Natural Law Party of Canada candidates in the 2000 Canadian federal election

The Natural Law Party of Canada fielded several candidates in the 2000 federal election, none of whom were elected. Information about these candidates may be found here.

Quebec (incomplete)
Riding Candidate's Name Notes Gender Residence Occupation Votes % Rank
Gatineau Jean-Claude Pommet Pommet was one of the Natural Law Party's "yogic flyers." In 1999, he attempted to create a housing project of one hundred and fifty units in Chelsea, Quebec, to provide funding for a college of natural medicine and a Maharishi Aruy-Vedic college.[1] Pommet ran for the Natural Law Party in three federal elections and one provincial election. A newspaper report from 1999 describes him as a seven-time former candidate, which suggests that he has run for municipal office as well.[2][3] M 472 0.94 6th
Sherbrooke Daniel Jolicoeur Jolicoeur has been a candidate of the Natural Law Party in the United Kingdom and Canada, and at the provincial level in Quebec. He identified as a health technician in 1993.[4][5] M 495 0.98 6th
Terrebonne—Blainville Pascale Levert Levert had previously sought election for the Natural Law Party of Ontario in the 1999 provincial election.[6] F 1,193 2.14 5th

Ontario

Eglinton—Lawrence: Matthew Macleod

Macleod is a musician. He has released an album entitled Comedies, Histories, Tragedies, and performed a solo concert at EcoFair 2003 (organized by the Maharishi University of Management).[7] He received 133 votes (0.32%), finishing seventh against Liberal incumbent Joe Volpe.

Hamilton East: Helene Anne Darisse

Darisse, also called Helene Darisse-Yildirim, is a teacher and video producer from the Niagara Falls area. She holds Bachelor of Education and Master of Arts degrees (Canada NewsWire, 17 December 2000), and is a member of the Ontario Straw Bale Building Coalition , and the Canadian Yoga Alliance.

Darisse was a perennial candidate for the Natural Law Party at both the federal and provincial levels.

Electoral record
Election Division Party Votes % Place Winner
1993 federal Oshawa Natural Law 263 7/9 Ivan Grose, Liberal
1995 provincial Welland—Thorold Natural Law 232 5/5 Peter Kormos, New Democratic Party
1997 federal St. Catharines Natural Law 245 0.51 7/7 Walt Lastewka, Liberal
1999 provincial St. Catharines Natural Law 272 0.58 4/6 Jim Bradley, Liberal
2000 federal Hamilton East Natural Law 97 9/9 Sheila Copps, Liberal

Hamilton West: Rita Rassenberg

Rassenberg was born in Switzerland, and moved to Canada in her 20s. She has worked as an office administrator, bookkeeper, sales manager and real-estate estate (Hamilton Spectator, 16 November 2000).

She was a frequent candidate for the Natural Law Party at both the provincial and federal levels.

Electoral record
Election Division Party Votes % Place Winner
1993 federal Hamilton West Natural Law 396 6/7 Stan Keyes, Liberal
1995 provincial Hamilton West Natural Law 284 5/6 Lillian Ross, Progressive Conservative
1999 provincial Hamilton West Natural Law 231 0.56 7/7 David Christopherson, New Democratic Party
2000 federal Hamilton West Natural Law 94 8/10 Stan Keyes, Liberal

Lanark—Carleton: Britt Roberts

Roberts was a perennial candidate for the Natural Law Party. He campaigned in the federal elections of 1993, 1997 and 2000, and also campaigned for the Natural Law Party of Ontario in 1999.

Roberts became active in transcendental meditation while attending the University of Toronto, and studied yogic flying at a Natural Law conference in the United States in 1983. He completed a Master of Business Administration degree in Iowa, and moved to Ottawa in 1994. Roberts has been active in the Maharishi Global Development Fund.

During the 1999 provincial election, Roberts described the Natural Law Party's development as follows: "It's about providing a new paradigm. In the first stage, people just ignore it, and then they ridicule. Then, they admit that they agreed with it all along. We may still be at the early stages of that process, but it is coming." He was 45 years old at the time (Kingston Whig-Standard, 29 May 1999).

