Canadian John Turmel is arguably the most determined would-be politician in the world.
Heās set Guinness World Records by running for public office ā and losing ā more than 90 times, and when he leaves an all-candidate debate, itās often with a police escort.
But all those failures havenāt stopped Turmel from running for municipal, provincial or federal office as an independent candidate, again and again and again. And he says nothing will stop him from seeking a provincial seat once more in the Ontario election this summer.
āI donāt feel bad whatsoever about not winning these elections,ā Turmel told CTVNews.ca by telephone from his home in Brantford, Ont.
The 67-year-old has been an eccentric figure at general and byelection debates since he started running for office in 1979. Heās nearly impossible to miss, with his lucky playing card tie, his outspoken presence and his white hardhat plastered with the name āJohn āThe Engineerā Turmel.ā
āThe Engineerā is one of many nicknames the Ontario resident has adopted, after earning a bachelorās degree in mechanical engineering from Carleton University in the 1970s. Some of his other nicknames, such as āJiu Jitsu John,ā āSpockā and the āTaj Professor,ā seem to be ones he uses for himself on his and .
Perhaps his most notable nickname is John āthe World Record Holderā Turmel. According to the , he holds records for most elections contested (90) and lost (89), although heās contested three more elections since that count was taken in late 2016. He says the next-closest contender for his records died years ago with only thirty-something elections under his belt, so he feels quite secure in his title as the worldās most unsuccessful election candidate.
In fact, the only time Turmel wasnāt defeated in 2008, when his bid for a Guelph federal byelection victory (or loss) was by a general election.
But he says he keeps coming back to run another day because heās irked by the āgenericā nature of most politicians. āTheyāre all the same,ā he said. āNo matter what the issue, theyāre in favour of it being better.ā
Dragons, gambling, combat and courtrooms
Turmel is combative, passionate and long-winded, with strong views on gambling, government overreach and medical marijuana, to name just a few of his favourite topics. He thinks elections are rigged, the banking system is broken, and that Donald Trump is being victimized by a shadowy cabal of career U.S. government employees, dubbed the ādeep stateā by right-wing conspiracy theorists. He also strongly believes in a number of theories that fly in the face of science, such as and .
And if he ever got into office, Turmelās plan would be simple: heād legalize all forms of sex, drugs, gambling and prostitution, then heād āfix the money system and then get out of peopleās lives.ā Heād also implement what he calls his ātime-based currencyā system, which he says is based on an āequationā developed by Jesus to eliminate usury.
Turmel spends much of his time championing lawsuits against the government in court, but thatās not his full-time job. āIām a professional gambler,ā he said. āProfessional gambling is basically combat, same with politics.ā He says he āretiredā from that self-styled career two years ago, when he started receiving his pension.
Turmelās boisterous approach to politics has been well-documented over the years, both in local newspapers and, more recently, on YouTube, where video shows him being thrown out of byelections in Sault Ste. Marie (2017) and Ottawa-Vanier (2016). His own YouTube page is also a treasure trove of off-beat political views.
Turmel is also very familiar with the Canadian court system, having participated in several lawsuits, appealed a number of marijuana-related rulings or appeared to face charges on numerous occasions throughout his adult life.
He has a handful of minor convictions such as , and by breaching a publication ban on his own brotherās drug possession trial by posting about it on his website.
But one of Turmelās favourite cases to discuss is the he launched against two cast members of the reality TV show āDragonās Den.ā He appeared on a 2010 episode of the show, in which two of the Dragons mocked his pitch.
His libel suit was ultimately dismissed and his appeal request refused, but Turmel didnāt give up the cause entirely. He took to YouTube in 2011 to argue his case against the Dragons, in a that has garnered just over 200 views since it was posted.
Making a scene with the 'King of the Paupers'
Turmel is the founder and sole member of the Pauper Party of Canada, so there are few who have fought in the political trenches alongside him. His one longtime companion is his girlfriend, Eva, who has been with him for 13 years. Aside from her, he says people are ātoo dumbed downā to take on his crusade against the banks.
āMr. Spock never needed any help from the slows in reprogramming a central computer to save a planet,ā he said, in an apparent reference to Star Trek. āNeither do I.ā
One person who has been in Turmelās corner ā albeit temporarily ā is Above Znoneofthe, another independent candidate who legally changed his name from Sheldon Adelson in 2016. (The name appears as āZnoneofthe, Aboveā at the bottom of an election ballot.) Znoneofthe has contested five elections and faced Turmel in three of them, including the Ottawa-Vanier federal byelection and the Sault Ste. Marie provincial byelection. Znoneofthe received 164 votes to Turmelās 48 in the , and 313 to Turmelās 47 in .
āI was inspired by him ā once,ā Znoneofthe told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. That was in 2016, when Turmel and Znoneofthe were told they would not be allowed to participate in the Ottawa-Vanier byelectionās all-candidatesā debate. Turmel argued that independent candidates also deserved a seat at the table, in a heated exchange that was captured on video.
The video posted online shows Turmelās yelling at volunteers and, later, police. Znoneofthe can be seen sitting quietly nearby throughout the argument, which ends with both candidates being escorted off the debate stage by police.
āGet off the f***ing stage!ā a man shouts at Turmel in the video, drawing hoots and applause from the audience. His eventual departure from the stage also drew cheers and clapping.
Znoneofthe says he was thankful to have Turmel stand up for his democratic rights.
WARNING: The following video contains harsh language.
Turmel had another tense stand-off at a debate in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., last year, which Znoneofthe described as āa little unnecessary.ā He said the debate volunteers were ānice people,ā whom he didnāt think deserved to be shouted down.
āItās one thing to make a point for democracy,ā said Znoneofthe, who was also at the debate. āItās another thing to make it a stunt all the time.ā
Turmel insists heās only ever been arrested ā never charged ā for his debate confrontations.
āThey exclude me from debates, thatās how much of a motor-mouth I am,ā he said.
Znoneofthe says Turmelās theatrics can make it difficult for other independents to be seen as anything more than āfringeācandidates.
āYou think, āUgh, thatās what all those other parties are,āā he said.
āIf thatās what happens when youāre the Guinness World Record holder for running the most times, Iām not going for his record,ā Znoneofthe said. Znoneofthe says he will contest the provincial election in his hometown of Thornhill, and if that doesnāt work out, heāll change his name back to Sheldon.
But Turmel seems entirely content to remain on the fringe, where heās proud to use his democratic right to free speech to promote his āgrand, epic and righteousā cause.
And, perhaps, to build on his impressively ineffective election record.
āNo oneās ever going to crack mine,ā he says.
