he963

960619

TURMEL: HAMILTON EAST: Candidate Report #3

     I am John Turmel, leader of the Abolitionist Party of Canada, a
candidate in the Canadian federal by-election in Hamilton East. We
wish to abolish interest rates by using LETS Greendollar Local
Employment Trading System on the national level rather than the local
level.
     To that end, I've circulated at candidates' petition which reads;
     I, the undersigned duly registered candidate in the June 17, 1996
Hamilton East federal by-election, if elected, shall request that the
Government of Canada institute a national LETS Greendollar system."
     Up until Election Day, I had four other candidates to sign the
petition with me. Wendy Priesnitz, Green Party; Tristan Emmanuel,
Christian Heritage Party, Ken Campbell and Victor Knight,
Independents.
     Three candidates said no: Angie Tomasic, PC; Glenn Malcolm,
Independent Liberal; Charles Olito, Canada Party.
     Liberal Sheila Copps said it that LETS was a great system locally
but wouldn't work nationally. There I disagree.
     Natural Law Bill Amos wasn't convinced that 800 communities using
the system with great results was sufficiently scientifically proven
and wanted to see more scientific papers though there are innumerable
PhD theses on LETS out there on the Internet.
     Three were undecided: Andy Sweck, Reform; Wayne Marston, NDP; and
George Ambas, Independent couldn't decide.

While I did transcribe all the meetings where most of the
candidates were present to give you an idea of what the whole menu of
ideas was but I did not transcribe the meetings where there were only
a few of us. So I'll mention what I did say at those meetings.

My first talk show was on CHML and with me were Charles Olito,
the "use-the-Bank-of-Canada-to-do-it-right" candidate and Glenn
Malcolm, A Liberal Independent. I've posted that one as:
TURMEL: HAMILTON EAST: CHML Debate

There there were the Lake School and Beaches debates, the CFMU
debate which has been posted, then on Monday June 10, 1996 at 1a.m. to
3a.m, candidate were invited to Talk-640 Radio in Toronto. Only five
of us, Glenn Malcolm, Charles Olito, Ken Campbell, George Ambas and I
showed with Andy Sweck on the telephone.

TORONTO TALK-640 RADIO
Monday 1a.m.-3a.m. June 10, 1996

     MODERATOR GERRY GREEN: There is a by-election in Hamilton East on
June 17. And there seem to be a lot of common issues they're talking
about, they're talking about honesty, integrity, accountability,
violence, punishment, safety, fiscal responsibility..
     JOHN TURMEL: LETS.
     MODERATOR: LETS, okay. Opening statements.

     JOHN TURMEL: I'm here to tell people about a computer software
program, the Greendollar system. I know many people in Toronto know of
the Toronto Greendollar System, they've got about 700 members and it
is a Local Employment Trading System, a System for Trading Employment
Locally. And it allows people who are unemployed to register the goods
and services they wish to provide and extends them an interest-free
credit line with which they can start trading with their other
unemployed neighbors and it has not spread to about 800 towns across
the world and growing a couple of hundred every year.
     So with that many bank branches that run these Greendollar
systems out there, I am basically hoping to urge the other candidates
to support the idea of a Canada LETS where everybody is connected and
that's easily done. Many people have an American account sitting right
beside their Canadian account. How hard would it be to have a
Greendollar account sitting beside your Canadian account? And that's
why I'm asking the Government of Canada to set up a Canada LETS where
we all have an account opened interest-free, a Greendollar account, we
don't want have to use it if we don't want to. Those bright enough to
use it may. And those less bright don't have to.
     So, I've been urging the other candidates to back me in this
petition. We're hoping to send the winner of the election to Ottawa
with the petition for a Canada LETS and something good can come out of
this election. Even if I don't get elected, all I want is to see an
either Canada LETS for the whole country or at least a Hamilton Local
Employment Trading System. I think that having a large database to
operate on will really show some spectacular results.
     So, I'll be having many opportunities to explain how LETS could
solve people's problems. I just want to let you know that if you want
a lot of information on LETS, you go to the web site:
www.u-net.com/gmlets. You have talk like this in this world of the
future.
     Also, if you want to read a couple of hundred K of my stuff, I
just posted today on can.politics newsgroup or can.general newsgroup
and finally if you want to get in touch with me, my email address is
johnturmel@yahoo.com because, frankly, I don't want to spend any
money on postage and I'll take full advantage of the free stuff that's
out there.
     MODERATOR: You're listening to Connections.

