TURMEL POLITICAL PRESS 1984
840324Sa
Ottawa Citizen, Bert Hill
Gauvin wins "loitering" appeal case
The Ontario Court of Appeal Friday overturned the conviction of former
Ottawa mayoral candidate Marc Gauvin of a charge of loitering in
connection with a confrontation during a televised debate. Mr. Justice
Charles Dubin ruled Gauvin may have been trespassing but there was
evidence to support the loitering charge.
He had been convicted of loitering after he refused to leave the stage
of a televised CBC debate. He and other fringe candidates were
excluded from the debate. The original $500 fine was reduced to $200.
Dubin said Gauvin was not loitering at the debate because as a
candidate and member of the public, he had a purpose in being there.
"When he refused to leave the platform when requested, he was a
trespasser perhaps but not a loiterer." Dubin also said the CBC
program which allowed fringe candidates only a small role was
misconceived. CBC officials refused comment. Gauvin was delighted at
the ruling and he plans similar protests in future if broadcast media
do not treat all candidates the same. "I'm interest in the more
profound question of how candidates are treated and that message got
through to the judges."
840601Fr
Ottawa Citizen Letter, John Turmel
In Eric Hamovitch's article titled `Nicaraguan election unlikely to be
fair," he points out that the media give the party in control an
overwhelming advantage over the other parties. I'd point out that in
the United States, the media give an overwhelming control to only two
parties and in Canada to only three parties. People who live in glass
houses should not throw stones.
840612Tu
Ottawa Citizen, Greg Weston
Front-runners lucky in draw for positions for keynote speeches
Liberal front-runners John Turner and Jean Chretien have drawn time
slots for Friday's keynote speeches. Chretien will speak last and
Turner second last. By chance, the rest will be speaking in direct
ascending order of their positions in the latest polls.
840615Fr
Ottawa Citizen, Chris Hall
Gambler-politician ordered to cease slamming Keeping
Gambler ordered to stop calling newsman a cheat
Pictures of Max and me.
Gambler and fringe politician John Turmel was ordered Thursday to stop
exhibiting signs calling CJOH-TV news director Max Keeping a "cheat."
County Court judge McWilliam granted an injunction to Keeping and
Bushnell Communications, owner of the Ottawa station, to prevent
Turmel from displaying any libelous or defamatory statement against
the popular anchorman.
Station lawyer K.L. Boland told the court Turmel began picketing last
week on the sidewalk in front of CJOH's Merivale Rd. studios carrying
a sign that said, "Max Keeping is a cheat." He said the statement was
defamatory because it was untrue and would lower Keeping's reputation
in the minds of the public. He said Keeping's reputation was important
to him as a journalist and Turmel shouldn't be allowed to tarnish it
untruthfully.
Keeping and Bushnell filed a damage suit Tuesday against Turmel in
county court because of the statement on the sign. The injunction last
until the damage suit is heard. Boland added the picketing began
shortly after a June 1 Ontario Supreme Court ruling dismissing a claim
by Turmel for damages from CJOH for defamation.
Turmel said the station prevented him from participating in a Dec. 6,
1983 televised debate among candidates in SDG and left "a lot of right
thinking people with the impression that he just didn't bother to show
up." Using a number of mathematical formulas to show he was denied
equitable air time with the other candidates, Turmel said Keeping
"cheated" him by barring him from the debate, which affected the odds
and outcome of the election and prejudiced his candidacy.
Boland replied Turmel's failure to have criminal charges laid against
the station for denying him air time and the failure of other civil
actions supported the application for an injunction. "When he failed
in the courts, he went out in the street with a sigh meant to damage
Mr. Keeping's reputation. That's his intention." McWilliam said
Turmel's narrow mathematical definition of cheat would not be
understood by passers-by, who might think it meant that Keeping had
defrauded him.
Ottawa Citizen,
Convention Notebook
It's in the book: John Turner is the bookies' choice. They made him
the 3-to-5 favorite to win the Liberal leadership race. Jean Chretien
is a 7-to-2 underdog. The rest of the field would pay 150-to-1 odds.
840622
Letter to the Editor unpublished.
Dear Sir:
As an expert witness accepted by three provincial courts in matters
related to gambling, I must point out that the betting line published
in the June 15, 1984 'Convention Notebook' on the Liberal leadership
race seriously over-rated John Turner or under-rated Jean Chretien.
John Turner was stated as a 3:5 favorite, Jean Chretien was stated as
a 7:2 underdog and any one of the rest of the field would have paid
150:1. Therefore, a $10 bet on Turner would have paid $6, a $10 bet on
Chretien would have paid $35, and a $10 bet on the field would have
paid $1500.
For a betting line to be a good line, the money taken in from the
losers must exceed the money paid out to the winners. A middle occurs
when wise bettors can hedge their bets in such a way that they either
win or break even so that the money the bookie takes in from the
losers is less than the money he pays out to the winners. The
published line was a bad line because it allowed a huge middle.
To explain how to have middled the bookie's line, imagine that you
have $900 with which to make a combination of bets on Turner,
Chretien, and the Field. The object is to find a combination of bets
such that no matter what the outcome of the election, you will win or
break even.
A Turner bettor would hedge his bets by betting:
1) $6 hedge-bet on the Field to win $900;
2) $200 hedge-bet on Chretien to win $700;
3) the remaining $694 on Turner to win $416.40.
1) When the Field wins, the Turner bettor ends up with a $900 win and
the original $6 hedge-bet for a total of $906, a small increase over
the original $900 started with;
2) When Chretien wins, the Turner bettor ends up with $700 and the
original $200 hedge-bet for a total of $900, no increase over the
original $900 started with;
3) But when Turner wins, the Turner bettor ends up with $416 and the
original $694 bet for a total of $1110, a large $210 increase over the
original $900 started with.
A Chretien bettor would hedge his bets by betting:
1) $6 hedge-bet on the Field to win $900;
2) $564 hedge-bet on Turner to win $338;
3) the remaining $330 on Chretien to win $1155.
1) When the Field wins, the Chretien bettor ends up with a $900 win
and the original $6 hedge-bet for a total of $906, a small increase
over the original $900 started with;
2) When Turner wins, the Chretien bettor ends up with a $338 win and
the original $564 hedge-bet for a total of $902, a small increase over
the original $900 started with;
3) But when Chretien wins, the Chretien bettor ends up with a $1155
win and the original $330 bet for a total of $1485, a large $585
increase over the original $900 started with.
A Field bettor would hedge his bets by betting:
1) $200 hedge-bet on Chretien to win $700;
2) $564 hedge-bet on Turner to win $338;
3) the remaining $136 on the Field to win $20,400.
1) When Chretien wins, the Field bettor ends up with a $700 win and
the original $200 hedge-bet for a total of $900, no increase over the
original $900 started with;
2) When Turner wins, the Field bettor ends up with a $338 win and the
original $564 hedge-bet for a total of $902, a small increase over the
original $900 started with;
3) But when the Field wins, the Field bettor ends up with a $20,400
win and the original $136 bet for a total of $20,536, a whopping
$19,636 increase over the original $900 started with.
The reason I have gone into such depth on how anyone could have
middled the published line is because such a great middle indicates
that Mr. Turner was given a greatly exaggerated advantage over Mr.
Chretien which could have had an unfair influence on those people who
like to join the bigger bandwagon and bet on the favorite.
I feel that given the serious nature of the political events that can
be unfairly influenced, the political organization in charge of
running the contest or the publisher should in future check any
betting lines that are to be published for middles that would indicate
that the odds quoted are not accurate. With the availability in Ottawa
of many statisticians and of Dr. Walter Schneider, the professor of
Canada's only Mathematics of Gambling course who teaches at Carleton
University, there is no reason that betting lines on future events,
especially important ones, should not be mathematically checked out.
One consolation is that the bookie who missed such a large middle
probably won't be in the bookmaking business long enough to make such
an influential error again.
CC: Jean Chretien, John Turner, W.S. Schneider, Iona Campagnolo.
840616Sa
Ottawa Citizen, Dan Karon
Price of by-election victory? $7 a vote
CORNWALL -- Noble Villeneuve spent $86,692 for his 12,097 votes, about
$7 per vote. Liberal Johnny Whitekker spend $36,231 for his 8,122
votes, about $4.46 per vote. NDP Rudi Derstroff spent $19,277 for his
627 votes, about $30.66 per vote. John Turmel spent $115 for 97 votes,
about $1.19 per vote.
