Social Credit Party of Canada

The Social Credit Party of Canada was a conservative - populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform. It was the federal wing of the Canadian social credit movement.

Denouement: 1981–1993

After Fabien Roy's resignation, the party chose Martin Hattersley in 1981 as interim leader over Alberta evangelist Ken Sweigard. Hattersley was an Edmonton lawyer and former British army officer.

Related Topics:
Fabien Roy - Martin Hattersley - Ken Sweigard

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In the May 4, 1981 by-election in Levis, Quebec, the party nominated Martin Caya. Caya placed 6th in a field of 7, winning 367 votes (1.1% of the total), ahead of renegade Socred John C. Turmel. Turmel, running as an independent, won 172 votes.

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In the August 17, 1981 by-election in Quebec, party president Carl O?Malley placed 5th in a field of 8 candidates, with 92 votes (0.2% of the total). Turmel won 42 votes, placing last.

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Hattersley resigned in 1983 when the party would not drop from its membership three outspoken Albertans accused of anti-Semitism.

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In June 1983, Alberta-based evangelical minister Ken Sweigard was elected leader by means of a telephone conference call of 19 party executive members, with 9 votes to 5 votes for party vice-president Richard Lawrence. Quebec party member Adrien Lambert was nominated, but could not be reached by telephone. He nonetheless won two votes.

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When the call began, two candidates were in the race -- professional gambler John Turmel of Ottawa, and tractor dealer Elmer Knutson of Edmonton, the founder of West-Fed, a western Canada separatist movement.

Related Topics:
Ottawa - Elmer Knutson - Edmonton

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Turmel's candidacy was rejected on the basis that his membership had been suspended. Turmel subsequently formed the Christian Credit Party, and later, the Abolitionist Party of Canada, both based on social credit principles. Knutson failed to win endorsement because he was not well known by the members of the executive. Knutson subsequently quit the party to form the Confederation of Regions Party.

Related Topics:
Christian Credit Party - Abolitionist Party of Canada - Confederation of Regions Party

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The meeting decided to appoint an interim leader until a leadership convention could be held in September 1983. If that convention was held, it is presumed that Sweigard was confirmed as leader.

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In the 1984 election, the party nominated 52 candidates in 51 ridings, and collected a total of 17,044 votes (0.13% of votes cast in all ridings). Two candidates ran as Social Credit candidates in the BC riding of Prince George-Peace River. The party's strength remained in Quebec and Alberta, but also ran candidates in BC, Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick.

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Sweigard resigned as leader in 1986. The party's leadership was subsequently won by the socially conservative Ontario evangelical minister Harvey Lainson, who defeated holocaust denier James Keegstra by 67 votes to 38 at a delegated convention in Toronto. Lainson's campaign focused on gun rights and an opposition to abortion and the metric system. Although very conservative, Lainson was not affiliated with the anti-Semitic groups that endorsed Keegstra.

Related Topics:
1986 - Socially conservative - Ontario - Harvey Lainson - Holocaust denier - James Keegstra - Toronto - Abortion - Metric system

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The party nominated Andrew Varaday as its candidate in the 1987 Hamilton Mountain by-election. He won 149 votes (0.4% of the total), placing last in a field of six candidates, which included John Turmel (166 votes).

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In the 1988 election, the party nominated 9 candidates: 6 in Quebec, 2 in Ontario, and one in BC. These candidates collected a total of 3,408 votes (0.02% of votes cast in all ridings). The BC candidate, running in New Westminster-Burnaby, won 718 votes (1.3% of the total).

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In 1990, the remnant of the federal Social Credit party was taken over by social conservative evangelist Ken Campbell, who rechristened it the Christian Freedom Social Credit Party, and later the Christian Freedom Party.

Related Topics:
1990 - Social conservative - Ken Campbell

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In 1990, the party nominated two candidates in by-elections, each of whom won 96 votes. In the February 12 by-election in Chambly, Quebec, Emilian Martel placed last in a field of six, winning 0.2% of the total vote. Party leader Ken Campbell placed 7th out of 10, winning 0.4% of the total vote in the August 13 by-election in Oshawa, Ontario. John Turmel placed last with 50 votes in this race. This appears to have been the last time that the Social Credit Party nominated a candidate at the federal level.

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The party failed to nominate at least fifty candidates for the 1993 election, and was dissolved by Elections Canada on September 27, 1993. Its candidates in that election were reclassified as Independents.

Related Topics:
1993 election - Elections Canada - 1993

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Though it no longer functions as an electoral party, Social Credit still exists as an incorporated entity in the form of the Social Credit Party of Canada, Incorporated under which Ken Campbell publishes political advocacy material in order to preserve his ministry's status as a religious charity.

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