John Turmel
| John Turmel | |
|---|---|
| Born |
John Turmel February 22, 1951 Rouyn, Quebec, Canada |
| Other names | The Engineer, The Gambler, The Banking System Engineer, Bank Fighter Extraordinaire, TajProfessor, Great Canadian Gambler, KingofthePaupers, SmartestManOnEarth.Ca |
| Occupation | Professional gambler |
| Known for | Perennial candidate for elections in Canada |
John C. Turmel (born February 22, 1951, Rouyn, Quebec, Canada) is a perennial candidate for election in Canada, and according to the Guinness Book of Records holds the records for the most elections contested and for the most elections lost having contested 90 elections and lost 89. The other contest was a by-election that was pre-empted by a general election call.
Turmel, who describes himself as a "Libertarian Socred", believes in Louis Even's Quebec social credit theory of monetary reform and has also campaigned for the legalization of gambling, the adoption 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.”
He has participated in several protests outside of Canada's major banking institutions, saying that bank interest promotes poverty and starvation in the third world.
Turmel, an electrical engineer, who lists his occupation as "professional gambler" known as TajProfessor or Great Canadian 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, and the Abolitionist Party of Canada in the 1990s and the Pauper Party of Ontario in 2011. He wears a trade-mark white construction helmet when campaigning, and calls himself "the Engineer". 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.
...
Wikipedia