[jct: Listed under
"Nature of expense: "Fees for motions requesting participation in
electoral debate .... $85. Supplier: Federal Court of Canada."
840702Mo
Ottawa Citizen, Phil Makin
Self defenders tread in unfriendly world
More taking own cases to court
`Quote of the day'
"I call this guerrilla lawfare. Who says some peon can't pick up a
rifle? You can't call him a soldier but he can still shoot." Political
aspirant John Turmel believes anyone can be his own lawyer. p9
Tucker represents one extreme of that hardy, independent and sometimes
eccentric breed who have the brash self-confidence to walk into the
closed, alien atmosphere of the law court and take on the natives.
John Turmel, an Ottawa political fixture who has run in 16 elections,
has also found time to appear in court about 100 times. "I'm sure I
hold all records" he said. "I've also had seven motions in the Supreme
Court of Canada. I call this guerrilla lawfare. Who says some peon
can't pick up a rifle? You can't call him a soldier but he can still
shoot."
Mr. Turmel is helping a friend, Marc Gauvin, prepare his Supreme Court
of Canada appeal of his own acquittal. The acquittal was based on the
wrong grounds, Mr. Gauvin claims. "That may never have been done
before either -- appealing your own acquittal," Mr. Turmel says.
"This is a serious effort," Mr. Gauvin says. "Some of us who go to
court are not flakes."
Mr. Turmel says judges, by and large, have been quite receptive to his
courtroom presentations because they are serious efforts backed by
research. "I've put in four years of study. I see young lawyers making
the same mistakes I made." Mr. Turmel agrees that few can overcome the
complexities of a legal case. "They achieve the purpose of making it
so complicated not even lawyers know where to go. It is built and
designed to be needlessly complicated. There are no checks on
quality." But even the citizen who dauntlessly pushes ahead and
acquires some expertise may run into one insurmountable roadblock, Mr.
Turmel says. In the final analysis, all can go for naught because
judges can close their eyes to anything.
840721Sa
Ottawa Citizen, Jane Coutts
Ottawa gambler asks court to have TV debates a "fair game" with all
the players
It's a long shot but professional gambler John Turmel wants the court
to open next week's leadership debates to more than the big three
parties. Turmel as asked the FCC for a motion that would force the
CRTC to adhere to the letter of its regulations and ensure that next
week's leadership debates are open to leaders of all parties. Turmel
says the TV debates are not being run in accordance with CRTC
regulations which say free-time political broadcasts must be made
available "on an equitable basis to all parties and rival candidates."
But Global, CBC and CTV have only invited leaders of the three major
parties to speak. "I'm an expert on gambling and anytime you have
three or four candidates left out, you don't have a fair game." He
said he wants the court to force the CRTC to supervise the debate,
rather than rule on complaints after the fact.
A similar motion will be made Tuesday to the Ontario Supreme Court by
Turmel's friend Marc Gauvin who will also ask for an injunction to
stop the debates. Turmel says he's bringing the motion on behalf of
Canadian voters because, as a voter, to hear the views of every party.
Turmel has been named in a lawsuit by CJOH anchorman Max Keeping for a
protest he mounted after being excluded from an all-candidates debate
in the SDG by-election. He picketed CJOH with signs Keeping's lawyer
called defamatory after the Supreme Court of Ontario dismissed his
charges against Keeping.
840723Mo
Toronto Sun, UPC
Court bid to stop leaders' debate
OTTAWA -- An Ottawa man wants a federal court to block the televised
debates among leaders of the three main parties because he says other
registered federal parties have been left out.
John Turmel, a 33-year-old engineer, self-described "gambler" and
perennial fringe candidate in election campaigns, said he filed an
application with the FCC to have the CRTC force the producers of the
debates to make time available to all parties. If this is not done,
the programs should be prevented from going on the air, Turmel said. A
spokesman for the CRTC said its lawyers had received a package of
legal documents related to the application and would be in court
tomorrow. His application quotes a section which says free time
political broadcasts must be available "on an equitable basis to all
parties."
840724Tu
Regina Leader Post
Bid made to halt televised debate
OTTAWA -- Political gadfly John Turmel goes too the Federal Court
today in a last-minute bid to block this week's televised debates
between the leaders of the country's three major parties. The Ottawa
gambling engineer and fringe candidate, engineer, and fringe candidate
in several elections is taking on the networks and the CRTC because
the leaders of other parties weren't invited to participate. Turmel
has filed an application in the Federal Court in Ottawa asking to have
the debates cancelled unless all registered political parties can
participate. He wants the CRTC to supervise the debate with all the
party leaders. Another application has been filed in the SCO asking
for an injunction against televising the debates.
At last count, Canada had 19 political parties. Some, like Social
Credit, are well known to the voters. Others are little known outside
their own circles. The list of fringe parties includes: Revolutionary
Labor Alliance, National Canadian Party, Commonwealth Party,
Confederation of Regions, Unity party and a party for businessmen
based in Montreal.
The thought of packing 19 leaders into a television studio for a
debate is enough to give most TV producers nightmares. "We couldn't
put it on television," CTV vice-president Don Cameron said Monday. "It
would be physically impossible." CTV, CBC and Global plan to carry the
English debate. Cameron said it's planned not as a partisan political
broadcast but as a "journalistic exercise" with a panel of reporters
posing questions to the three leaders. "The format was chosen because
only they elected MPs in the last election. (and they're going to help
keep it that way.) Plans for the debate are going ahead despite
Turmel's suits.
Turmel said it's unfair to give only the three major parties air time
and maintained that Canadian broadcasting regulations require coverage
during a campaign to be "equitable." But a lawyer for the CRTC said
the commission judges the question of fairness over the length of the
campaign, not just for one event like a debate. (ignores that the
round robin cannot be fulfilled) And the CRTC does not equate fairness
with equal time, he added.
Turmel is best known in Ottawa as the guy in the white hard hat who
parades every Thursday with a small band of followers in front of the
Bank of Canada building or the Parliament Buildings to protest the way
the bank rate is set. He often carries a sign calling Gerald Bouey,
governor of the bank, a "crook."
Toronto Star, CP
Two men ask courts to block TV debates
Two men are scheduled to go to court today in a bid to block this
week's television debate among the 3 national political party leaders.
Green party member Marc Gauvin 26, said television networks are
violating CRTC rules by excluding other party leaders in the debate.
He's asking the SCO for an injunction to stop the debate until after
the Aug. 7 deadline for nominations of candidates.
John Turmel, a perennial fringe candidate who describes himself as a
professional gambler, filed a motion late last week asking the FCC to
forbid airing of the TV debates unless the leaders of all registered
parties can participate.
LIKELY TO RUN
Gauvin said that he'll likely be running as a Green party candidate in
an Ottawa riding, and that the party backing him will be fielding more
than 50 candidates in the election. On that basis, the Green party has
status as a federal political party and one of its founders, Trevor
Hancock of Toronto, should automatically be included in any television
debate among national party leaders, Gauvin said.
As a mayoralty candidate in Ottawa in 1982, Gauvin was arrested and
held in custody three hours and held in custody 3 hours when he walked
into a television station and tried to take part in a TV debate among
the leading candidates. He was charged with loitering but was
acquitted, he said.
Turmel, who regularly pickets the Bank of Canada Governor Gerald Bouey
on Parliament Hill has contested municipal, provincial and federal
elections and always lost.
Vancouver Sun
Campaign Digest
The Green party and the Rhinoceros party are miffed at being left out
of the two televised debates. Paul Watson, Green candidate for
Vancouver Centre, said Monday the parties are sending official
complaints to the CRTC and to the three television stations carrying
the debates. "It is a leadership and we feel we should be represented"
he said.
