List of perennial candidates in Canada

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A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for public office without a reasonable chance of winning. While there is no generally accepted "number" of times a candidate must run before being considered "perennial", contemporary sources note that two or three failed candidacies, followed by another attempt, qualifies a candidate as perennial. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

In Canada, perennial candidates may run with the support of small or fringe political parties, may attempt to become involved with mainstream parties without the backing of that party's membership and/or leadership executive, or may run municipally, where the influence of political parties is diminished. [4]

There are few residency requirements for elected office in Canada. Candidates may run federally in any electoral district as long as they are a Canadian citizen over the age of 18 who is not disqualified based on profession (federal judges, provincial and territorial elected representatives, the Chief Electoral Officer, or Governor General), status as an incarcerated person, or after failing to submit a campaign financial return after a previous campaign. [5] There is no requirement for a candidate to reside in the electoral district where they seek election. [6] Provincial and municipal elections rules generally require a candidate reside within the jurisdiction broadly, but do not require a candidate to reside in the direct electoral district in which they seek elected office.

These lax rules allow perennial candidates to seek elected office across Canada. John Turmel, the Canadian perennial candidate who, according to Guinness World Records holds the records for the most elections contested and for the most elections lost, has sought the offices of Mayor, Member of Provincial Parliament, and Member of Parliament in 71 different jurisdictions across Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia, since 1979. [7]

List of perennial candidates in Canada

CandidatePrimary place of residenceNotable Partisan AffiliationMunicipal campaignsProvincial campaignsFederal campaignsIncomplete campaigns [note 1] Total
MunicipalityProvinceTotal complete campaignsOverall total
Enza "Supermodel" Anderson Enza Anderson.jpg Toronto Ontario Canadian Alliance 3--134
Donald Clarke Andrews TorontoOntario Nationalist Party of Canada 10---1010
Michael Baldasaro Hamilton Ontario Marijuana Party of Canada 91521517
Harry BradleyTorontoOntario Independent 27---2727
José Breton Quebec City Quebec Independent -5--55
David W. Bylsma West Lincoln Ontario Christian Heritage 207-99
Douglas CampbellTorontoOntario Ontario New Democratic Party 622-1010
Kevin Clarke Mr. Kevin Clarke - Selfie.jpg TorontoOntario The Peoples Political Party 11106-2727
Ross Dowson Ross Dowson.jpg TorontoOntario League for Socialist Action 9-2-1111
Terry Duguid Terryduguid.1.jpg Winnipeg Manitoba Liberal 316-1010
Donovan Eckstrom Grande Prairie Alberta Rhinoceros Party --10-1010
Jim Enos HamiltonOntario Christian Heritage 144-99
Paul Fromm Aryan Guard with Paul Fromm 2009-03-22 (cropped) 2.jpg HamiltonOntario Canadians' Choice Party 822-1212
Henri-Georges Grenier Montreal Quebecvarious--13-1313
Larry Heather Calgary Alberta Christian Heritage 6813-2727
Ben Kerr TorontoOntarioIndependent7---77
Yaqoob KhanTorontoOntarioIndependent7-1-88
Simonne Lizotte Nicolet QuebecIndependent42--66
Anne C. McBride TorontoOntarioIndependent5-9-1414
Patricia MétivierMontrealQuebecvarious75812425
Régent Millette Laval Quebec Parti démocratie chrétienne 415712627
David Popescu Sudbury OntarioIndependent776-2020
Naomi Rankin Naomi Rankin.jpg Edmonton Alberta Communist -910-1919
Bob Smith TorontoOntario Nationalist Party of Canada 811-1010
John Turmel John Turmel at Toronto-Danforth 2012 By-Election Meeting.jpg Brantford Ontario Pauper 1449451108109
Alex Tyrrell AlexTyrrellPVQ.jpg MontrealQuebec Parti Vert -10-11011
Don WoodstockWinnipegManitoba Liberal 23166
Nathalie Xian Yi YanHamiltonOntarioIndependent4222810

