John Turmel

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.

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 elections until 2024 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.

Health and missed elections since 2024 During the 2024 Milton provincial by-election, Turmel said that he expected to miss an all-candidates debate because of a hospital visit for cancer treatment.

Since then, Turmel has not run in the 2025 Ontario general election, the 2025 Canadian federal election, the December 2024 Cloverdale—Langley City federal by-election, the August 2025 Battle River—Crowfoot federal by-election, or the federal by-elections held in 2026.

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. 2 February 18, 1980 Federal Ottawa Centre Independent 62 0.13 |0.31 32 December 10, 1990 Federal by-election York North Independent 97 0.23 36 March 17, 1994 Provincial by-election Victoria—Haliburton Independent 123 0.52 40 March 25, 1996 Federal by-election Etobicoke North Abolitionist Party 75 0.28 42 June 2, 1997 Federal Ottawa West—Nepean Independent 211 0.39 46 April 12, 1999 Federal by-election Windsor—St. Clair Abolitionist Party 106 0.33 47 June 3, 1999 Provincial Ottawa West—Nepean Independent 94 0.20 48 November 15, 1999 Federal by-election Hull—Aylmer Independent 51 0.29 51 November 13, 2000 Municipal/Mayor Ottawa N/A 677 0.27 52 November 27, 2000 Federal Ottawa West—Nepean Independent 89 0.17 53 March 22, 2001 Provincial by-election Parry Sound—Muskoka Independent 61 0.23 54 May 2, 2002 Provincial by-election Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey Independent 120 0.37 55 October 2, 2003 Provincial Brant Independent 295 0.66 56 November 10, 2003 Municipal/Mayor Ottawa N/A 1,166 0.63 57 May 13, 2004 Provincial by-election Hamilton East Independent Abolitionist 120 0.50 58 June 28, 2004 Federal Brant Independent 373 0.70 59 March 17, 2005 Provincial by-election Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey Independent Abolitionist 85 0.31 60 January 23, 2006 Federal Brant Independent 213 0.40 61 March 30, 2006 Provincial by-election Nepean—Carleton Independent 112 0.37 62 September 14, 2006 Provincial by-election Parkdale—High Park Independent 77 0.27 63 November 13, 2006 Municipal/Mayor Brantford N/A 226 0.84 64 February 8, 2007 Provincial by-election Burlington Independent 90 0.40 65 September 17, 2007 Federal by-election Outremont Independent 30 0.13 66 October 10, 2007 Provincial Brant Independent 272 0.57 67* September 8, 2008 Federal by-election Guelph Independent N/A N/A 68 October 14, 2008 Federal Guelph Independent 58 0.10 69 March 5, 2009 Provincial by-election Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock Independent 92 0.26 70 September 17, 2009 Provincial by-election St. Paul's Independent 51 0.19 71 November 9, 2009 Federal by-election Hochelaga Independent 69 0.40 72 February 4, 2010 Provincial by-election Toronto Centre Independent 67 0.25 73 March 4, 2010 Provincial by-election Ottawa West—Nepean Independent 230 0.81 74 October 25, 2010 Municipal/Mayor Brantford N/A 61 0.22 75 October 6, 2011 Provincial Brant Pauper Party 87 0.20 76 March 19, 2012 Federal by-election Toronto—Danforth Independent 57 0.20 77 September 6, 2012 Provincial by-election Kitchener—Waterloo Independent 23 0.05 78 August 1, 2013 Provincial by-election Ottawa South Pauper Party 64 0.20 79 November 25, 2013 Federal by-election Toronto Centre Independent 56 0.22 80 February 13, 2014 Provincial by-election Thornhill Pauper Party 49 0.18 81 June 12, 2014 Provincial Brant Pauper Party 61 0.12 82 June 30, 2014 Federal by-election Trinity—Spadina Independent 141 0.41 83 October 27, 2014 Municipal/Mayor Brantford N/A 133 0.55 84 November 17, 2014 Federal by-election Whitby—Oshawa Independent 101 0.30 85 February 5, 2015 Provincial by-election Sudbury Pauper Party 118 0.46 86 September 3, 2015 Provincial by-election Simcoe North Pauper Party 46 0.12 87 October 19, 2015 Federal Brantford—Brant Independent 164 0.26 88 February 11, 2016 Provincial by-election Whitby—Oshawa Pauper Party 11 0.03 89 September 1, 2016 Provincial by-election Scarborough—Rouge River Pauper Party 37 0.15 90 November 17, 2016 Provincial by-election Ottawa—Vanier Pauper Party 51 0.17 91 April 3, 2017 Federal by-election Ottawa—Vanier Independent 147 0.50 92 June 1, 2017 Provincial by-election Sault Ste. Marie Pauper Party 47 0.18 93 December 11, 2017 Federal by-election Scarborough—Agincourt Independent 145 0.80 94 June 7, 2018 Provincial Brantford—Brant Pauper Party 59 0.10 95 June 18, 2018 Federal by-election Chicoutimi—Le Fjord Independent 98 0.41 96 October 22, 2018 Municipal/Mayor Brantford N/A 128 0.53 97 December 3, 2018 Federal by-election Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes Independent 111 0.38 98 February 25, 2019 Federal by-election York—Simcoe Independent 64 0.40 99 October 21, 2019 Federal Brantford—Brant Independent 146 0.22 100 February 27, 2020 Provincial by-election Orléans Pauper Party 32 0.12 101 October 26, 2020 Federal by-election York Centre Independent 104 0.58 102 September 20, 2021 Federal Brantford—Brant Independent 138 0.21 103 June 2, 2022 Provincial Brantford—Brant Independent 157 0.33 104 October 24, 2022 Municipal/Mayor Brantford N/A 343 1.71 105 December 12, 2022 Federal by-election Mississauga—Lakeshore Independent 14 0.06 106 March 16, 2023 Provincial by-election Hamilton Centre Independent 37 0.21 107 June 19, 2023 Federal by-election Oxford Independent 171 0.44 108 July 27, 2023 Provincial by-election Scarborough—Guildwood Independent 20 0.13 109 November 30, 2023 Provincial by-election Kitchener Centre Independent 13 0.06 110 May 2, 2024 Provincial by-election Milton Independent 64 0.23 111 September 16, 2024 Federal by-election LaSalle—Émard—Verdun Independent 16 0.05 112 September 19, 2024 Provincial by-election Bay of Quinte Independent 149 0.4

Footnotes