Electoral record
Election Division Party Votes % Place Winner
1993 federal Lanark—Carleton Natural Law 262 7/9 Ian Murray, Liberal
1997 federal Lanark—Carleton Natural Law 181 7/7 Ian Murray, Liberal
1999 provincial Leeds—Grenville Natural Law 244 5/5 Bob Runciman, Progressive Conservative
2000 federal Lanark—Carleton Natural Law 107 0.17 8/8 Scott Reid, Canadian Alliance

Niagara Falls: Bill Amos

William Norman Amos was a property manager and real-estate salesperson in Niagara Falls.[8] He began practising transcendental meditation in 1974, and later became active with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's international network.[9] He ran for the Natural Law Party of Canada four times and the Natural Law Party of Ontario twice, and was involved in the proposed Maharishi Veda Land Canada theme park in his home city.[10]

While running in a federal by-election in 1996, Amos argued that there was scientific proof that regular meditation by one per cent of the population would bring about a reduction in crime and unemployment rates.[11] He also promised to eliminate Canada's Goods and Services Tax, and suggested the introduction of a thirty per cent flat tax to eliminate Canada's deficit and debt (with the understanding that the rate would be reduced after such time).[12] When asked for his opinion on Canada's Young Offenders Act, he said that he would promote meditation in youth jails to reduce crime.[13] He was forty-nine years old at the time.[14]

Electoral record
Election Division Party Votes % Place Winner
1993 federal Niagara Falls Natural Law 169 0.39 7/8 Gary Pillitteri, Liberal
1995 provincial Niagara Falls Natural Law 355 1.27 4/5 Bart Maves, Progressive Conservative
federal by-election, 17 June 1996 Hamilton East Natural Law 64 0.24 11/13 Sheila Copps, Liberal
1997 federal Niagara Falls Natural Law 154 0.37 6/6 Gary Pillitteri, Liberal
1999 provincial Niagara Falls Natural Law 317 0.78 4/6 Bart Maves, Progressive Conservative
2000 federal Niagara Falls Natural Law 155 0.40 6/6 Gary Pillitteri, Liberal

Ottawa—Vanier: Pierrette J. Blondin

Blondin has a Master of Education degree. She was a frequent candidate for the NLP at the provincial and federal levels. During the 1995 provincial election, she described herself as having twenty-eight years' experience as a teacher in the Ottawa-Carleton French School Board, and fifteen years' experience with transcendental meditation.

Electoral record
Election Division Party Votes % Place Winner
1993 federal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell Natural Law 456 0.8 5/6 Don Boudria, Liberal
1995 provincial Prescott and Russell Natural Law 446 1.0 6/6 Jean-Marc Lalonde, Liberal
1999 provincial Ottawa—Vanier Natural Law 580 1.46 5/6 Claudette Boyer, Liberal
2000 federal Ottawa—Vanier Natural Law 187 0.39 7/9 Mauril Belanger, Liberal

St. Catharines: Jim Morris

Morris listed himself as the lead hand at Dominion Controls. He was a frequent candidate for the NLP at the provincial and federal levels.

Electoral record
Election Division Party Votes % Place Winner
1995 provincial Oxford Natural Law 275 6/7 Ernie Hardeman, Progressive Conservative
1997 federal Oxford Natural Law 181 7/7 John Finlay, Liberal
1999 provincial Oxford Natural Law 203 7/7 Ernie Hardeman, Progressive Conservative
2000 federal St. Catharines Natural Law 203 0.43 5/7 Walt Lastewka, Liberal

Toronto Centre—Rosedale: David Gordon

David Gordon is an advertising executive, and was based in Toronto during the period of his federal campaigns. He gave demonstrations in "yogic flying" during the 1993 federal election, and argued that the Natural Law Party would allow young Canadians to "gain enlightenment and perfection in their own lives and at the same time materialize their noble sentiments for an ideal civilization in Canada".[15]

He ran for the Natural Law Party of Canada twice and was a candidate for the Natural Law Party of Ontario in 1995.