Perennial candidates by region

Atlantic Canada

Quebec

Alex Tyrrell

LevelElectionOfficePartyVotesPercentPlaceResultNotes
Provincial 2012 Member of the National Assembly for Jacques-Cartier Green Party of Quebec 1,5224.54%3/8Not elected
Provincial2013 By-election Member of the National Assembly for Outremont Green Party of Quebec 3843.79%4/7Not elected
Provincial 2014 Member of the National Assembly for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Green Party of Quebec 1,3184.52%5/6Not elected
Provincial2016 By-election Member of the National Assembly for Chicoutimi Green Party of Quebec 4652.46%5/6Not elected
ProvincialMay 2017 By-election Member of the National Assembly for Gouin Green Party of Quebec 6514.57%5/13Not elected
ProvincialOctober 2017 By-election Member of the National Assembly for Louis-Hébert Green Party of Quebec 4872.06%6/10Not elected
Provincial 2018 Member of the National Assembly for Verdun Green Party of Quebec 1,1573.72%5/10Not elected
Provincial2018 By-election Member of the National Assembly for Roberval Green Party of Quebec 800.52%7/7Not elected
Provincial2022 By-election Member of the National Assembly for Marie-Victorin Green Party of Quebec 1420.87%7/12Not elected
Federal leadership 2022 Leader of the Green Party of Canada Green Party of Canada ---Expelled from party during leadership bid
Provincial 2022 Member of the National Assembly for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Green Party of Quebec 9563.73%7/9Not elected

Ontario

Enza "Supermodel" Anderson

LevelElectionOfficePartyVotesPercentPlaceResultNotes
Municipal 2000 Toronto MayorNon-partisan municipal13,5952.25%3/26Not elected
Federal Leadership 2002 Leader, Canadian Alliance Canadian Alliance n/an/an/aWithdrew candidacy
Municipal 2003 Toronto City Councillor, Ward 27 – Toronto CentreNon-partisan municipal3,05815.3%2/6Not elected
Municipal 2010 Toronto City Councillor, Ward 27 – Toronto CentreNon-partisan municipal1,1274.23%7/15Not elected

Don Andrews

Donald Clarke Andrews (born Vilim Zlomislić) was the leader of the Nationalist Party of Canada, a white-supremacist unregistered political party active from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Andrews best result came in 1976, when he earned 5.3% of the vote for mayor of Toronto in a race against popular incumbent David Crombie. Andrews would often only contest those elections where he would be placed at the top of the ballot by virtue of his last name's alphabetical importance.

LevelElectionOfficePartyVotesPercentPlaceResultNotes
Municipal 1972 Toronto MayorNon-partisan municipal1,9601.02%5/7Not elected
Municipal 1974 Toronto MayorNon-partisan municipal5,6624%2/11Not elected
Municipal 1976 Toronto MayorNon-partisan municipal7,1265.3%2/10Not elected
Municipal 1988 Toronto MayorNon-partisan municipal5,6904%4/9Not elected
Municipal 1991 Toronto MayorNon-partisan municipal1,9681.01%4/9Not elected
Municipal 1994 Toronto MayorNon-partisan municipal2,8391.74%5/11Not elected
Municipal 1997 Toronto MayorNon-partisan municipal1,9850.26%5/11Not elected
Municipal 2003 Toronto MayorNon-partisan municipal1,2200.18%10/44Not elected
Municipal 2010 Toronto MayorNon-partisan municipal1,0320.13%19/40Not elected
Municipal 2014 Toronto MayorNon-partisan municipal1,0120.1%7/65Not elected

