The Abolitionist Party of Canada was a Canadian

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

founded 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 ...

. The party ran on a platform of

monetary reform Monetary reform is any movement or theory that proposes a system of supplying money and financing the economy that is different from the current system. Monetary reformers may advocate any of the following, among other proposals: * A return t ...

, including the abolition of

interest rate An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, th ...

s and the

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

; the use of the local employment trading system of banking; and introducing a form of Social Credit with monthly dividends being paid out to each Canadian. Unlike many Canadian social credit parties, the Abolitionists were not

social conservatives Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social instituti ...

, advocating, for instance, the legalization of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

and

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

. Turmel attempted to run for the leadership of the national Social Credit party after the resignation of

Fabien Roy Fabien Roy (born April 17, 1928) is a former Canadian politician who was active in Quebec in the 1970s. Roy was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec and the House of Commons of Canada, and advocated social credit theories of monetary refo ...

in 1981, but the party chose to appoint

Martin Hattersley J. Martin Hattersley (November 10, 1932 - June 7, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and long-time activist of the Canadian social credit movement. Born in Swinton, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, Hattersley earned degrees in economics and law fr ...

instead. In 1982, Turmel founded the

Christian Credit Party The Christian Credit Party was a short-lived Canadian political party founded in 1982 by perennial candidate and social credit activist, John Turmel who has, at various times, been involved in the Social Credit Party of Canada, the Green Party of C ...

, which he disbanded in 1983. Turmel founded the Abolitionist Party in 1993 with a similar program to that of the Christian Credit Party. The Abolitionist Party nominated 80 candidates in the 1993 federal election, who collected only 9,141 votes between them. ''(See also: Abolitionist Party candidates, 1993 Canadian federal election.)'' The Abolitionist Party subsequently reverted to being a personal vehicle for Turmel. In 2003, Turmel attempted to organize a new party using the name of the defunct Libertarian Party of Canada, but was prevented from doing so by old members of the Libertarian Party who registered the name.

References

External links

Turmel's Abolitionist Party of Canada Programs