840725We
London Free Press, Warren Caragata C P
Turmel loses case against two debates
OTTAWA -- The Federal Court of Canada dismissed an application Tuesday
from political gadfly John Turmel that would have forced cancellation
of the televised leaders' debates, the first of which began only hours
after the ruling was handed down. Turmel, a perennial fringe
candidate, had gone to the court asking it to force the networks to
include the leaders of the other 16 registered political parties or
cancel the debates as unfair. A similar move by Marc Gauvin, an
associate of Turmel's who asked the Ontario Supreme court in Toronto
for an injunction against the debates, was rejected by Justice Joseph
Potts. Federal Court Justice Francis Muldoon had reserved judgment
after a two-hour hearing Tuesday morning, saying he needed some time
to figure out Turmel's argument. In his five-page decision issued
later, Muldoon said giving equal time to all candidates could be as
inequitable as not giving the time "because such an arrangement could
be most unfair to those whom the vast majority of voters have favored
at the polls. Pretending that a "plethora of parties expressing a
cacophony of contending policies are all of equal weight is more than
a parliamentary democracy can, with reasonable stability, withstand,
he said. Muldoon, however, gently slapped the wrists of federal
regulators for not giving broadcasters clear enough directions on how
they should provide equitable coverage.
Turmel, who calls himself a member of the Green party although he has
previously run federally and provincially as an independent and under
the banner of what he calls the Christian Credit party, argued his own
case in court. The Ottawa engineer and self-proclaimed professional
gambler, his white hard hat sitting on the polished wooden desk beside
his lectern, told the court that by the principles of Boolean algebra,
Venn diagrams and other such mathematical esoterica, the debates
involving Turner, Broadbent and Mulroney were unfair and undemocratic.
During his dissertation, Turmel also brought in the political
situation in Nicaragua, his university marks, and electrical circuits
into play. At one point, a genial Muldoon interrupted to say: "You're
getting rather far afield."
Turmel said the networks were doing a disservice to Canadian voters by
allowing Broadbent, Turner and Mulroney to present their solutions
which would not work while he had solutions that would work but had no
opportunity to set them forth. "I'm not so sure you know what to do
either" Muldoon said. Turmel said the CRTC was not doing its job of
making sure the debates were fair to all Canadian political parties.
His actual request to the court was for an order requiring the CRTC to
supervise the debate so it would be equitable to all parties or order
the networks to take it off the air.
CRTC lawyer Bill Howard told the court the broadcast regulatory
commission does not have the power to tell the networks how they
should run their programs. While the CRTC has issued guidelines to
make sure broadcasters are fair to all parties during an election
campaign, Howard said "equitable" coverage does not necessarily mean
equal time. The networks provide time for all political parties during
a campaign. The debates, however, are not considered free time
advertising because they are run by the networks, which consider them
part of their news coverage. In Toronto, Potts commended Gauvin for
standing up for what he thought was right but said he must realize the
concept of democracy is never a perfect concept. "We must take a
realistic view of it," Potts said. "This is not a mathematical
concept."
Toronto Star
Court rejects bid to halt debate or have 16 other leaders join
The Federal Court of Canada has dismissed a perennial fringe
candidate's bid to have the televised leaders' debates expanded or
cancelled. John Turmel asked the court to force the television
networks to include the leaders of the nation's 16 other registered
political parties or cancel the debates as unfair.
(Where they got the notion that there were 19 parties amazes me but it
is a convenient mistruth that makes it look impossible for it to be
done and makes me look stupid for asking. When in a corner, lie.)
The ruling was handed down yesterday only hours before the French
language debate started in Montreal. They will debate in English
tonight.
In Toronto, Ontario Supreme Court Justice Joseph Potts rejected a
similar move by Marc Gauvin -- an associate of turmel -- who asked for
an injunction against the debates. In a 5 page decision delivered in
Ottawa, FCC Justice Francis Muldoon said giving equal time to all
candidates could be less fair than giving the air time. "Such an
arrangement could be most unfair to those whom the vast majority of
voters have favored at the pools," the judge wrote. Pretending "that a
plethora of parties expressing a cacophony of contending policies is
all of equal weight is more than a parliamentary democracy can, with
reasonable stability, withstand, Muldoon wrote.
CHRISTIAN CREDIT
Muldoon criticized federal regulators, however, for not giving
broadcasters clear directions on how they should provide equitable
election coverage. Turmel said he is a member of the Green party,
although he has previously run federally and provincial as an
independent and under the banner of the Christian Credit party.
Neither Turmel nor Gauvin are spokesmen for the Green party, said
Trevor Hancock, a founder of the environmentalist party in Canada.
"They're not financed by the Green Party of Canada, nor will we
endorse their candidacies" if they run in the Sept. 4 election,
Hancock said. (So Hancock, the supposedly figurehead leader has
decided to use the full power of the leader to disallow our
memberships in the federal contest. I'm sure he did it on his own with
no input from other Greens in Canada.)
An engineer and self-described professional gambler, Turmel argued his
own case in court. During his dissertation, Turmel referred to
Nicaraguan politics, his university marks and electrical circuits.
"You're getting rather far afield," Muldoon remarked.
Citizen didn't print the story.
London Free Press
CRTC finds no imbalance in political TV debates
The election campaign television debates are not unfair to non-
participating political parties, the CRTC has ruled. The CRTC answered
a letter to the commission from the Rhinoceros party, which questioned
section 3 of the Broadcasting Act requiring broadcasters to allot fair
and equitable time to each registered party when offering free time
telecasts. Only the Liberal, PC and NDP are participating in the
nationally televised debates. The Rhinos say there are 18 parties in
Canada and it appeared to be unbalanced with only 3 in the format. The
CRTC said the rules of balance do not have to be applied to a
particular program or debate as long as the balance is provided over
the course of the election campaign. The commission also said that in
its view, there is no legal obligation on the part of broadcasters to
include the other parties in the current debate format. At the same
time, the CRTC announced that a formula for paid political
announcements in the evening prime time has been worked out among the
federal parties. The Liberals get to buy 173 minutes, the PCs get 129,
the NDP get 69, the Rhinoceros get 8 minutes, the Libertarian get 5.5,
the Communist Party 5.5. The Canada Elections Act requires that
broadcasters make a total of 6.5 hours commercial prime time available
to all political parties in aggregate during the campaign. The parties
then sit down with the CRTC and work out the amount of commercial time
they wish to purchase within the guidelines.
840801We
Ottawa Revue
Greens running in Ottawa Centre
John Dodson has announced he'll be running for the Green Party of
Canada in Ottawa Centre. The 34-year-old food store employee has
worked for the Greens since the party organized in Ottawa last year.
At press time, Dodson had not added his own ideas to the basic Green
party platform.
Ottawa Citizen, Abby Deveney
Turmel faction disputes Green party nomination
The Ottawa chapter of Canada's Green party entered federal politics
Tuesday, mired in controversy. While some Green party members have
announced that John Dodson would represent Ottawa Centre, others,
dissatisfied with the way Dodson was chosen, elected Gordon McLeod to
represent a break-away chapter of the party.
McLeod defeated perennial bank-basher John Turmel at a nomination
meeting attended by about 40 Green members who are unhappy with the
earlier nomination of Dodson. Turmel, a local gambler, placed his
first bet on the political table in May, 1979. Since then, he's run --
and lost by huge margins -- in all municipal, federal and provincial
contests.
"The decision to select Dodson was made arbitrarily," says party
member Marc Gauvin who ran unsuccessfully in the 1982 mayoral race.
"We just heard about them choosing him. They never held or called a
meeting." National leader Trevor Hancock acknowledges a nomination
meeting wasn't called and Dodson was chosen by party faithful. (Core)
But he says the splinter group attempted to take over the chapter with
a last minute membership drive forced the party to pick a candidate
this way. "There was clearly an attempt by an individual to take over
our chapter with his own supporters," Hancock says. "There is no
evidence that this person has a `Green' set of values and
philosophies." (No evidence is the cop-out line of someone with his
eyes closed who doesn't want to see any evidence. Did he know of my
demonstrations so I can call him or Trotter a liar?) About 15 members
who helped found the Ottawa chapter chose Dodson.
840803Fr
Ottawa Citizen
Troubled Greens to conduct new nomination
The Green party had two candidates nominated for the Ottawa Centre
riding before a general meeting of its Ottawa Chapter Thursday. Now it
has none.
The Greens invalidated the nominations of both John Dodson and Gordon
McLeod and called a new nomination meeting for Sunday night too sort
out the chaos that has plagued the party's entry into federal
politics. (I can understand invalidating Dodson's unelected nomination
but I don't understand invalidating McLeod's) Dodson was named last
week by a small group of founding members to stand in Ottawa Centre.