     Question on gay rights:
     TURMEL: I just want to mention that the God I worship doesn't
care what Man does with his genitals. He's got bigger things to do. I
myself, well, look at, my DNA shivers when I see a good looking woman,
some other guy's DNA shivers the other way when he sees a good-looking
man. And I don't think whether my DNA shivers to the right or to the
left has got anything to do with my psychology, I think it's genetic.
God created us both that way, one to shiver one way, one to shiver the
other, and since it is genetic, I therefore believe that it was part
of God's creation and who can possibly fault it.
     I would finally say that I do not believe that the children of
parents in a homosexual relationship should have less government
resources than the children of parents in a straight relationship. Why
should a relationship with a straight couple receive more resources
for the children than a relationship of a gay couple? Looked at from
the children's point of view, any kind of prejudice seems obviously
unfair.
     So I'm just saying that we can simply make everything fair once
we institute a LETS Greendollar system. Everybody including the
children get their own interest-free credit card and then no one will
be complaining about having been unfairly treated by the system.

     KEN CAMPBELL: I would say in response to my friend John here, and
we've discussed this before, that, let's quote an expert on the
subject, Dr. Benjamin Spock said a few years ago: "Civilization is a
product of restraint on natural impulse." It's a good thing that John
restrains his impulse to chase every skirt that goes by and it's a
good thing for all of us to restrain natural impulse which can be
destructive.
     The fact of the matter is we're all incomplete persons who can
accept our incompleteness as normal and throw temper tantrums to
insist that the society accept us no matter what our destructive
inclinations may be or we may seek to move towards completeness.
     TURMEL: Gay's are statistically normal too. I'm saying that DNA-
wise, genetically, it's not their fault that they get their shiver
when they look at a man. So how can you possibly say it's
psychological when it's genetic and the proof is there.
     KEN CAMPBELL: We can say the same thing about drunkedness.
     TURMEL: No we can't.
     KEN CAMPBELL: Alcoholism is in the genetic code and don't blame
it on the person having chosen to be a drunkard. He was born that way
and we should include drunkedness in the human rights code. There
should be no discrimination based on drunkedness so drunks would be
able to drive school buses much as a flaunting homosexual should be
allowed to teach in a class-room. That's what you're saying, John?
     TURMEL: I'm sorry, I took logic in engineering and that doesn't
come close.

     Question on whether politicians lie?
     TURMEL: Can I answer that last point that politicians lie. No,
they don't. They tell what they'd like to see, they tell you what they
believe in, they tell you what we need and what we should have, but
they never tell you they can deliver it. My point is that most
politicians in elections do not offer to do anything constructive.
They simply tell you how concerned they are, what they would like to
see and then you have a choice of candidates who offer you the most
concern.
     What can an independent do in Parliament? Well, it's a new angle
being offered. In my case, I'm going in there, my program is on a
computer diskette. And I'm the only candidate and the Abolitionist
Party is the only party whose program is coded and ready to go. So
that like they say: The man with one eye is king in the land of the
blind. So that even if you have a whole Parliament full of
unsophisticated low-tech politicians, non-technical politicians, it
doesn't mean that one guy walking into the room with a quality
software can't help the situation. Just because most Parliamentarians
are incompetent to be dealing with the technological revolution
doesn't mean that the software itself can't win votes.
     And in my case, I say find out about the system, at the end of
the show I'll tell you where to go to those web sites again, find out
about the LETSystem, decided if it will work, but for God's sake, go
on out there and built yourselves one before it's too late.
     CALLER: I'm appalled at the way the media are treating the non-
major candidates. The Spectator and CHCH aren't covering them..
     TURMEL: Check the Internet.

     Question on the GST.
     TURMEL: I think the GST is a red herring. It adds up to $18
billion dollars and the interest on the national debt and provincial
and municipal debt is $180 billion dollars so that the problem isn't
how they're going to tax us, because they just promised to tax us the
same amount in a different way. And we're made because they didn't
find a way of hiding the same amount of money they're going to take
anyway, so I'm not upset about the GST because nothing would have
changed except how it looks, not how much they take. And the problem
is not how they take it but how they waste it. And when they waste 10
times the everything they collect on the GST on debt service for which
I get nothing, well, listen:
     To raise the tax or fire workers seems the choice we get,
But never is considered cut to service of the debt.
I'll pay my tax for army and police to handle strife;
I'll pay my tax for doctors, nurses who protect my life;
I'll pay my tax for all engaged repairing road and sewer;
I'll pay my tax for social servants helping out the poor;
I'll even pay my tax for bureaucrats with no regret;
But I object to paying tax for interest on debt.

