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.

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 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 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 PCSU 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]

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 deregistered in 1994.[10]

Electoral record

Provincial
1989 Quebec general election: Rosemont
Party Candidate Votes%
LiberalGuy Rivard (incumbent)13,12146.97
Parti QuébécoisSylvain Simard12,98846.50
New DemocraticPierre Dion6202.22
Progressive ConservativeLyse T. Giguère2981.07
Parti indépendantisteRichard Belleau2781.00
WorkersRégis Beaulieu2560.92
Commonwealth of CanadaNormand Bélanger1340.48
United Social CreditJean-Paul Poulin920.33
Marxist–LeninistFrance Tremblay790.28
Socialist MovementJean-Yves Desgagnés670.24
Total valid votes 27,933
Rejected and declined votes 862
Turnout 28,795 75.65
Electors on the lists 38,064
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.
1985 Quebec general election: Rosemont
Party Candidate Votes%
LiberalGuy Rivard14,81052.65
Parti QuébécoisLise Denis11,74541.75
New DemocraticRoger Lamarre7422.64
Parti indépendantisteLouise Brouillet3941.40
HumanistSylvie Lepage1830.65
United Social CreditJean-Paul Poulin1040.37
CommunistClaude Demers830.30
Commonwealth of CanadaLouis Julien430.15
Christian SocialistCarlos Zencovich270.10
Total valid votes 28,131
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
Party Candidate Votes%
LiberalJean-Guy Gervais12,01946.71
Progressive ConservativeAndré Asselin8,18031.79
Parti QuébécoisDenis Taillon5,13119.94
United Social CreditJean-Paul Poulin2290.89
Commonwealth of CanadaJacques Lambert1740.68
Total valid votes 25,733
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
Party Candidate Votes%
LiberalSerge Champagne6,91144.22
Parti QuébécoisJeannine Chéron6,43641.18
Union NationaleMichel Ouellette4923.15
Non-AffiliatedDominique Langevin4232.71
IndependentRobert Wilkins3682.35
IndependentRoméo Lizotte3021.93
WorkersGérard Lachance2811.80
IndependentColette Provost2001.28
United Social CreditJean-Paul Poulin530.34
IndependentPatricia Métivier500.32
IndependentPaul Désormiers460.29
Non-AffiliatedClaude Guertin340.22
Commonwealth of CanadaPaul Rochon330.21
Total valid votes 15,629
Rejected and declined votes 345
Turnout 15,974 52.28
Electors on the lists 30,552
Source: Official Results, Government of Quebec
1981 Quebec general election: Shefford
Party Candidate Votes%
Parti QuébécoisRoger Paré15,63246.78
LiberalRichard Verreault (incumbent)14,90544.60
Union NationaleLuc Bouchard2,7258.15
United Social CreditJean-Paul Poulin1560.47
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
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalFabien Bélanger9,25946.95
Parti QuébécoisRichard Labelle7,13536.18
Union NationaleFernand A. Grenier3,16216.04–
United Social CreditJean-Paul Poulin1630.83
Total valid votes 19,719
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
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalSolange Chaput-Rolland25,71763.06
Parti QuébécoisPierre Harvey14,43335.39
WorkersRichard Lépine2980.73
United Social CreditJean-Paul Poulin2570.63
IndependentMarc Blouin780.19
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 8, 1971: Chambly
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalJean Cournoyer22,64764.57
Parti QuébécoisPierre Marois11,45232.65
Ralliement créditisteClément Patry6651.90
IndependentLuke G. Dougherty2670.76
IndependentLionel Desjardins180.05
United Social CreditJean-Paul Poulin170.05
IndependentClaude Longtin70.02
Total valid votes 35,073 100.00
Rejected and declined votes 928
Turnout 36,001 68.19
Electors on the lists 52,795
Source: Results of February 8, 1971 by-election, Élections Québec
Quebec provincial by-election, October 8, 1969: Saint-Jacques
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Union NationaleJean Cournoyer5,69571.73–
Ralliement créditisteJean-Marc Fontaine1,05013.22
IndependentJean Desautels4075.13
IndependentAndré Coallier3744.71
United Social CreditJean-Paul Poulin2202.77
IndependentHenri-Georges Grenier1942.44
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 general election: Saint-Jacques
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Union NationalePaul Dozois (incumbent)9,86949.97–
LiberalJacques Guilbault7,66338.80
RINPaul Mainville1,8349.29
Ralliement nationalJean-Paul Poulin3831.94
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 Canadian federal election: Saint-Henri
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalGérard Loiselle (incumbent)8,81352.02
Progressive ConservativeLucien Jarraud6,14736.29
New DemocraticGus Callaghan9225.44
Social CreditJean-Paul Poulin6333.74
IndependentLouis Grégoire3061.81
Marxist–LeninistRobert Perrault1190.70
Total valid votes 16,940 100.00
Total rejected ballots 724
Turnout 17,664 61.27
Electors on the lists 28,832
1968 Canadian federal election: Beauharnois
Party Candidate Votes%
LiberalGérald Laniel (incumbent)17,20359.82
Progressive ConservativeArmand Miron8,70330.26
New DemocraticJoseph-Aurèle Patafie1,7646.13
Ralliement créditisteJean-Paul Poulin1,0873.78
Total valid votes 28,757
Total rejected ballots 550
Turnout 29,307 72.33
Electors on the lists 40,519
1962 Canadian federal election: Saint-Jacques
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMaurice Rinfret7,66440.59
Progressive ConservativeGérard Hébert7,27138.51
Social CreditJean-Paul Poulin2,02310.71
New DemocraticWillie Fortin1,92510.19
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 fringe 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". QuébecPolitique.com (in French). Retrieved 2010-12-31.
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