Other members protested a candidate being chosen without consulting
the rest of the Ottawa chapter, so they held a nomination meeting
Tuesday and elected McLeod (to which Dodson and Vezina had been
invited). Dodson says he won't run again. John Turmel, who lost to
McLeod, could not be reached to see if he will again seed the
nomination. McLeod said he will be a candidate.
840807Tu
Ottawa Citizen, Christina Spencer
Police called as Greens nominate 4 candidates
Ottawa fledgling Green party built on a platform of peace had a mini-
war on its hands Sunday. The party nominated 4 candidates for area
ridings at a raucous meeting marred by shouts from a small band of
supporters of professional gambler John Turmel. (She distorted it by
failing to mention that I had only 1 supporter less then the others
and made it look like we were a small group of trouble-makers.)
Police were called twice to evict Turmel and supporter Marc Gauvin as
the two hurled insults at other members. (Another lie. All I ever said
was that the proceedings were undemocratic.) Candidates were
eventually nominated over the shouts of Turmel's brother Ray, who
remained at the meeting after Turmel and Gauvin had been expelled.
Turmel has been charged with trespassing. About 50 people attended the
meeting which was called last week after opposing factions of the
party selected their own candidates to represent some ridings. But
chaos erupted almost immediately with the pro-Turmel faction claiming
the meeting was not valid. "It's unfortunate this has to happen,
particularly to such a young party," said Green spokesman Greg Vezina,
nominated to represent the Greens in Nepean Carleton. The party
executive had earlier named John Dodson as its candidate without
holding an election. Turmel, saying the nomination had not been
democratic, called a meeting of the membership last week and elected a
series of candidates for Ottawa area ridings.
The executive refused to endorse those nominations and Sunday night's
meeting was called to resolve the issue. Vezina said the executive was
opposed to what it saw as Turmel's attempt to take over the party and
use it to promote his economic theories. "If someone tried to take
over any party, it would try to expel him. I think people are
intelligent enough to realize that. We named a candidate in the first
place to try to avoid this."
(she doesn't mention that those she calls the executive are simply a
bunch of people with no real elected power)
(He isn't intelligent enough to realize that he's saying that he's
against the democratic principle of trying to get out the vote.)
Turmel, who has been a member since February, denied he was trying to
take over. "I'm fighting for what I think is right for this party. If
signing up members and getting support means taking over the party,
then you could say any candidate for any party is trying to take it
over." He said as a result of the Sunday meeting, he plans to run as
an independent candidate against the party's leader Trevor Hancock of
Toronto. The Green slate chosen Sunday is made up of John Dodson in
Ottawa-Carleton, Greg Vezina in Nepean-Carleton, Gord McLeod in Ottawa
Centre, and Kevin Benson in Ottawa West. Turmel said at least one of
his supporters will run as an independent candidate in each of those
ridings to oppose the Greens. This slate will include his mother
Therese, a former school teacher and translator, he said.
Le Droit, Carole Landry
Official Greens against independent Greens
To end a recent controversy, the official candidates are ... But the
end to the controversy has not satisfied all the members. Some are
going to run as independents to stress their dissatisfaction with the
procedures followed. John Turmel will run against Green Party leader
Hancock in Toronto, Marc Gauvin in Ottawa Centre, Serge Girard in
Ottawa Vanier, Ray Turmel in Nepean Carleton and Mrs. Therese Turmel
in Ottawa West.
It all started when Trevor Hancock named John Dodson in Ottawa Centre
after a meeting of the original members. A fraction of the members
objected and decided to hold a "more democratic" meeting. At this one,
Gordon McLeod was selected even though John Dodson had the approval of
the national leader.
On Wednesday, a third meeting took place where the members in
attendance decided to invalidate all nominations and start anew. The
next meeting did not take place without animosity and John Turmel and
Marc Gauvin were expelled. Mr. Turmel explained that the decisions
taken were not supported by the constitution.
Greg Vezina added that the party had suffered because of the
controversy "We are a party who tend towards consensus and we didn't
think that some Greens would have had the intention of controlling the
party."
840808We
Ottawa Revue
A few hitches, just one arrest
The Green Party now has four candidates running in the Ottawa area.
But the nomination meeting Sunday night went off with hitches and one
arrest. John Turmel, a professional gambler and bank-basher who has
run for office at all levels, was thrown out of the meeting and
charged with trespassing . He will appear in court Wednesday. Turmel's
brother Ray and supporter Marc Gauvin "attempted to disrupt the
meeting" by bringing in a video camera, which party officials ordered
them to remove, and by yelling "point of order" (QoP) repeatedly while
party officials were trying to proceed with the nominations, according
to one candidate. (who are these party officials?) Turmel called the
meeting "stacked" but was not available for comment.
Greg Vezina will run for the Greens in Nepean-Carleton. John Dodson
has been moved over to run in Ottawa-Carleton. Last week, he was
declared the candidate in Ottawa Centre but party officials conceded
to charges Dodson was nominated unfairly. Gordon McLeod will take his
place in Ottawa Centre and Kevin Benson will run for the Greens in
Ottawa West.
840810Fr
Ottawa Citizen Editorial, Russell Mills
Nightmares in technicolor
The Green Party, entering its first federal campaign in Canada, has
had enough trouble establishing its credibility without being linked
to John Turmel, who believes interest rates are the root of all evil.
Turmel, whose devotion to Green party issues such as the environment
and world peace has never figured prominently in his many dismally
unsuccessful political campaigns, has been causing much mischief for
the Greens of late.
After the party executive appointed a candidate in Ottawa Centre
without the formality of a nominating meeting, Turmel took it upon
himself to call a meeting last week which chose Green party candidates
in local ridings. Not surprising, the party executive was less than
enchanted by this turn of events. It invalidated the Turmel selections
and called a new meeting last week to pick the party's official
candidates for area ridings. Turmel and a small band of followers
managed to disrupt that meeting so badly that police were eventually
called and trespass charges laid against him.
This is not the sort of publicity that a fledgling party dreams of
receiving during an election campaign. It's enough to give the Greens
the blues -- or make them see red.
Globe & Mail, CP
Court asked for injunction to stop leaders' TV debate
OTTAWA -- Once bitten but never shy, political gadfly John Turmel is
again asking the courts to rule that tomorrow's nationally televised
election debate among the leaders of the three major parties is
unfair. Mr. Turmel asked the Federal Court yesterday to hold a special
hearing on his application for an injunction against the broadcast or
an order opening it up to everybody else. A similar application was
turned down last month when Mr. Turmel challenged the first leaders'
debate. Associate Chief Justice James Jerome is expected to decide
today whether the court will hear the case. Mr. Turmel who is running
in Beaches tried unsuccessfully to take over the environmentalist
Green party in Ottawa where he lives. He espouses economic notions
similar to those by Social Credit in the thirties. Tomorrow's debate
is held under the auspices of the National Action Committee on the
Status of Women and will deal with women's issues.
840815We
Kingston Whig Standard, CP
Judge denies fringe candidate spot at women's issues debate
The Federal Court has turned thumbs down yesterday on an attempt by
perennial fringe candidate John Turmel to open up tonight's televised
debate on women's issues to all political parties. John Turmel, a
perennial fringe candidate in various elections, wanted his case heard
today, but Associate Chief Justice James Jerome denied Turmel's
request to have his case heard today noting that Federal Court Justice
Francis Muldoon had turned down a similar attempt by attempt just
before the previous debate in July.
Turmel's brother Ray and a friend Marc Gauvin, are pursuing similar
actions today in both the Ontario Supreme Court in Toronto and Quebec
Superior Court in Hull.
Ottawa Citizen
Therese Turmel, the 55 year-old mother of perpetual fringe candidates
John and Ray Turmel, said she is running in the election because she
and her sons have the solution to the country's troubles. A national
barter system would solve the funding problems which are at the root
of all the country's economic and social problems.
840820Mo
Ottawa Citizen, Charles Gordon
All candidates meetings display uniqueness of individual ridings
Despite television, advertising agencies, backroom computers, we have
not all become homogeneous mush. Every riding is different. Drop in at
an all-candidates meeting some time.
In Ottawa West, independent candidate Therese Turmel, of the amazing
Turmel family, flashed a picture of her grandchild. She also had, on a
computer diskette, "an equation done by an engineer" -- presumably her
son John, seated in the front row along with his brother Ray, a
candidate in Nepean Carleton. The diskette contained a solution to the
funding problems to which every political issue could be reduced. She
waved the diskette, which had something to do with Abraham Lincoln
issuing scrip, at the audience each time it was her turn to answer.