     Question on gay rights after candidates left it up to referendum:
     TURMEL: There are certain times when you have to protect the
people's rights from the majority and that's what a good sheriff's job
it is to do and I keep saying: It's genetic. So why do you want to
punish somebody for something that's not their fault and that's
genetic.
     CAMPBELL: And Gerald Hannon said that pedophilia is genetic and
we'd better protect our children and the real question in settling
this issue should be the interest of the child. Every child needs the
influence of a mother and father for the development of a wholesome
nature.
     TURMEL: And if his DNA shivers to the left, there's nothing the
upbringing is going to do to change that is my point.
     OLITO: There's no proof that it's genetic. The general belief is
that it is a learned behavior.
     TURMEL: Ha ha ha ha. One kid in 10 in a family and it's learned?

That was it for that radio show.
The next piece of information to reach the Hamilton voters was my
profile in the Hamilton Spectator June 8, 1996 by Lee Prokaska and Jim
Poling on page C10:

RISING TO THE CHALLENGE

John Turmel profile:

"My mission in life is to set up a green dollar system."

     John Turmel is a full-time poker player who is using the Hamilton
East by-election to pitch his belief that Canada should scrap interest
rates and replace the monetary system with "greenbucks" or barter
money.
     Mr. turmel, who lives in Ottawa, is running for the Abolitionist
Party. He says interest rates are bad for the economy. His barter
system will help people, especially low income and unemployed
residents.
     "It's a poor person's system," said the 45-year-old. "Here's how
it works. Let's say you are from a small village and there are 100
unemployed guys. YOu invite them all to a meeting, get them to
register and list what hey are willing to work at. You produce a
master list of goods and services, complete with who is ready to work
and how many greendollars they want for it. Now you accept everybody's
IOU and lend them 500 in greenbucks. They start calling each other,
trading with each other and keeping track of their greenbucks, but
they don't pay any interest."
BUCKS DON'T INFLATE:
     If there is no interest, the green bucks don't inflate and are
always worth the same amount, he said.
     The boisterous candidate seems to relish centre stage, providing
some animated repartee at all-candidates meetings.
     donning a which hard hat bearing his poker nickname -- the
engineer-- Mr./ Turmel recites poetry about his aversion to paying
taxes, hoists placards and waves a computer floppy disk which he says
provides all the information needed to create his green bucks system.
     Amid the laughter of audience members at these meetings, he also
harks back to Hamilton roots, telling the crowd he attended the same
church as Liberal Sheila Copps.
     Mr. Turmel,l who says he spent five years picketing the bank of
Canada every Thursday, is certainly no stranger to election campaigns.
     This will be the 41st time he has run nationally, provincially or
municipally. Next year, he said, he will be in the record books for
running and losing the most times in elections. He has never won a
ballot box battle and readily admits he's not interested in defeating
Ms. Copps.
BARTER SYSTEM
     "I just want to get my message out. At the end of the day, I'd
like to have all the candidates sign a petition endorsing this barter
system. From there I want the winning candidate to bring it to Ottawa.
     "My mission in life is to set up a greendollar system around the
world as an option."
     He said he would like banks to accept his ideas. They could start
by setting up a barter account for customers who use his green
dollars.
     "The way the system is set up now, it doesn't help people," he
said. "Inflation is not more money chasing our goods, it's the same
money chasing less goods after the banks seize them in
foreclosure. It's all about the evil of interest rates."

     It's too bad they don't mention the name of the barter system
once. That's both articles where the name LETS isn't mentioned though
I find that hard to understand given I brought along a large placard
with:          L ocal
               E mployment
               T rading
               S ystem.

Monday night June 10 was the Cable 14 debate which has been
posted. It was at that debate I ascertained who supported a Canada
LETS and who did not and I had another week to try to convince them.

I spent much of the last week on the phone getting the petitions
ready and trying to convince some of the the other candidates. Anyway,
5/13 of us want a Canada LETS, this time, that's batting .385. I can
try to beat that in the next election.

