Jean-Paul Poulin

Jean-Paul Poulin was a politician in the Canadian province of Quebec. He was active in the Canadian social credit movement and led the Parti crédit social uni (PSCU; English: United Social Credit Party) through four general elections at the provincial level.

Contents

Private career

A travelling salesman for many years, Poulin worked as a night watchman in Montreal at the end of the 1970s.[1] In a 1981 interview, he recalled how he convinced farmers to paint their barns with the slogan, "Social Credit is Coming," during the 1960s.[2]

Politician

Early political activities

Poulin first ran for the Social Credit Party of Canada in the 1962 Canadian federal election. This party split into two factions the following year, when Réal Caouette formed a separate group called the Ralliement des créditistes. Poulin ran for Caouette's party in the 1968 federal election and also ran for the Ralliement national, a provincial social credit party not endorsed by Caouette, in the 1966 provincial election.

In 1969, the Ralliement des créditistes formally entered provincial politics by running candidates in four Quebec by-elections. At around the same time, Poulin established a dissident party called the Parti crédit social uni. Then fifty-one years old, he said that he and his allies did not support the way Caouette was running the party. He also indicated that he supported a "strong Quebec in a united Canada."[3]

Poulin ran against the official Ralliement créditiste du Québec candidate in Saint-Jacques in a 1969 by-election.[4] He also ran against an official Créditiste candidate in a 1971 by-election. He was defeated both times, as were all others who ran for his party.

The PSCU seems to have disappeared after this time, and Poulin and his supporters seem to have joined the re-united Social Credit Party of Canada under Caouette's leadership in 1971 or thereafter. Poulin ran for the re-united party in the 1974 federal election.

Return of the PSCU

The provincial Ralliement créditiste du Québec, which was aligned with the federal party, ceased operations in 1978. The PSCU was subsequently re-established, and Poulin again became the party's leader.[5] He stood in three general elections and four by-elections over the next decade, never bringing his party above fringe status.

During the 1981 provincial election, the Montreal Gazette described CSU as a "hard core" Créditiste group and identified Poulin as a follower of Major C.H. Douglas's economic theories. When interviewed by the paper, Poulin held up a copy of his party's manifesto and said, "This was written in 1966 and I haven't had to change a word."[6] (He was presumably referring to the Raillement national's manifesto from that year's provincial election.)

Poulin was asked for his opinion on abortion during the 1989 provincial election. Perhaps unusually, in light of the Social Credit Party's general social conservatism, he declined to give an opinion and said that the issue should be decided by women alone.[7] In the same election, Poulin said that social credit monetarist policies could not be implemented in Canada at the provincial level; he promised to instead target unemployment if elected.[8] He was seventy-two years old at the time.[9]

The party was officially disestablished in 1994.[10]

Electoral record

Provincial
1985 Quebec provincial election : Rosemont edit
Party Candidate Votes % +/-
     Liberal Guy Rivard 14,810 52.65
     Parti Québécois Lise Denis 11,745 41.75
     New Democratic Roger Lamarre 742 2.64
     Parti indépendantiste Louise Brouillet 394 1.40
     Humanist Sylvie Lepage 183 0.65
     Crédit social uni Jean-Paul Poulin 104 0.37
     Communist Claude Demers 83 0.30
     Commonwealth Louis Julien 43 0.15
     Christian Socialist Carlos Zencovich 27 0.10
Total valid votes 28,131 100.00
Rejected and declined votes 485
Turnout 28,616 75.11
Electors on the lists 38,101
Quebec provincial by-election, June 3, 1985 : L'Assomption edit
Party Candidate Votes % +/-
     Liberal Jean-Guy Gervais 12,019 46.71
     Progressive Conservative André Asselin 8,180 31.79
     Parti Québécois Denis Taillon 5,131 19.94
     Crédit social uni Jean-Paul Poulin 229 0.89
     Commonwealth Jacques Lambert 174 0.68
Total valid votes 25,733 100.00
Rejected and declined votes 789
Turnout 26,522 55.08
Electors on the lists 48,148

Source: Official Results, Government of Quebec

Quebec provincial by-election, June 20, 1983 : Saint-Jacques edit
Party Candidate Votes % +/-
     Liberal Serge Champagne 6,911 44.22
     Parti Québécois Jeannine Chéron 6,436 41.18
     Union Nationale Michel Ouellette 492 3.15
     Non-Affiliated Dominique Langevin 423 2.71
     Independent Robert Wilkins 368 2.35
     Independent Roméo Lizotte 302 1.93
     Workers Gérard Lachance 281 1.80
     Independent Colette Provost 200 1.28
     Crédit social uni Jean-Paul Poulin 53 0.34
     Independent Patricia Métivier 50 0.32
     Independent Paul Désormiers 46 0.29
     Non-Affiliated Claude Guertin 34 0.22
     Commonwealth Paul Rochon 33 0.21
Total valid votes 15,629 100.00
Rejected and declined votes 345
Turnout 15,974 52.28
Electors on the lists 30,552

Source: Official Results, Government of Quebec

1981 Quebec provincial election : Shefford edit
Party Candidate Votes % +/-
     Parti Québécois Roger Paré 15,632 46.78
     Liberal Richard Verreault 14,905 44.60
     Union Nationale Luc Bouchard 2,725 8.15
     Crédit social uni Jean-Paul Poulin 156 0.47
Total valid votes 33,418 100.00
Rejected and declined votes 362
Turnout 33,780 85.71
Electors on the lists 39,410
Quebec provincial by-election, November 17, 1980 : Mégantic-Compton edit
Party Candidate Votes % +/-
     Liberal Fabien Bélanger 9,259 46.95
     Parti Québécois Richard Labelle 7,135 36.18
     Union Nationale Fernand A. Grenier 3,162 16.04
     Crédit social uni Jean-Paul Poulin 163 0.83
Total valid votes 19,719 100.00
Rejected and declined votes 144
Turnout 19,863 70.38
Electors on the lists 28,222