"See? Funding," she said. She even managed as the hush fell over the
crowd to apply the diskette to a question on abortion: "I believe that
whoever wants to get an abortion, her main reason is poverty ..." She
waved the diskette. There was a question on whether the opera could be
brought back to the NAC. Lloyd Francis said he was in favor of opera
and Therese Turmel said she did not hear the question but had heard
enough of the other answers to know that it was a question of funding.
840822We
Ottawa Citizen, Beth Burgess
Three excluded, police called to rowdy election debate
Police were called during a rowdy all-candidates' meeting in Ottawa
Centre Tuesday night. A debate between the candidates for the Liberal,
PC, NDP, Communist and Green party deteriorated into an angry quarrel
when 3 independent candidates demanded to be allowed to participate.
The scheduled issues of unemployment and poverty were all but lost as
organizers struggled to gain control of the meeting and the crowd
traded insults with the 3 candidates.
Independent Marc Gauvin started the controversy when he refused to
leave the stage reserved for the 5 invited candidates. Fellow
independent candidates Roger James and Ray Joseph Cormier jumped into
the fray yelling from the floor for equal treatment. The meeting was
delayed, the police were called and many of those in attendance left
while other heckled the 3 candidates. Several police officers arrived
in the hall to check what was going on but the dispute was resolved
without police action. Gauvin was ejected by police from another
candidates' meeting two weeks ago. In 1982, as mayoral candidate, he
was arrested when he refused to leave the stage of a CBC debate
between the two leading candidates in Ottawa. (She doesn't mention he
was acquitted.)
Members of the unemployment committee of the Ottawa District Labor
Council who organized the meeting at St. Luke's Church on Somerset St.
decided to solve Tuesday's dispute by asking the crowd to vote on
whether the 3 candidates should speak. The crowd narrowly supported
the 3 candidates' right to participate. (Marc says it was a distortion
since it was obvious enough they didn't even have to count the votes.
Standard distortion though. She says it was a narrow victory but it
wasn't.) But the meeting didn't get much better. People talked and
fidgeted, the crowd of 150 quickly dropped to a handful.
One candidate, James, screamed at the crowd to shut up while he was
talking. Organizers admitted the evening was a flop. "The reason we
didn't want all the candidates here was because we wanted the major
candidates to deal fully with the issues of poverty and unemployment,
said organizer Peter Cavers. "But with this kind of situation all we
could get was superficial answers." (As if they ever had in-depth
answers or solutions) Some members blamed the meeting's failure on the
disruption made by the independent candidates. (They love to use the
word disruption when little guys insist on their time. I wish they'd
add disruption of the undemocratic format.) "The independent
candidates tried to make a big issue out of a non-issue," said Carol
Lane. "If they were concerned about the people in the area, especially
those that are poor and unemployed, they would have talked about
poverty and unemployment instead of about themselves."
Ottawa Revue , Darlene MacDonald
Turmel running again, without the Greens
John Turmel has one aim: to get justice from all those who act
dictatorially. With that brush, the 33-year-old systems engineers
leaves few institutions untouched. From the Bank of Canada to the
Green Party, with which he has tried to associate himself, Turmel
pulls out all the stops to achieve his goals. Unconcerned with his
public notoriety, the man the call the gambler has an almost obsessive
dedication to the oath he took as a graduate electrical engineer at
Carleton university. "As an engineer, we take an oath of integrity.
Being scientifically trained, we don't have any excuse if our system
breaks down for a scientific reason," says Turmel.
As the only self-proclaimed systems engineer in the country to have
specialized in banking systems, which he later applied to the
operation of his own casino, Turmel detected a flaw in the banking
system -- that of the interest rate. For 5 years, Turmel has set out
to single-handedly lobby for a reprogramming of the entire system.
"All I need is to be prime minister for a day, even just chief
engineer, then I could get into the Bank of Canada's central computer,
re-program the system to operate on a pure service charge. That has
been the thrust of Turmel's strategy throughout his nearly 100 motions
before the courts, seven of which have reached the SCC, his
affiliations with the Social Credit party and the fledgling Christian
Credit party and his tireless campaign for the preservation of
democracy. Turmel has run in 16 elections on all levels in the past 5
years.
Denying criticism he is a publicity seeker, Turmel spouts Biblical
passages and feels strong identification with past religious leaders
who have advocated a free market by the abolition of interest rates.
Turmel has attached the name Greenbacks to his system modeled after
Abraham Lincoln's Greenback system. I prophesy that when the
electronic revolution gets fully implemented, this is the money
program that will be used," Turmel adds, waving the computer disk that
contains the Greenback program, that he will then have the last laugh.
"A prophet is never recognized in his own land."
The Greenback system operates on the idea that people pay their taxes
by working for the state of city. So, in exchange for services
rendered, the worker receives tradeable tax credit notes. The working
model for the system is not operating on a local level in British
Columbia. Some 1,000 Vancouver Island residents are supplementing
their cash income with "Greendollars" under a bartering system called
Local Exchange Trading System.
But it this economic theory which has caused dissension between Turmel
and the Ottawa chapter of the Green party. National chairman, Trevor
Hancock, refused to endorse the candidacy of Turmel on the grounds
that he is using the Green party to "push his own particular economic
theories and that he did not fully support the principles of the
party." Infuriated, Turmel is seeking to rid the party of the
"totalitarian element" which he says exists among a small clique of
the top Greens and prevents freedom of expression among the general
membership. "If you want to push an idea such as my Greenbacks theory,
you pick a party that most closely has your goals, join it and work to
add your goals if they aren't there or further them if they are. I'm
as Green as any of them. I've been at all the demonstrations. I was
the guy with the umbrella full of holes at the acid rain
demonstrations."
By accusing him of not sharing their objectives, Turmel contends the
"Core of the party" does not want to encourage members to push their
own ideas rather they are to express Hancock's philosophies. For that
reason, Turmel plans to run in Toronto riding of Beaches as an
independent and defeat Hancock on his own territory. Turmel was
responsible for calling the unofficial nomination meeting which
followed the party faithful's appointment of John Dodson to represent
Ottawa Centre. In the succeeding meeting in which the candidates for
the Ottawa area were officially chosen, appeasing the faction of the
party that believed the appointment of Dodson was undemocratic, Turmel
was arrested on a charge of trespassing. Unwilling to let the incident
pass, Turmel is waiting for the constitutional documentation Greg
Vezina promised to produce to show why the first party meeting was
invalidated.
Turmel's most recent venture was a motion before the Federal Court of
Canada to force the CRTC to adhere to the letter of its regulations
and allow the leaders of every political party to take part in the
leaders' debate. In particular, he referred to the section which says
that free time political broadcasts must be made available on an
equitable basis. Having failed in this attempt, Turmel has a couple of
other strategies left to explore.
For instance, Turmel suggests that if the Independents formed a
coalition of 280 candidates, Max Keeping or anybody else couldn't keep
us from a major debate. We will use any legal motions necessary to try
and block debates going on without us. The second strategy which he
guarantees will be "clogging the courts," is an attempt to block air
time given to NDP leader Ed Broadbent. "If the Federal Court judge
says it's unfair to the majors (the leading parties) for the minors to
get equal time, then I want Ed Broadbent to get less time. After all,
if you're going to be undemocratic, do it consistently, not just to
some people." He adds with a laugh "I'm doing this as a chance to
corner them into contradicting themselves." (Jerome made sure there
was no chance for them to contradict themselves)
840823Th
Ottawa Citizen, Beth Burgess
Independents charged in local riding fracas
More than 900 Ottawa Centre voters cheered as police arrested two
independent candidates Wednesday night when they refused to leave the
stage the candidates' debate at Glebe Collegiate. Marc Gauvin and Ray
Cormier climbed on the stage just before the debate was to begin and
yelled at the crowd to support their right to address the voters but
the crowd booed the candidates yelling at them to get off the stage.
They applauded as police led the two from the schools auditorium.
Gauvin and Cormier were later charged with petty trespassing and
released by Ottawa police to appear in court Aug. 29.
