The 'Abolitionist Party' was a
Canadian political party founded by
perennial candidate John C. Turmel on a platform of:
★
monetary reform, including the abolition of
interest rates,
★ abolishing the
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, advocating, for instance, the legalization of
marijuana and
gambling.
Turmel attempted to run for the leadership of the national
Social Credit party after the resignation of
Fabien Roy in 1981, but the party chose to appoint
Martin Hattersley instead. In
1982, Turmel founded the
Christian Credit Party, 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. After
1996, Turmel appears to have stopped using the party name.
In
2003, Turmel attempted to organize a new party using the name of the defunct
Libertarian Party of Canada, but was foiled by old members of the Libertarian Party who registered the name.
Party program
According to Mr. Turmel: "Quebec Social Credit first argued for a national LETS currency. But Canada Social Credit didn't agree and threw me out and changed their policy from prohibition of interest rates to 6%. So I founded the Christian Credit thinking that credit could only be Christian and friendly if there was no interest. This is the way I explained then what are the Abolitionist Party programs of today:
THE CHRISTIAN CREDIT PROGRAMS:
# The abolition of interest rates;
# The establishment of a government dividend;
# The establishment of no-premium fire and auto insurance."
External links
★
Turmel's Abolitionist Party of Canada Programs
See also
★
List of political parties in Canada