Electoral record
Election Division Party Votes % Place Winner
1993 federal Scarborough Centre Natural Law 190 0.47 6/10 John Cannis, Liberal
1995 provincial Sudbury Natural Law 315 1.04 5/7 Rick Bartolucci, Liberal
2000 federal Toronto Centre—Rosedale Natural Law 224 7/9 Bill Graham, Liberal

References
  1. He sought assistance from the Maharishi Global Development Fund to bankroll the project, which was estimated to cost about twenty million dollars. The idea does not seem to have come to fruition. See Kate Jaimet, "Yogic hopes fly high in Chelsea: Maharishi followers want to build houses to finance college," Ottawa Citizen, 19 January 1999, C2.
  2. Kate Jaimet, "Opposition candidates fight Liberal bastion in Hull-Aylmer," Ottawa Citizen, 13 November 1999, C3.
  3. Pommet's electoral record is as follows:
    Electoral record
    Election Division Party Votes % Place Winner
    1997 federal Gatineau Natural Law 448 0.82 5/7 Mark Assad, Liberal
    1998 provincial Chapleau Natural Law 167 0.41 5/6 Benoît Pelletier, Liberal
    federal by-election, 15 November 1999 Hull—Aylmer Natural Law 103 0.58 8/9 Marcel Proulx, Liberal
    2000 federal Gatineau Natural Law 472 0.94 6/9 Mark Assad, Liberal
  4. History of Federal Ridings since 1867 (Nickel Belt: 1993/10/25), Parliament of Canada, accessed 17 February 2009; History of Federal Ridings since 1867 (Sherbrooke: 2000/11/27), Parliament of Canada, accessed 17 February 2009. Please note that the final results for Nickel Belt are incorrect, and that the correct information may be found in Elections Canada's election report.
  5. Jolicoeur's electoral record is as follows:
    Electoral record
    Election Division Party Votes % Place Winner
    1992 United Kingdom federal Gillingham Natural Law 190 5/5 James Couchman, Conservative
    1993 federal Nickel Belt Natural Law 173 0.39 6/8 Ray Bonin, Liberal
    1998 provincial Saint-François Natural Law 106 5/6 Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, Liberal
    2000 federal Sherbrooke Natural Law 495 0.98 6/8 Serge Cardin, Bloc Québécois
    The 1992 results are taken from "Election 1992: Results", Financial Times, 11 April 1992, London p. 10.
  6. Levert received 99 votes (0.22%) in Northumberland, finishing sixth against incumbent Doug Galt. Source: Official Results, Elections Ontario Archived 2007-10-12 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. Matthew Macleod home page, accessed 13 July 2006; EcoFair 2003 home page, accessed 13 July 2006
  8. "The Candidates: Niagara Falls", Hamilton Spectator, 2 June 1999, C2.
  9. Lee Prokaska and Jim Poling, "The baker's dozen byelection", Hamilton Spectator, 7 June 1996, B2.
  10. Lee Prokaska and Jim Poling, "The baker's dozen byelection", Hamilton Spectator, 7 June 1996, B2.
  11. Denise Davy, "13 battle for Hamilton East: The environment, gay rights and GST among issues debated by candidates", Hamilton Spectator, 23 May 1996, D5. See also Bill Amos, "Radiated coherence can solve problems", Hamilton Spectator, 13 June 1996, A8.
  12. John Mentek, "GST: each candidate offers a different solution", Hamilton Spectator, 24 May 1996, B1.
  13. Dan Nolan, "Candidates latch onto Young Offenders Act", Hamilton Spectator, 14 June 1996, B2.
  14. Lee Prokaska and Jim Poling, "The baker's dozen byelection", Hamilton Spectator, 7 June 1996, B2.
  15. Charlotte Parsons, "Heaven on Earth is party's main aim", Globe and Mail, 21 August 1993, A13.
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