The arrests delayed the meeting by about 10 minutes. Gauvin and
Cormier, along with a third independent candidate, Roger James, made a
similar protest at a candidates' meeting at St. Lukes. Although police
were also called that night, no charges were laid after organizers
held a vote to decide whether the candidates should be allowed to
speak. A crowd of about 100 voted in favor of allowing the candidates
to stay. But organizers from the Glebe Community Association who
sponsored Wednesday's debate weren't so accommodating. "We
specifically invited the 3 candidates from the major parties" said
association vice-president Jim McCarthy. "With 9 candidates running in
the riding, we would have had to have an hour of opening statements
and each question would take almost half an hour to finish. We
consider that an unsatisfactory situation." McCarthy said the minor
candidates were offered time to address the crowd toward the end of
the meeting (when all the media had gone home). Only one, James,
agreed to do so. "The arrests were a very unfortunate way to begin the
evening but it turned out to be a good hot meeting and I think it
proved our point that people are here to listen to the main
candidates," McCarthy said.
840827Mo
Ottawa Citizen, April Lindgren
Fringe Candidates
The grand-daddy of local fringe candidates is John Turmel, the
professional gambler who had run in 16 elections in 5 years. He is
running in Beaches in Toronto this time but has 5 independent
candidates spreading word of his "economic solution" in the Ottawa
area. He calls it the Abraham Lincoln job-funding Greenback program --
a barter system programmed onto a computer disk that Turmel wants to
plug into the Bank of Canada's computer system to solve the country's
problems "within days."
In addition to his mother, Therese, and brother, Ray, Mireille Landry,
Serge Girard and Marc Gauvin are running locally to promote the plan.
Both Gauvin and Cormier were charged with petty trespassing recently
when they jumped onto the stage of an Ottawa Centre meeting and yelled
for the crowd to support their right to address the voters. Organizers
of public meetings in most area ridings often have invited only the
Tory, Liberal and NDP candidates to participate saying the meetings
would last too long if everyone was included and that they didn't
invite one independent candidate without inviting them all.
There are 61 independent candidates across Canada and another 23 who
say they have no affiliation. In 1980, there were 55 independents and
55 with no affiliation.
Ottawa Citizen Letter, Jim Poushinsky
As one of the two original organizers for the Ottawa Greens, I would
like to point out that John Turmel is correct in stating that the
Green party fails to operate democratically. Dr. Trevor Hancock wrote
his name in as leader of the Greens when a 100 name petition was
forwarded to register the federal political party. The subsequent 3
day founding convention attended by 167 delegates representing 4500
Greens across Canada refused to endorse Hancock as leader or
spokesperson. Many of the Green candidates seeking office have good
ideas and personal qualities despite their poor judgment in forming a
politically expedient alliance with Hancock's unrepresentative regime.
I hope we will all learn from our mistakes and get on with the
greening of planet Earth once this election madness passes.
840901Sa
Le Droit, Manon Raiche-Pincine
Moniere: The media ignored us
GATINEAU -- The Nationalist party was the victim of the "Hygrade
Sausage" syndrome. It's this that explains why his party didn't do too
well. Like the Hygrade sausage, the more you eat, the fresher they are
and the fresher they are, the more you eat, you could say about the
TV, the more you say about us, the more we get and the more votes you
get, the more you say about it, said Denis Moniere in Gatineau. He had
come to meet his Outaouais candidates and says that his party is not
dead and even though the campaign didn't reach its natural clients.
Le Droit
Defending the PN
Jean Paul Harney, the president of the NDP in Quebec and candidate in
Levis, has come to the defence of the Parti Nationaliste who did not
get free air time out of CBC and should have gotten it. He is going to
complain to the CRTC that this situation shouldn't happen again.
840903Mo
Ottawa Citizen
SERGE GIRARD, INDEPENDENT
Serge Girard says there are two culprits in Canada's ailing economy:
the banks and interest rates. The independent candidate has the answer
for at least one of these problems. Abolish interest rates. Girard,
34, a supply teacher, has allied himself politically with Ottawa's
most famous also-ran politician John Turmel. In a proposal vaguely
reminiscent of the Social Credit line, Girard says his political
allies would abolish interest rates and set up a barter system. He
says the group would also outlaw insurance. If a house burned down,
area residents would help the victim rebuild.
THERESE TURMEL, INDEPENDENT
Therese Turmel believes she has the solution to the country's problems
on a small computer disk. The 55 year-old mother of perpetual fringe
candidates John and Ray Turmel is staking her political fortunes on
Abraham Lincoln's job-funding Greenback program programmed onto the
disk by her "genius son John." The program involves bartering for
labor and goods, abolition of interest rates and a system that would
allow everyone to issue and manage their own money supply. This
Turmel's first venture into politics as a candidate but she says she
is an experienced campaigner having worked for her sons in their ill-
fated attempts to gain office at all levels. The former teacher and
translator who has been on a disability pension since 1971 also
pickets regularly in front of the Bank of Canada on Thursdays to
protest bank policy and interest rates.
RAY TURMEL, INDEPENDENT GREEN
One of the main issues in this election is the threat to democracy by
the biased media, says independent Green candidate Ray Turmel. Big
Brother is taking over, it's as simple as that, said the 32 year-old
Gatineau resident who "fights banks" with his brother John. We should
have limitless money," he says explaining that people should be able
to borrow as much as they need without paying interest on it.
Ironically, Turmel survives financially to the banking system he
abhors. His father dies recently and Turmel, his wife and two children
live off the interest he was bequeathed. Turmel says he chose to run
as an independent Green because he was denied a fair opportunity to
seek the official Green party nomination.
MARC GAUVIN, INDEPENDENT
Independent candidate Marc Gauvin's platform is all on a computer
disk. The disk outlines a monetary system to end unemployment and
inflation that was developed by professional gambler John Turmel
(notice how they always mention gambler and never engineer. A program
developed by an engineer would be more difficult to denigrate.) Gauvin
says the government could solve the economic crisis by giving the
unemployed interest-free tax credits. "Until we solve the economic
problem, we'll never be able to solve the problems of the environment,
disarmament, poverty and hunger." He was nominated to represent the
Green party in Ottawa Carleton but decided to run as an independent.
840905We
Halifax Chronicle Herald, Ken McQueen CP
Turmel fails to stop election
OTTAWA -- At 11:11a.m. Tuesday, James Jerome, associate chief justice
of the Federal Court of Canada, appeared to stifle a sigh as he
announced "Call the Turmel matter." The matter was an attempt by
perennial candidate and amateur lawyer John Turmel to have the Federal
Court order the Chief Electoral Officer to cancel Tuesday's federal
election. The fact that thousands of voters were already streaming to
the polls in all parts of the country except the westernmost pacific
zone didn't appear to affect Turmel, an Ottawa resident running
Toronto Beaches riding.
Jerome accepted about 15 minutes of enthusiastic argument by Turmel
before dismissing his application. It was at least the third time in
this campaign that Turmel has tried and failed to get the Federal
Court of issue injunctions related to the election or election
television coverage. This time Turmel argued the election was
"tainted" because he and other independent or "small party" candidates
haven't received what he considered fair television coverage. Having
failed to halt the election, Turmel presented the court with a
petition signed by 15 independent candidates who want their $200
election deposits back. "I have been the victim of an undemocratic
election" Turmel said.
Le Droit `REQUETE POUR ANNULER L'ELECTION'
Journal de Montreal `EN BREF'
Le Devoir `LES ELECTIONS AURONT LIEU'
840920Th
Ottawa Citizen, Charles Gordon
Being in a crowd makes you think about your fellow man
Special Agent, I suppose you've been studying how the behavior
patterns of the city have been affected, Special Agent?
Of course, sir. You know how every Thursday these people wave signs in
front of the Bank of Canada condemning interest rates?
Yes.
Well, yesterday, they moved to Wellington St. and waved them at the
Pope.
They thought interest rates were his fault?
No. They thought that was where the crowd was.
840925Tu
Ottawa Citizen, Chris Hall
Turmel fined for trespassing at meeting
The Green Party had John Turmel seeing red Monday. The professional
gambler and perennial candidate was fined $53 after a Justice of the
Peace Gerry Binda convicted him of trespassing Aug. 5 at a Green party
nomination meeting. Turmel said he will appeal the conviction and fine
to the Provincial Court.