On Election day, an Ottawa Sun reporter called and sent over a
photographer because they were going to do a story on the home-town
boy breaking the Guinness World Record. The photographer brought along
the large 1996 Guinness Book of World Records and took a picture of me
with my hard-hat stenciled "The Engineer" wearing my LETS disk on my
lapel with my deck of cards tie holding the record book. It was for a
story on the next day.

Then Pauline and I drove to Hamilton to present the LETS petition
to the winner at the victory party. Sheila Copps was handily returned
with 12,000 votes, twice more than her NDP opponent. The scores listed
in the paper for the major parties were:

Liberal Sheila Copps:         12,247
NDP Wayne Marston:             6,838
PC Angie Tomasic:              3,649
Reform Andy Sweck:             2,688

     The scores for the independents and minor parties was:
Ind. Ken Campbell:               289
Ind. George Ambas:               160
Canada Party Charles Olito:      155
Green Party Wendy Priesnitz:     150
Ind. Glenn Malcolm:              115
CHP Tristan Emmanuel:             77
Ind. Victor Knight:               73
Abolitionist John Turmel:         67
Natural Law Bill Amos:            63

Thank God for the Natural Law Party being there or I would have
come last. When I consider some of the candidates who beat me, I'm
hoping that someday, the joke won't be on me.

     So we went to Sheila's victory party at the Knights of Columbus
Hall. There were media trucks with satellite dishes and inside, over
half a dozen television cameras and reporters milling with party
workers coming back from manning the polls.
     Around 9p.m. when the victory is official, Sheila presses her way
through the throng of reporters to the front stage and makes her
thank-you speech.
     Of course, being 6 feet 1 inches tall and with another 4 inches
worth of white hard-hat, I'm kind of hard to miss in a crowd. All of a
sudden, during her nationally televised speech, while thanking her
opponents, she points me out in the audience:
     "My opponent, John Turmel, and his LETS program. Come on up."
     I would have loved to make it to give her my petition for a
Canada LETS which she was expecting but the crush of reporters and
microphone men around her was impassable and there was no way I could
pull off what I could have certainly considered a coup for LETS. Just
imagine. Sheila was expecting and gave me the chance to hand her a
petition from 5 of her opponents for a Canada-wide LETS, a system
Sheila herself has avowed is great on Local level. I think that might
have put LETS on the national agenda rather more quickly than I had
anticipated.
     What a depressing set of circumstances. A chance to speak on
every television network in Canada live as I present the Deputy Prime
Minister our petition for Canada LETS and I can't climb over their
reporters and camera crews to get there.
     I couldn't even reach her after the speech as she was thronged by
both supporters and media. But my Pauline did. Pauline is a member of
the Ottawa LETS and had just received her monthly statement showing
that she had earned some "Ottawa Ecodollars" by helping a young
student move.
     Pauline had met Sheila some years before at a Ottawa Board of
Trade function and they'd chatted once after meeting in a shopping
centre. She was determined to break through and her persistence paid
off. Sheila recognized her and gave her a big hug. Pauline asked her:
Do you remember me from Ottawa? Of course. I'm here with John Turmel,
which must have come as a surprise.
     Pauline gave her her copy of her Greendollar LETS statement so
she might get a better feel for how LETS works and congratulated her
on her success.

The next day, June 18, the Ottawa Sun article by Ben Rayner
titled SUPER LOSER FAILS AGAIN used the picture of me captioned:
Ottawa's John Turmel is such a loser that the Guinness Book of
World Records will recognize him for running in the most electoral
campaigns and not winning.

     Perhaps the only thing easier to predict than Sheila Copps's
victory in the Hamilton East federal by-election was Abolitionist
Party candidate John Turmel's defeat.
     Turmel's political career has been such a spectacular series of
failures the Guinness Book of World Records is about to create a new
category for him.
     And he didn't disappoint last night, easily coasting to his 41st
election loss in 17 years.
     But the 45-year-old Turmel -- a professional Poker player when
he's not running for political office -- says he's not judging his
campaign's success by whether he wins or loses.
     Turmel was more interested in getting other candidates in the
riding to support the computerized barter system of currency he's been
pushing since he founded the Abolitionist Party in 1993. He managed to
entice four of the 13 candidates to sign a petition recommending the
federal government adopt his "Green dollar" system.
     His losing streak has landed him a spot in the 1997 edition of
the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest political loser on
the planet.