Michael Baldasaro

LevelElectionOfficePartyVotesPercentPlaceResultNotes
Federal 1984 Member of Parliament, Hamilton West Libertarian 3000.73%4/6Not elected
Municipal 1988 Hamilton MayorNon-partisan municipal7,5289.12%2/2Not elected
Municipal 1991 Hamilton MayorNon-partisan municipal2,5072.8%4/4Not elected
Municipal 1994 Hamilton MayorNon-partisan municipal3,5214.4%3/5Not elected
Federal Leadership 1998 Leader, Progressive Conservative Party Progressive Conservative Party n/an/an/aFailed to meet requirements
Federal Leadership 2000 Leader, Canadian Alliance Canadian Alliance n/an/an/aFailed to meet requirements
Municipal 2000 Hamilton MayorNon-partisan municipal1,6371.1%5/12Not elected
Federal 2000 Member of Parliament, Hamilton East Marijuana Party 5731.83%5/9Not elected
Municipal 2003 Hamilton MayorNon-partisan municipal2,5691.85%6/7Not elected
Federal 2004 Member of Parliament, Hamilton Centre Independent 345.8%6/7Not elected
Municipal2004 By-electionHamilton City Councillor, Ward 2 – DowntownNon-partisan municipal521.03%7/11Not elected
Municipal 2006 Hamilton MayorNon-partisan municipal4,5203.61%4/7Not elected
Municipal 2010 Hamilton MayorNon-partisan municipal2,8922.1%4/15Not elected
Federal 2011 Member of Parliament, Hamilton Centre Marijuana Party 7801.9%4/5Not elected
Provincial 2011 Member of Provincial Parliament, Hamilton Centre Independent 268.8%6/10Not elected
Municipal 2014 Hamilton MayorNon-partisan municipal3,5182.9%4/12Not elected
Federal 2015 Member of Parliament, Hamilton Centre Marijuana Party 3480.85%5/7Not elected

Dorian Baxter

Dorian Baxter is a Christian religious minister and musician, operating out of an independent church he runs in Newmarket, Ontario. Baxter is also a local Elvis impersonator, whose music he incorporates into his services. Since 2004, he has run multiple campaigns at the federal, provincial, and municipal level, all of which were for political offices representing areas of York Region.

Douglas Campbell

Douglas Campbell was a teacher and writer from Toronto, Ontario. In 1962, Campbell ran an independent campaign for Parliament in the electoral district of St Paul's, running against future Governor General Roland Michener. Campbell launched three NDP leadership campaigns in the 1970s; he twice sought the position of Ontario NDP leader in the 1970 leadership election and also 1972 when he challenged incumbent Stephen Lewis. He also challenged David Lewis for the federal NDP leadership in 1973 and ran to replace Lewis in the 1975 New Democratic Party leadership election.

In 1988, Campbell ran against North York's incumbent mayor, Mel Lastman. A profile in the Toronto Star listed Campbell's age as 59 and residence as Gulliver Road in Toronto, as well as referencing a past campaign for the office of Mayor of Mississauga. He told the Star his campaign was an attempt to find a larger platform so he could campaign on issues such as "sanctions against South Africa, free trade and the Meech Lake Accord." [8]

During Campbell's campaign for mayor of Toronto in 2003, he generated media attention when he invited the audience at an all-candidates meeting to his wife's memorial service. [9] Campbell, whose age was listed as 72 during the Toronto mayoral campaign in 2006, was attacked in a National Post editorial for a statement all-candidates meeting where the candidate said voting for a capitalist mayor was like "voting to kill your fellow workers," and comparing Stephen Harper, Paul Martin, and Franklin D. Roosevelt to Adolf Hitler. [10] He was quoted in Now Magazine as also saying "If you vote for a capitalist candidate, you're voting to kill children." [11]

LevelElectionOfficePartyVotesPercentPlaceResultNotes
Federal 1962 Member of Parliament, St. Paul's Independent 3281.2%5/5Not elected
Provincial 1970 Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party Ontario New Democratic Party 211.1%3/3Not elected
Provincial 1972 Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party Ontario New Democratic Party 12414.1%2/2Not elected
Federal 1973 Leader of the New Democratic Party New Democratic Party 769.6%2/2Not elected
Municipal1973Mississauga MayorNon-partisan municipalNot elected [12]
Federal 1975 Leader of the New Democratic Party New Democratic Party 110.7%5/5Not elected
Municipal 1988 North York MayorNon-partisan municipal10,2908.26%3/4Not elected
Municipal 2000 Toronto MayorNon-partisan municipal8,5911.42%4/26Not elected
Municipal 2003 Toronto MayorNon-partisan municipal2,1970.32%6/44Not elected
Municipal 2006 Toronto MayorNon-partisan municipal4,1830.72%6/38Not elected
Municipal 2010 Toronto MayorNon-partisan municipal1,4280.18%13/40Not elected


Bob Smith

Bob Smith (born Robert Wayne Smith) ran for federal, provincial, and municipal office 10 times from 1972 to 2006. His best result came in 1980 when he earned 1,319 votes in a race for school trustee in Toronto's Ward 8.