He was charged after twice being evicted from the meeting which had
been called to resolve the dispute between Turmel and his supporters
and the party executive. (Executive?) The dispute arose over the
manner in which party candidates were nominated to run in Ottawa
ridings during the Sept. 4 general election. (They never told the
people how my meeting operated. Though they mentioned the other was
not democratic, they never mentioned mine was fine.)
841023Tu
Ottawa Citizen, Dennis Foley
Federal candidate convicted of trespassing at meeting
A fringe candidate in last month's federal election was found guilty
in provincial court of trespassing during an Ottawa Centre candidates
meeting at Glebe Collegiate. Ray Joseph Cormier, 40, a self-styled
religious prophet, argued he had a right under the charter of rights
to address the meeting sponsored by the Glebe Community Association.
But james McCarthy, Association vice-president, told the court the
gathering was not billed as an all-candidates' meeting. Six candidates
had been told they could speak after the main debate among the
Liberal, PC and NDP candidates. When Cormier and Marc Gauvin refused
to leave the stage, they were charged with trespassing. "You cannot
impose your views on the people who organized the meeting" Justice of
the Peace Gerry Binda said in finding Cormier guilty. When the minimum
fine of $53 was imposed, Cormier said he would not pay it on principle
and wanted jail instead. Binda told Cormier he would have to wait the
customary 15 days allowed to pay a fine allowed under the Provincial
Offences Act before exercising that option. `The alternative is 6 days
in jail. Gauvin's trial is set for Nov. 7.
841106Sa
Ottawa Citizen, Charles Gordon
Demonstration downtown gets typical Ottawa reaction
Two things happen at every demonstration in Ottawa. The first thing is
that demonstrators from other causes try to get in on the act. The
second is that downtown Ottawa ignores it.
Ten thousand people could parade down Bank St. dressed as transvestite
white mice and people would just go about their business. Only John
Turmel paid attention. Ever resourceful in his campaign against the
Bank of Canada, Turmel carried a sign that linked crime to poverty,
poverty to banks. "Are you hanging the right people?" he shouted as
the policemen as they passed Sparks St. "Yeah you!" one policeman
shouted back.
841116Fr
Ottawa Citizen, CP
RCMP probing complaints of improper voting conduct
The RCMP is investigating complaints of improper conduct during the
federal election... Two people were disorderly at an all-candidates
meeting during the campaign.
841129Th
Ottawa Citizen
Independent candidate John Turmel suggested the province's funding
problems could be solved by using the Greenback system, which involves
working for the government in exchange for tax credit notes.
841130Fr
Ottawa Citizen
John Turmel, a perennial independent, said the housing shortage could
be solved through his Greenback system, which would put people to work
for the government building new homes for pay in tax credit notes.
Ottawa Citizen, Anne McNeilly
Ottawa Centre candidates
In Ottawa Centre, six candidates are vying for the seat left vacant by
MPP Michael Cassidy who won a federal seat. Evelyn Gigantes is
competing against Graham Bird and Lowell Green. Greg Vezina, who ran
federally for the Green party in Nepean slipped in just under the
deadline. At first, his candidacy wasn't going to be allowed because
only 78 of the 100 names required were on the voters' list and lived
in the riding. But because of Vezina's confusion over federal and
provincial boundaries for Ottawa Centre, Warren Bailie, the province's
chief election officer, decided to allow his name to stand. The
independent candidates are John Turmel and Ray Cormier.
The independent candidate in Ottawa East is Serge Girard.
841201Sa
Ottawa Citizen, Sherry Baron
Candidates attempt to stop TV debate
Two candidates vying for the Ottawa Centre seat in the Dec. 13
provincial by-election are taking legal action against CJOH-TV because
they say the station is denying them an equal opportunity to be heard
next week during a political debate. Green Party candidate Greg Vezina
and John Turmel are seeking separate injunctions in the Supreme Court
of Ontario Tuesday to stop CJOH from broadcasting the debate in its
present format. Both candidates notified the station Friday of their
intent to bring legal action. They say the stations' policy violates
various regulations and ignores democratic rights guaranteed in the
Charter. "They're not allowing me an equal chance to get my message to
the people," says 27 year-old Vezina. He wants the debate postponed
until the courts can rule on its constitutionality. Although Tuesday's
debate will allow Turmel, Vezina and Cormier one minute each at the
beginning of thee show to make a statement, all three will be excluded
from the following live 15-minute debate. The statements are to be
taped in advance. Station policy for such debates restricts
participation to people who represent registered political parties who
have seats in the provincial legislature or the House of Commons.
Ottawa Citizen Editorial Cartoon, King
Some loony protest signs saying "The Earth is Flat," "Stop
Fluoridation Now," "Save the Baboons," "Arrest the Bank of Canada,"
VDTs cause cancer," with someone yelling "Hey look. A new member" when
a guy is approaching with "Ban Rubella Vaccine."
841204Tu
Ottawa Citizen, Sherry Baron
Two candidates seek rulings on TV debate
In a separate case, The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed Monday an
application from Turmel who was seeking leave to appeal a similar case
involving CJOH-TV. Turmel has been fighting through the courts since
last January to get CJOH news producer Max Keeping charged with theft,
breach of trust and conspiracy for not letting him participate in a
debate broadcast by the station Dec. 6, 1983. Turmel was a provincial
candidate at the time for the riding of SDG.
Ottawa Citizen
Independent John Turmel is delivering his familiar message about the
Greenback system which would provide tax-payers with tax credits in
exchange for work down for the government. Turmel, 33, who says he
makes his living at a mobile blackjack game, explains his Greenback
system is programmed on a computer disk he displays at public
meetings.
841205We
Ottawa Citizen, Jennifer Jackson
Exclusion of 3 candidates sparks TV-debate boycott
Two of the three major candidates in Ottawa Centre's by-election
walked out moments before the taping of a CJOH debate because other
candidates weren't permitted to participate. Conservative Graham Bird
and Liberal Lowell Green left the Merivale Rd. Studios about 6p.m.
when station officials refused to let Green party candidate Greg
Vezina and independents Ray Cormier and John Turmel participate. NDP
candidate Evelyn Gigantes remained.
Bird said later: "I think any legitimate candidate should be able to
play. No matter how much I disagree with them, they should be able to
say their piece." But Gigantes, who stayed for what ended up to be a
15 minute interview with news director Max Keeping said: "I don't see
any reason why the three other candidates should be involved in the
debate. They aren't newsmakers since they can't attract enough support
for their ideas to get a member elected to the government. I think it
was ridiculous for Green and Bird to walk off, if not of bad intent."
Vezina applauded the integrity of Bird and Green saying: "It's
something Evelyn Gigantes doesn't have and I'd like you to quote me
please. I get awfully upset when I'm called a fringe candidate. I
don't think peace, the environment and democracy are fringe issues.
Turmel said: "Good for them. What guts. I never thought they'd take a
stand."
Keeping said all six candidates were given one minute to state their
positions but only the three major candidates were invited to
participate in the taped debate to be aired about 11:30p.m. after the
1 minutes segments. Keeping said the station stipulates only
candidates from parties that have elected provincial or federal
members can join in these debates. Otherwise, the forum becomes too
unwieldy. (how about excluding my mother, the fourth and only
candidate?) Asked why he didn't cancel the debate after Bird and Green
walked out, Keeping said: "That the other two candidates couldn't take
part is no reason to discriminate against Ms. Gigantes who was willing
to abide by the ground rules. This isn't a free-time political
broadcast, it's a news broadcast. We want to present what the voters
need to know." The station has used this format for about 10 years and
no candidates have refused to participate. Keeping said another debate
won't be rescheduled before the Dec. 13 provincial by-election but he
will review the policy. He estimates about 75,000 people would have
seen the debate.
The show started falling apart around 4p.m. when Vezina went to
Green's campaign headquarters to tell him he just lost his case in the
Ontario Supreme Court where he hoped the judge would force CJOH to
allow him an equal opportunity to speak. "When he told me he'd lost
the court decision, I said I simply couldn't go on," said Green.
Vezina later travelled to Bird's campaign headquarters and got the
same answer. Both Bird and Green said they waited until the last
minute before refusing to appear on the show because they were waiting
for the outcome of the court case heard earlier Tuesday. Green said he
was astonished the representative of the NDP, of all parties, should
be the one to support shutting out the others. "The CCF was a so-
called fringe party that had trouble getting attention from the
media."