I don't know why they stress my second record for most electoral
losses and rarely my first record for most electoral races run.
It's more fun focusing on the greatest loser in the world. That might
be funny when they someday take into consideration that I was one of
the greatest winners in the world, at the card tables, anyway. I've
probably won over $4 million in my career so far. After all, I was the
Teaching Assistant of the only Mathematics of Gambling course in
Canada for four years and it's funny that someone so versed in the
theory of winning would end up being the world's greatest loser at
anything without a really good reason.
And someday, they'll believe me when I say that I think
installing a Global LETS is a life-and-death issue. And if I have to
save everybody in order to save myself, then so be it.

     This has been a very interesting election and I hope that I've
left some seeds in Hamilton. We'll see if one doesn't sprout in the
next few months as I continue to pursue those other candidates to
still add their names to my petition to Sheila.
     I also hope that you have enjoyed reading the various positions
of the political parties and I hope you're starting to see the common
lines used by all others who do not have a source of funding to deal
with the problems and are only interested in getting in there and
letting their good intentions do the best they can.
     Well, that's not good enough. If they can't answer: If elected to
govern, what would you do first? without reverting to describing the
complexity of the problems and their concerns, then they're really
running with no solution in mind.
     Usually, I say that none of the other candidates have the
solution but in this case, I can't. Both Charles Olito and Victor
Knight are absolutely correct that the Bank of Canada could be
operated like a government Canada LETS using federal dollars instead
of Greendollars as simply as switching programs at the Bank of
Canada's computer. If one of these two gentlemen were elected, I'd
have to say that we would be on the right road. I can only fault them
in that they have as yet not completed the program update as I have.
Even Ken Campbell, though not going into details, offers interest-free
financing on his program. And Green Wendy Priesnitz's Green Party
already advocate LETS on the local level.
     I can only see that it's encouraging that others have also
properly diagnosed the monetary disease. I think that the real
question is how to most quickly get the new program installed? And I
bet that pushing the idea as the new LETS program with world-wide
proven results is better than pushing the idea as a reform of the old
banking system.
     As for all the other candidates who do not offer a solution to
the lack of money, I can only wonder at what they're thinking as they
ask for the reins of control while knowing that they have no idea what
to do with them when they get them other than to try to to their best
at hanging on.
-------------------------------

960708

TURMEL: HAMILTON EAST: Candidate Report #4

     I am John Turmel, leader of the Abolitionist Party of Canada, a
candidate in the Canadian federal by-election in Hamilton East. We
wish to abolish interest rates by using LETS Greendollar Local
Employment Trading System on the national level rather than the local
level.
     To that end, I've circulated at candidates' petition which reads;
     I, the undersigned duly registered candidate in the June 17, 1996
Hamilton East federal by-election, if elected, shall request that the
Government of Canada institute a national LETS Greendollar system."
Four other candidates have sign the petition with me. Wendy Priesnitz,
Green Party; Tristan Emmanuel, Christian Heritage Party, Ken Campbell
and Victor Knight, Independents.
     Three candidates said no: Angie Tomasic, PC; Glenn Malcolm,
Independent Liberal; Charles Olito, Canada Party.
     Liberal Sheila Copps said it that LETS was a great system locally
but wouldn't work nationally. There I disagree.
     Natural Law Bill Amos wasn't convinced that 800 communities using
the system with great results was sufficiently scientifically proven
and wanted to see more scientific papers though there are innumerable
PhD theses on LETS out there on the Internet.
     Andy Sweck, Reform, is looking into it. Wayne Marston, NDP says
it's worth a second look; and George Ambas, Independent can't decide.

I mailed off the petitions to Sheila Copps with the following
cover letter:

#Date: Mon Jul 8 1996
#
#Sheila Copps,
#Hamilton East MP,
#House of Commons,Ottawa.
#
#Dear Ms. Copps:
#     Please accept my congratulations on your election victory. I
#could not reach you on election night to present you with my petition
#for a Canada LETS but certainly appreciate the opportunity you gave me
#to make my presentation at that time. I'd have loved to have been able
#to make that presentation but climbing over the bodies of reporters
#and microphone men to reach you would not have offered the necessary
#decorum for a serious presentation.
#     As you mentioned at the Cable 14 debate, the Local Employment
#Trading System seems to be working great on the local level yet you
#still have some doubts as to its efficacity in creating employment on
#the national level. I have always argued that the national and
#international will be the levels at which the program will shine.
#     As you'll note in the transcript of Maggie Dheam's statements in
#the Australian Parliamentary debates, LETS has been showered with
#accolades by the members and legislation exempting Greendollar
#earnings by welfare recipients was passed unanimously as an
#enhancement to self-help.
#     I would like to bring your attention to the fact that at the
#beginning of 1996, Canada Health funded a University of Toronto study
#on the health benefits of LETS. It encourages me to see the government
#seriously looking into the beneficial effects of LETS. As I have no
#idea on what was discussed on the application for those funds, I would
#wonder if it might interest you to have your staff find that
#application and also send me a copy which would allow us both to
#consider what Canada Health knows so far.
#     Enclosed is the petition of John Turmel, Abolitionist Party of
#Canada, Wendy Priesnitz, Green Party of Canada, Tristan Emmanuel,
#Christian Heritage Party of Canada, Victor Knight, Independent, and
#Ken Campbell, Independent. You'll note by the broad spectrum that this
#question of installing LETS on larger national databases is a
#technical question in which political considerations do not seem to
#arise. Just as we can all agree that the engineering design of a
#bicycle is sound whether it's being ridden by a Liberal or a Tory, so
#too, we can all agree that the engineering design of the LETS is sound
#whether it's being advocated by a Liberal, Green, Abolitionist, etc.
#     I would hope you find courage to follow in Maggie Dheam's
#footsteps and be Canada's champion for LETS Employment.
#     Indebted for your mention and the wonderful opportunity you
#afforded me, I am,
#Sincerely yours,

So another election has come and gone. I hope that some progress
has been made in the promotion of a Canada LETS and maybe the next
election, there might even be more candidates and parties in favor.
-------------------------------

TURMEL: HAMILTON EAST: Mission Accomplished

Throughout the whole election, I kept repeating that my goal was
not simply to get elected but mainly to find convince someone in the
area to start up their own LETSystem.

Mission Accomplished:

