
|Independent
|57
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!77
|September 6, 2012
|Provincial by-election
|Kitchener—Waterloo
|Independent
|23
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!78
|August 1, 2013
|Provincial by-election
|Ottawa South
|Pauper Party
|64
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!79
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|Federal by-election
|Toronto Centre
|Independent
|56
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!80
|February 13, 2014
|Provincial by-election
|Thornhill
|Pauper Party
|49
|0.18
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!81
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|Provincial
|Brant
|Pauper Party
|61
|0.12
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!82
|June 30, 2014
|Federal by-election
|Trinity—Spadina
|Independent
|141
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!83
|October 27, 2014
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|Brantford
|N/A
|133
|0.55
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!84
|November 17, 2014
|Federal by-election
|Whitby—Oshawa
|Independent
|101
|0.30
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!85
|February 5, 2015
|Provincial by-election
|Sudbury
|Pauper Party
|118
|0.46
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!86
|September 3, 2015
|Provincial by-election
|Simcoe North
|Pauper Party
|46
|0.12
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!87
|October 19, 2015
|Federal
|Brantford—Brant
|Independent
|164
|0.26
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!88
|February 11, 2016
|Provincial by-election
|Whitby—Oshawa
|Pauper Party
|11
|0.03
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!89
|September 1, 2016
|Provincial by-election
|Scarborough—Rouge River
|Pauper Party
|37
|0.15
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!90
|November 17, 2016
|Provincial by-election
|Ottawa—Vanier
|Pauper Party
|51
|0.17
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!91
|April 3, 2017
|Federal by-election
|Ottawa—Vanier
|Independent
|147
|0.50
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!92
|June 1, 2017
|Provincial by-election
|Sault Ste. Marie
|Pauper Party
|47
|0.18
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!93
|December 11, 2017
|Federal by-election
|Scarborough—Agincourt
|Independent
|145
|0.80
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!94
|June 7, 2018
|Provincial
|Brantford—Brant
|Pauper Party
|59
|0.10
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!95
|June 18, 2018
|Federal by-election
|Chicoutimi—Le Fjord
|Independent
|98
|0.41
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!96
|October 22, 2018
|Municipal/Mayor
|Brantford
|N/A
|128
|0.53
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!97
|December 3, 2018
|Federal by-election
|Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes
|Independent
|111
|0.38
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!98
|February 25, 2019
|Federal by-election
|York—Simcoe
|Independent
|64
|0.40
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!99
|October 21, 2019
|Federal
|Brantford—Brant
|Independent
|146
|0.22
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!100
|February 27, 2020
|Provincial by-election
|Orléans
|Pauper Party
|32
|0.12
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!101
|October 26, 2020
|Federal by-election
|York Centre
|Independent
|104
|0.58
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!102
|September 20, 2021
|Federal
|Brantford—Brant
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|138
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!103
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| 157
|0.33
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!104
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|343
|1.71
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!105
|December 12, 2022
|Federal by-election
|Mississauga—Lakeshore
|Independent
|14
|0.06
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!106
|March 16, 2023
|Provincial by-election
|Hamilton Centre
|Independent
|37
|0.21
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!107
|June 19, 2023
|Federal by-election
|Oxford
|Independent
|171
|0.44
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!108
|July 27, 2023
|Provincial by-election
|Scarborough—Guildwood
|Independent
|20
|0.13
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!109
|November 30, 2023
|Provincial by-election
|Kitchener Centre
|Independent
|13
|0.06
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!110
|May 2, 2024
|Provincial by-election
|Milton
|Independent
|64
|0.23
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|-
!111
|September 16, 2024
|Federal by-election
|LaSalle—Émard—Verdun
|Independent
|16
|0.05
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!112
|September 19, 2024
|Provincial by-election
|Bay of Quinte
|Independent
|149
|0.4
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Footnotes
External links
- "Record-setting political also-ran John Turmel takes his 99th crack at elected office CBC News Profile