The Pauper Party of Ontario (french: Parti Pauvre de l’Ontario) is a

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

political party in the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

province of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

based on the principles of

social credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

. Registered in 2011, the party is led by perennial candidate

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 105 el ...

History

Turmel founded the party in 2011, opting to run in Ontario's provincial election that year under the slogan "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". During the campaign, Turmel characterized the policies of the party as "social credit libertarian". Turmel's economic policies focused on what he called the "Argentine solution", based on the policies of the de la Rúa administration in Argentina, which involved the issuing of government bonds to civil employees. In the 2011 election, Turmel stood in the constituency of Brant while another party candidate, Michael Spottiswood received 54 votes in

London North Centre London North Centre (french: London-Centre-Nord; formerly known as London—Adelaide) is a federal electoral district in the city of London in the province of Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 19 ...

. Following the 2011 vote, Turmel stood in by-elections in Kitchener–Waterloo, in 2012,

Ottawa South Ottawa South (french: Ottawa-Sud) is a federal electoral district in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is represented in the House of Commons of Canada by David McGuinty, brother of former Premier of Ontario and Ottawa South MPP Dalton McGuinty ...

in 2013, and Thornhill in 2014. In the 2014 provincial election, Turmel again stood in Brant, receiving 60 votes. Spottiswood again sought election in

, and received 70 votes. Another party candidate, Michael Faux, received 52 votes in the riding of

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

. Following the 2014 election, Turmel again stood in three provincial by-elections, including contests in

Simcoe North Simcoe North (french: Simcoe-Nord) is a federal electoral district in central Ontario, Canada. It was established as a federal riding in 1867. Demographics :''According to the Canada 2011 Census''; 2013 representation'' Ethnic groups: 87.8% ...

and Sudbury in 2015, and Ottawa-Vanier in 2016. In both the Simcoe North and Ottawa-Vanier by-elections, Turmel was removed from all-candidates debates by local authorities after seizing the podium and disrupting proceedings. The party's platform is to legalize gambling, legalize marijuana and institute monetary reform and bartering in the form of the

Local Exchange Trading System A local exchange trading system (also local employment and trading system or local energy transfer system; abbreviated LETS) is a locally initiated, democratically organised, not-for-profit community enterprise that provides a community infor ...

. The party failed to win any seats in the 2022 Ontario general election.

Election results

References

External links

* {{Social Credit Provincial political parties in Ontario

Libertarian parties 2011 establishments in Ontario Political parties established in 2011