Ottawa Citizen
The fourth candidate is Serge Girard, a political ally of John Turmel.
Girard, 35, is a high school supply teacher. He has run once before in
Ottawa East as a member of the Social Credit party and twice for
Ottawa Council. Girard ran in the federal election as an independent
candidate allied with Turmel. Girard and Turmel believe the province's
financial problems can be solved by using Turmel's Greenback system,
which involves working for the government in exchange for tax credit
notes.
841210Mo
Ottawa Citizen, Kathryn May
The harshest attacks came from Independent John Turmel and Green Greg
Vezina who repeatedly slammed Gigantes for participating in a CJOH
debate which both Bird and Green boycotted because the other three
were excluded.
841211Tu
Ottawa Citizen, Kelly Egan
NDP's Gigantes blasted for TV debate role
New Democrat Evelyn Gigantes came under harsh criticism for taking
part in a television debate that was not open to all six candidates.
Her opponents spent much of the two hour show on cable television
criticizing her stand which she took part in alone last week. Only
Gigantes, Green and Bird were invited to the 15 minute debate while
the other three candidates were given 1 minute on tape to make
presentations. While Green and Bird left the debate after giving 1
minute speeches, Gigantes stayed and was interviewed for the remainder
of the allotted time. On air Monday at the final candidates' meeting
before Thursday's vote, John Turmel served Gigantes with a writ for
defamation for remarks he said she made. Green also criticized
Gigantes as did Greg Vezina who said of Bird and Green: "Their
integrity is worth more than 15 minutes of air time." Gigantes
meanwhile defended her actions by saying that CJOH and debate host Max
Keeping were free to set the format for the event based on the
newsworthiness of the candidates.
A couple of times, I said she prostituted her integrity for the time.
Globe & Mail, Orland French
A twist in a tale of politics
One night last week, Ottawa CJOH television station scheduled an all-
candidates debate for the benefit of voters in the Ottawa Centre by-
election. Well, it wasn't quite an all-candidates' debate. It was a
debate featuring candidates from the 3 old line parties. It did not
include three so-called "fringe" candidates.
When it came time to tape the debate, a very strange thing happened.
The two older-line party candidates refused to go on the show unless
the 3 minor candidates were given equal time. Evelyn Gigantes went on
the show alone and got all the air time, 15 minutes worth, for
herself. Was she a smart politician or did she undermine her
credibility as a candidate of the party that claims to be on the side
of the little guy? If you're a voter in a centretown riding, whether
Ottawa, Hamilton, Toronto, wherever, you know how fringe candidates
clutter up a neat election campaign. They bore you at all-candidates
meetings and they consume precious and limited television air time.
They are a nuisance for most people because only a very few ever vote
for them. In the 1980 federal election in Ottawa Centre, 7 fringe
candidates competed with the 3 old-line parties. Altogether, the seven
drew fewer than a thousand votes.
PRICE OF LIBERTY
But they are a democratic nuisance, part of the price of the system in
which everyone can run for office. As candidates, they have as much
right to be heard as representatives of the established parties.
Democracy is fine on the ballot, but not on a news show. CJOH news
director Max Keeping says he wasn't running a free-time political
affairs show. He said he was running a news show to which he had the
right to invite whoever he wanted. He wanted the 3 major candidates
because they were news. (he was making them news.) The others were
not. "We're trying to create a format where the serious voter can make
an informed decision. (Notice how if you vote for the fringe, you're
not a serious voter and they're not going to cater to you) "We don't
have to give equal time but we try to give equitable time."
CJOH permitted all six candidates to tape a 1 minute message but only
the 3 major candidates were invited to join the subsequent discussion.
Mr. Keeping says CJOH defines the candidates it will invite as those
belonging to the parties having members sitting in the legislature.
Mr. Green however points out that this isn't fair to some serious
candidates. Tony Roman, for instance, would not have been invited to
appear on CJOH under those rules because he ran as an independent. He
was hardly a fringe candidate for he won his seat on Sept. 4. We
weren't asking CJOH to have them on the show with us. We only wanted
to give them equal time." With a straight face, he added "We asked
CJOH to delay the Twilight Zone by 15 minutes after the next evening's
news show.
HAVE A RIGHT
Mr. Bird said "I'm not willing to decide who is nuts and who isn't.
It's the cherished right of the individual to get involved and speak.
I'm not sure I want to set a ministry of silly people and decide who
has the right to speak." There's one more element to the story and
it's significant. One of the fringe candidates is Greg Vezina, of the
Green party of Ontario. Unlike the other two, he represents a party
which is duly registered with the Chief Electoral Officer of Ontario
having collected 10,000 signatures from Ontario residents. The Green
party has no members elected anywhere in Canada but does have members
in West Germany. Ms. Gigantes suggested that Mr. Vezina is really a
Tory at heart. "He talks the Conservative party line about a lean,
mean government." This apparently is enough to rule him off the
candidates' stage. She also contends that "it's difficult for people
to follow an election with six candidates." It would be much simpler
with only one candidate. What she doesn't mention is that the NDP won
Ottawa Centre by only 595 votes in 1981. The environmentalist Green
party might siphon of enough NDP votes to turn it into a squeaker.
Globe & Mail, Evelyn Gigantes letter
News judgment
Orland French overlooked a few facts in his column. The Green
candidate in Ottawa Centre was a delegate to the Conservative
leadership convention in 1983. He supported Peter Pocklington. He's a
Conservative in Green clothing. The Liberal and PC candidates had
already appeared with me in a 3 party debate on CHEZ-FM (with the
second largest radio ratings in Ottawa). The decision to challenge the
CJOH news format was initiated by the Conservatives; their candidate
was ineffectual in 10 debates, eight with the minor candidates. They
challenged the 3 party CJOH format because it would have provided full
discussion of the issues to a wide Ottawa audience. Mr. French did not
mention the housing crisis in Ottawa Centre -- that's a real issue.
CJOH news standards are not.
On the issue of news coverage: since when did newspapers provide equal
access to minor candidates? News judgments are made every time an
article is printed and it is passing strange to find a newspaper
columnist define the rules for news values in other media.
[Find what her answers are on it and put it in to show what she has to
offer on the subject of her choice.]
841212We
Ottawa Citizen
Rae also told reporters he supported Evelyn Gigantes' decision to
participate in a television debate that excluded minor candidates. He
called the CJOH-TV debate, for which Gigantes has been strongly
criticized by her opponents, "a political routine cooked up by the
other two candidates." Ray said never in his political life has he
been involved in a television debate that included all candidates.
Ottawa Citizen
Girard spent most of his time discussing the "greenback system"
designed by his political ally John Turmel. In this system, people
work for the government and are paid with tax credits.
841218Tu
Ottawa Citizen Editorial, Russ Mills
Debating politics beyond the fringe
Now that the voters have made their choice in the Ottawa Centre by-
election, this may be a good time to look back at the controversy that
erupted over the participation of the fringe candidates in a televised
debate. Graham Bird and Lowell Green both walked out of the CJOH
studio a few moments before the debate was to have been taped because
the station would not allow Green party candidate Greg Vezina and
independents John Turmel and Ray Cormier to take part. Only NDP Evelyn
Gigantes -- the eventual winner -- agreed to stay.
The station was simply applying the policy it has followed for the
past decade (not true) which stipulates that only candidates from
parties that have elected members provincially or federally to
participate (good pretext). Other candidates are allowed to tape a 1
minute statement. Bird and Green should have been aware of this
policy. They could have advised CJOH well in advance that they
wouldn't take part in the debate unless all candidates were invited.
By stalking of into the night at the last moment, their action smacked
more of grandstanding than standing on principle.
If CJOH believes that allowing fringe candidates to take part would
turn such debates into a pointless farce, that is its judgment to
make. (Can they exclude a major?) As news director Max Keeping said,
they are not free-time political broadcasts. They're news broadcasts,
properly within CJOH's editorial control.
Bird and Green were also free to refuse to participate on CJOH's terms
but did they really understand what they were doing. If so, should
they not also have refused to be interviewed by the Citizen since this
newspaper gave their campaigns more coverage than their three fringe
competitors. Or are there limits to their devotion to the principle of
equal treatment? By their decision, the voters of Ottawa Centre were
deprived of a rare opportunity to assess the three major candidates
together. Bird and Green might reflect upon that -- and whose
interests were served by their action.
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