LevelElectionOfficePartyVotesPercentPlaceResultNotes
Municipal 1972 Toronto Board of Education Trustee, Ward 8 - RiverdaleNon-partisan municipal24711/11Not elected
Municipal 1974 Toronto City Councillor, Ward 4 - Trinity-Bellwoods and Little ItalyNon-partisan municipal2007/7Not elected
Municipal 1976 Toronto Board of Education Trustee, Ward 9 - The BeachesNon-partisan municipal8646/7Not elected
Federal 1980 Member of Parliament, St. Paul's Nationalist Party [note 2] 1080.3%6/9Not elected
Municipal 1980 Toronto Board of Education Trustee, Ward 8 - RiverdaleNon-partisan municipal1,3196/9Not elected
Municipal 1982 Toronto Board of Education Trustee, Ward 8 - RiverdaleNon-partisan municipal6036/10Not elected
Municipal 1985 Toronto Board of Education Trustee, Ward 8 - RiverdaleNon-partisan municipal9355/7Not elected
Provincial1993 By-electionMember of Provincial Parliament, St. George—St. David 728/9Not elected
Municipal 2003 Toronto City Councillor, Ward 31 - The BeachesNon-partisan municipal4142.5%4/4Not elected
Municipal 2006 Toronto MayorNon-partisan municipal1,1050.19%20/38Not elected

Manitoba

Saskatchewan

Alberta

British Columbia

Notes

    1. Incomplete campaigns include those campaigns where a candidate declares their intent, attempts to file, and/or begins a campaign, but is unable to continue in the campaign, does not appear on the final ballot, or the election is voided for any reason.
    2. While Smith had the backing of the Nationalist Party, he was listed as "Independent" on the ballot, as the party did not have official status.

    References

    1. Weeks, Linton (September 23, 2011). "Also-Rans: What Drives The Perennial Candidates?". NPR . Retrieved August 28, 2021. For the purposes of this story, we are defining the perennial presidential candidate as someone who runs for — and loses — the race to the White House at least twice. And then runs again.
    2. "Iran's presidential election: Who the candidates are". BBC News . May 28, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2021. [Mohsen Rezai] has stood three times as president, and never held public office, having also failed in a bid to be elected to parliament in 2000. He is commonly referred to as a "perennial candidate".
    3. Samuels, Alex; Radcliffe, Mary (June 9, 2021). "Most Candidates Take The Hint After Two Losses. Why Won't Beto O'Rourke and Charlie Crist?". FiveThirtyEight . Retrieved August 28, 2021. ...both O'Rourke and Crist are risking their political credibility if they run again and lose, as they've already failed to win two consecutive runs for office. Even worse, they could be marked as perennial candidates.
    4. Brown, Chris (29 September 2015). "Canada election 2015: Perennial candidates make running and losing a full-time job". CBC British Columbia . Archived from the original on 17 January 2019.
    5. Parliament of Canada (June 22, 2023). Canada Elections Act (S.C. 2000, c. 9) (Report). Justice Laws Website. Retrieved 10 March 2024. 65 The following persons are not eligible to be a candidate:
    6. "How to Become a Candidate". elections.ca. Elections Canada. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2024. Note: You may only seek election in a single electoral district at a time, but you do not need to reside in that district.
    7. Kassam, Ashifa (23 September 2018). "'No regrets': world's biggest election loser runs for 96th time in Canada". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 24 September 2018.
    8. James, Royson (25 October 1988). "Housing high priority for mayoral candidates". Toronto Star .
    9. Porter, Catherine (23 October 2003). "It's more fun on the fringe, candidates prove". Toronto Star .
    10. "Toronto voters deserve better". National Post . 6 October 2006.
    11. "NOW Magazine - Newsfront in Toronto, OCTOBER 12 - 18, 2006". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
    12. Stewart, John (2 March 2024). "Half a century later, 1973 election upset still astounds". Mississauga News. Archived from the original on 11 March 2024.