Source: Official Results, Government of Quebec

Quebec provincial by-election, November 14, 1979 : Prévost edit
Party Candidate Votes % +/-
     Liberal Solange Chaput-Rolland 25,717 63.06
     Parti Québécois Pierre Harvey 14,433 35.39
     Workers Richard Lépine 298 0.73
     Ind. (Crédit social uni) Jean-Paul Poulin 257 0.63
     Non-Affiliated Marc Blouin 78 0.19
Total valid votes 40,783 100.00
Rejected and declined votes 1,145
Turnout 41,928 77.98
Electors on the lists 53,771

Source: Official Results, Government of Quebec

Quebec provincial by-election, February 9, 1971 : Chambly edit
Party Candidate Votes % +/-
     Liberal Jean Cournoyer 22,647 64.57
     Parti Québécois Pierre Marois 11,452 32.65
     Créditiste Clément Patry 665 1.90
     Independent Luke G. Dougherty 267 0.76
     Non-Affiliated Lionel Desjardins 18 0.05
     N/A (Crédit social uni) Jean-Paul Poulin 17 0.05
     Non-Affiliated Claude Longtin 7 0.02
Total valid votes 35,073 100.00
Rejected and declined votes 928
Turnout 36,001 68.19
Electors on the lists 52,795

Source: Official Results, Government of Quebec

Quebec provincial by-election, October 8, 1969 : Saint-Jacques edit
Party Candidate Votes % +/-
     Union Nationale Jean Cournoyer 5,695 71.73
     N/A (Créditiste) Jean-Marc Fontaine 1,050 13.22
     Non-Affiliated Jean Desautels 407 5.13
     Independent André Coallier 374 4.71
     N/A (Crédit social uni) Jean-Paul Poulin 220 2.77
     Independent Henri-Georges Grenier 194 2.44
Total valid votes 7,940 100.00
Rejected and declined votes 767
Turnout 8,707 29.51
Electors on the lists 29,503

Source: Official Results, Government of Quebec

1966 Quebec provincial election : Saint-Jacques edit
Party Candidate Votes % +/-
     Union Nationale Paul Dozois 9,869 49.97
     Liberal Jacques Guilbault 7,663 38.80
     RIN Paul Mainville 1,834 9.29
     Ralliement national Jean-Paul Poulin 383 1.94
Total valid votes 19,749 100.00
Rejected and declined votes 458
Turnout 20,207 57.68
Electors on the lists 35,035

Source: Rapport du président général des élections (Quebec), Élections 1966.

There was also a Jean-Paul Poulin who ran as a Liberal candidate in Labelle in the 1962 provincial election, but it is not clear if this was the same person.

Federal
1974 federal election : Saint-Henri edit
Party Candidate Votes % +/-
     Liberal (x)Gérard Loiselle 8,813 52.02
     Progressive Conservative Lucien Jarraud 6,147 36.29
     New Democratic Party Gus Callaghan 922 5.44
     Social Credit Jean-Paul Poulin 633 3.74
     Independent Louis Grégoire 306 1.81
     Marxist-Leninist Robert Perrault 119 0.70
Total valid votes 16,940 100.00
Total rejected ballots 724
Turnout 17,664 61.27
Electors on the lists 28,832
1968 federal election : Beauharnois edit
Party Candidate Votes % +/-
     Liberal (x)Gérald Laniel 17,203 59.82
     Progressive Conservative Armand Miron 8,703 30.26
     New Democratic Party Joseph-Aurèle Patafie 1,764 6.13
     Créditiste Jean-Paul Poulin 1,087 3.78
Total valid votes 28,757 100.00
Total rejected ballots 550
Turnout 29,307 72.33
Electors on the lists 40,519
1962 federal election : Saint-Jacques edit
Party Candidate Votes % +/-
     Liberal Maurice Rinfret 7,664 40.59
     Progressive Conservative Gérard Hébert 7,271 38.51
     Social Credit Jean-Paul Poulin 2,023 10.71
     New Democratic Party Willie Fortin 1,925 10.19
Total valid votes 18,883 100.00
Total rejected ballots 431
Turnout 19,314 58.39
Electors on the lists 33,079

References

  1. ^ "Party leader seeks election in Quebec vote," Globe and Mail, 20 October 1979, 2.
  2. ^ Hubert Bauch, "Chasing votes on the political fringe," Montreal Gazette, 28 March 1981, p. 25.
  3. ^ Ronald Lebel, "Creditistes' entry into politics likely to be swamped by UN win," Globe and Mail, 25 September 1969, p. 10.
  4. ^ Montreal Gazette, 8 October 1969, p. 52.
  5. ^ "Party leader seeks election in Quebec vote," Globe and Mail, 20 October 1979, 2.
  6. ^ Hubert Bauch, "Chasing votes on the political fringe," Montreal Gazette, 28 March 1981, p. 25.
  7. ^ David Johnston, "On the finge of Canadian politics, truth is stranger than fiction," Montreal Gazette, 18 September 1989, p. 6.
  8. ^ Michèle Ouimet, "Revoici le crédit social," La Presse, 24 August 1989, B3.
  9. ^ David Johnston, "On the finge of Canadian politics, truth is stranger than fiction," Montreal Gazette, 18 September 1989, p. 6.
  10. ^ "Ralliement créditiste" (in French). QuébecPolitique.com. http://www.quebecpolitique.com/partis/cs.html. Retrieved 2010-12-31.