Entering the electoral fray His campaign to legalize gambling and the notoriety he received as a result, combined with his family's background in social credit ideology, led Turmel to seek election at the federal level for the first time at the age of 28, as an independent candidate in Ottawa West in the
May 1979 federal election in which he ran as the self-described "champion of hookers, gamblers and dope smokers" He ran as an "independent Abolitionist" in a September 14, 1998, federal by-election in
Sherbrooke, Quebec. In 1999, he won 106 votes as an Abolitionist Party candidate in a March federal by-election in
Windsor—St. Clair, Ontario, which was more than the margin by which
Liberal candidate
Rick Limoges defeated
Joe Comartin of the
New Democratic Party.
Early 2000s In 2000, Turmel ran as an independent candidate in the September
Kings—Hants (Nova Scotia) federal by-election against Progressive Conservative leader
Joe Clark. He won 89 votes as an independent candidate in
Ottawa West—Nepean in the November federal election. In the same year, he made a presentation to the United Nations on the interest-free UNILETS resulting in Millennium Declaration Resolution C6 to governments to use an alternative time-based currency to restructure the global financial architecture. In 2002, Turmel attempted to run for the leadership of the Marijuana Party but the leadership election was called off after Turmel showed up to contest the election. Turmel won 295 votes as an independent candidate in
Brant riding in the
2003 October provincial election. His 56th campaign was for Mayor of Ottawa in the
November 2003 municipal election, when he collected 1,166 votes. He also tried to resurrect the
Libertarian Party of Canada, but was prevented from doing so when former members re-registered the name first. Turmel ran as an independent candidate and placed fifth with 120 votes in a May 13, 2004, provincial by-election in
Hamilton East. He placed last of eight candidates as an independent candidate in the March 17, 2005, provincial by-election in
Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey and placed last in Brant riding with 213 votes in the
2006 federal election. Turmel was convicted of drug possession in March 2006, resulting from a one-man protest on
Parliament Hill in Ottawa three years earlier. Turmel had taken three kilograms of marijuana to the hill, and openly smoked a joint in front of politicians and security officials. He announced plans to appeal. The conviction was rendered on the same day as a provincial by-election in
Nepean—Carleton, in which Turmel was a candidate. In 2003, Turmel acted as a party to
Hitzig v Canada, a civil suit instrumental in reforming the
Marihuana Medical Access Regulations and the status of medical cannabis in Canada generally. Turmel ran as an independent candidate in a 2008 by-election in the riding of
Guelph. On Monday, August 25, he disrupted a televised debate involving candidates from the four major political parties to which the other four candidates had not been invited to participate. He yelled out his objections so loudly that the moderator of the debate could not be heard. He was eventually removed from the venue, the River Run Centre, by the Guelph police. The by-election was pre-empted by a
federal election call in which Turmel re-filed his candidacy for the same riding – he came in tenth out of eleven candidates receiving 58 votes. On September 10, 2009, police were called after Turmel lost control and disrupted an all-candidates meeting during the provincial by-election in Ontario's
St. Paul's riding. Angry at a moderator's rule which forced residents to direct their questions at four of eight candidates, thus effectively limiting his opportunity to speak, Turmel lashed out and ran around the church hall shouting at debate panelists and audience members that he'd go back onstage when he could answer too. At one point, the debate had to pause as a group of attendees attempted a citizen's arrest. Turmel stated that he would "ruin everyone's night" because "mine was ruined".
''Dragon's Den'' On January 13, 2010, Turmel appeared on the CBC television show ''
Dragons' Den'' pitching his
Local exchange trading system scheme, asking the panel of entrepreneurs to invest $100,000 for a program which would use poker chips from a local casino as currency at local businesses in Brantford, Ontario. The "dragons" said they didn’t understand Turmel's presentation and mocked him.
Kevin O'Leary told Turmel he should "burst into flames" and fellow dragon
Jim Treliving told Turmel he was "blowing air up a dead horse's ass". Turmel initiated a lawsuit against the CBC as a result of the program. His complaint was rejected by the Ontario Court of Appeal in July 2011. On December 8, 2011, the
Supreme Court of Canada denied Turmel's subsequent request for
leave to appeal. He indicated, however, that he would be willing to serve as prime minister if offered the role by Canada's elected parliamentarians, as per
William Aberhart's rise to the premiership of Alberta in 1935 if the Engineer's Dream Team of chosen other party candidates were elected.
Pauper Party Turmel contested the
2011 Ontario provincial election as founder and leader of the newly formed
Pauper Party of Ontario. stating "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." Turmel has subsequently run in Ontario by-elections under the "Pauper" banner.
Recent by-elections In 2012, Turmel again ran as an independent, this time in the
March 19 federal by-election in
Toronto—Danforth to choose a successor to
Jack Layton. He ran on a campaign pushing for mass production of
marijuana to fight cancers he says are coming from the "nuclear fallout that hit us from
Fukushima". In 2023, he was a candidate in the
Hamilton Centre provincial by-election, the
Oxford federal by-election, the
Scarborough—Guildwood provincial by-election, and the
Kitchener Centre provincial by-election. In 2024, he contested the
Milton provincial by-election, the
LaSalle—Émard—Verdun federal by-election, and the
Bay of Quinte provincial by-election. ==Vexatious litigation==