#HAMILTON SPECTATOR, Page A13
#Thursday July 18, 1996.
#By Rashne Baetz
#
#CREATING WORK BY WORKING TOGETHER
#
#Some Hamiltonians look at launching a system of locally-traded work
#and goods that lets people keep functioning economically even if
#they're short of cash
#
#     Uncertainty about the economy is the order of the day. Doubts
#about job security and dwindling bank accounts make many of us wish we
#could be more independent of the ups and downs of the global economy.
#     Community-based economic systems that work alongside the
#mainstream economy can offer us ways to continue functioning
#economically even if we don't have much money in the bank. They can
#help us to create our own employment opportunities while also leading
#to a more vibrant local economy.
#     One of the most promising community-based economic systems,
#developed in Canada and catching on worldwide, is called "LETS" --
#Local Employment Trading System. Anyone who wants to participate in a
#more personal economy, as well as the unemployed and under-employed,
#can benefit from the opportunities created by a LETS.
#     Local Employment Trading Systems were invented by Michael Linton
#when his small community of Courtenay B.C. was devastated by the
#economic recession of the early 1980s.
#     Nearly 500 LETS were operating worldwide by 1994, according to
#Barbara Brandt, author of Whole Life Economics. Recent estimates from
#sources on the Internet indicate that this number has mushroomed to
#about 2000 LETS today. Community activists in Hamilton plan to soon
#start a LETS in the Hamilton-Wentworth area.
#     So how does Local Employment Trading System work? It can be
#started by a number of people in a local community who get together to
#trade goods and services. Each person lists what he or she has to
#offer, with prices attached, as well as what each needs from others.
#     When people work for others, they get paid in "green dollars."
#When others work for them, they owe "green dollars" that they promise
#to pay back in goods or services to anyone in the network of users.
#     "Green dollars," while representing the value of a Canadian
#dollar, are not printed currency. Rather, they exist as information on
#each member's debits and credits. Although it has elements of
#conventional electronic banking, there are significant differences.
#     Accounts start at zero and build up to a positive balance when
#you do something for others in the system. A negative balance is also
#considered desirable, as it shows that you have employed others and
#represents your commitment to pay back in the future.
#     There is no interest charged. Money in the LETS is created by its
#members each time an exchange takes place.
#     There is a simple yet powerful difference between LETS and one-
#to-one barter. You don't have to give back to the same person from
#whom you receive. You can give back to anyone in the system. Steve can
#buy music lessons from Karen and do gardening for Bob. Bob can buy
#furniture from Jill who can do dental work for Dave.
#     The Canadian Government has ruled that green dollars earned in
#the pursuit of your own profession are subject to income tax. GST and
#PST is charged on any transaction that would otherwise involve these
#taxes in the conventional economy. That is, these taxes would apply to
#the business transactions of firms or individuals that do over $30,000
#of business a year.
#
#A $250,000 MINI-ECONOMY
#     The Toronto LETS that started six years ago boasts a quarter of a
#million dollars a year of trading amongst its 740 members. Members
#there pay an annual fee of $25 Canadian. Negative balances are limited
#to $1,000 (green). There is also a limit of $2,000 (green) on positive
#balances to encourage members to use the services of others in the
#system.
#     A vast array of services are offered in the Toronto LETS,
#including accounting, computer tutorials, calligraphy, cleaning,
#photography, gardening, dentistry and accommodation. Goods offered
#recently include a printer, organic produce and furniture.
#     Mary-Beth Raddon, a member of the Toronto LETS, points out that
#because of the nature of the system, it is not easily exploited. The
#moral pressure of knowing the people you are dealing with acts as a
#strong incentive to be a team player. If a person does take off
#without putting back into the system, which seldom occurs, the whole
#system is able to absorb the loss.
#     Even regular shops can participate in the LETS. In the B.C. LETS,
#some shops sell locally-produced goods in greendollars and imported
#goods in ordinary dollars. Others accept 90% regular money and 10%
#green money so they can cover their costs in cash. The local dentist
#gives treatments to LETS members for half regular money and half green
#money.
#
#ATTRACTIONS
#     Economist Guy Dauncey in his book, After the Crash: The Emergence
#of the Rainbow Economy, explains the essential qualities of Local
#Employment Trading Systems which make them attractive:
#     - they are simple to operate and compatible with the existing
#system of money;
#     - they enable money to remain what it is -- information. The
#decentralized nature of a LETS attaches the creation of money directly
#to its source -- our creativity as people;
#     - transactions are personal, sparking connections and friendships
#in a local community;
#     - they encourage initiative and help build self-esteem;
#     - because transactions have to be between members of a local
#community, they stimulate the local economy.
#     Rather than seeking to replace the ordinary economy, Local
#Employment Trading Systems are complimentary to it. They are
#essentially useful in difficult economic times. Green money can keep
#flowing when conventional money dries up. When communities become
#increasingly self-reliant, they are not as subject to the upheavals of
#the global marketplace.
#     There is comfort in a time when even national economies, let
#alone our individual economic prospects, are caught up in forces
#seemingly beyond our understanding, let alone control.
#
#LOCAL POSSIBILITY
#- The idea:
#     Local Employment Trading Systems involve local people who come
#together to trade goods or services using a system of credits and
#debits rather than money for payment.
#- The appeal:
#     You don't need money to employ someone or buy something and you
#don't need a job to put your skills to use.
#- Local possibility:
#     Anyone interested in starting a Local Employment Trading System
#in the Hamilton area can attend a meeting tonight at the Self-Help
#Centre, 255 West Avenue North (across Barton St. from the Hamilton
#General Hospital) at 7p.m.
#     For information on the meeting or the plans, call 383-5484.

On Monday July 29, 1996, I sent a follow-up to Sheila Copps, the
Liberal Government victor in the by-election.

#Date: Mon Jul 29 1996
#
#Sheila Copps,
#Hamilton East MP,
#House of Commons,Ottawa.
#
#Dear Ms. Copps:
#
#     Enclosed is a July 18, 1996 Hamilton Spectator article about a
#Local Employment Trading System being started up at the Hamilton Self-
#Help Centre.
#
#     As you know, most of these self-help centres operate on little
#funding and it would be greatly appreciated if you or your
#constituency office could offer any help in obtaining grants or other
#government support?
#
#     As you may note in the article, where I had told you that there
#were 1,000 LETS around the world, the article tells us that there are
#actually closer to 2,000.
#
#     I had also told you that there were 12 in France. I found out
#that the Paris LETS coordinator says there are actually 109 and the
#list of all LETS in France can be found at: http://www.altern.com/sel/
#
#     The growth of LETS around the world had been quite breath-taking
#and now that one is being started in Hamilton, I hope you take this
#chance to nurture the growth of Local Employment in your own back-
#yard.
#Yours truly,

It would have been more effective to have been able to do my
campaigning for a Canada LETS from within Parliament but working on
the winning politicians is the next best thing.

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