Rhinoceros Party of Canada
Encyclopedia
The Parti Rhinocéros, commonly known as the Rhinoceros Party in English
, was a registered political party
in Canada
from the 1960s to the 1990s. Operating within the Canadian tradition of political satire
, the Rhinoceros Party's basic credo, their so-called primal promise, was "a promise to keep none of our promises." They then promised outlandishly impossible schemes designed to amuse and entertain the voting public.
The Rhinos were started in 1963 by Jacques Ferron
, "Éminence de la Grande Corne du parti Rhinocéros". In the 1970s, a group of artists joined the party and created a comedic political platform to contest the federal election. Ferron (1979), poet Gaston Miron
(1972) and singer Michel Rivard
(1980) ran against Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau
in his Montreal
seat.
The party claimed to be the spiritual descendants of Cacareco, a Brazil
ian rhinoceros
who was elected member of São Paulo's city council
in 1958, and listed Cornelius the First
, a rhinoceros from the Granby Zoo
, east of Montreal, as its leader. It declared that the rhinoceros was an appropriate symbol for a political party since politicians, by nature, are "thick-skinned, slow-moving, dim-witted, can move fast as hell when in danger, and have large, hairy horns growing out of the middle of their faces."
Some members of the Rhino party would call themselves Marxist-Lennonist, a parody of the factional split between the Communist Party of Canada
and the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)
, although the Rhinoceros Party meant the term in reference to Groucho Marx
and John Lennon
.
As seen at right, the party used as its logo a woodcut of a rhinoceros
by Albrecht Dürer
, with the words D'une mare à l'autre (a French translation of Canada's Latin
motto a mari usque ad mare, playing on the word mare, which means pond in French) at the top.
riding
with the campaign slogan "Fauna, not flora", promising to give fauna equal representation. He also took a stand on abortion (promising, if elected, never to have an abortion) and capital punishment: "If it was good enough for my grandfather, then it's good enough for me." To strengthen Canada's military, Sharp planned to tow Antarctica north to the Arctic Circle
. "Once we have Antarctica, we'll control all of the world's cold.
If another Cold War starts, we'll be unbeatable."
In the 1988 election
, the Rhinoceros Party ran a candidate named John Turner in the same riding as Liberal
leader John Turner
, and received 760 votes. Penny Hoar, a safe sex
activist, distributed condom
s in Toronto while running under the slogan "Politicians screw you — protect yourself."
The Rhino Party also declared that, should they somehow actually win an election, they would immediately dissolve and force a second election. "We Rhinos think that elections are so much fun, we want to hold them all the time."
A British Columbia
splinter group proposed running a professional dominatrix
for the position of party whip, renaming "British Columbia" to "La La Land", moving the provincial capital, and merging with the Progressive Conservative Party
so as "not to split the silly vote."
Alfred the Alien (the only politician to admit he came from outer space) ran in 1988 in Coast Capilano on a platform of "Safe sex, prescription drugs, and easy listening"- an update to the original party tag line of "sex, drugs, and rock'n roll". He also coined the slogan: "The primary obligation of a political party is to have one". While campaigning, he always wore a tuxedo
, but with baggy grey sweat pants and a cumberbund festooned with 'rhinostones', as well as a grey headdress with an outsized horn adorned with a condom. He supported global warming as part of the savannafication process to create better Rhino habitat on the prairies. He also supported Free Trade- to trade Baffin Island for Maui, or Mulroney
for some peace and quiet. Another plank was to advocate for Canadian citizenship for Jose Cuervo- Rhinos drank so much tequila that it seemed reasonable to recognize Jose as truly Canadian.
Later, Alfred the Alien campaigned in support of the undecided vote during the Meech Lake Accord debate, stating that it would be a truly Canadian compromise to leave the issues unresolved. Alfred has reverted to the political centre, and now sits on the local council on Bowen Island, BC and as a director of Metro Vancouver.
Although not recognized in the United States, former baseball pitcher Bill Lee
ran for President of the United States in 1988 on the Rhinoceros Party ticket.
, however, the party won the fourth-largest number of votes, after the three main political parties, but ahead of several well-established minor parties. Rhino candidates sometimes came in second in certain ridings, humiliating traditional Canadian parties in the process. In the 1980 federal election
, for instance, the Rhinoceros party nominated a professional clown/comedian named Sonia "chatouille" Côté ("chatouille" means "Tickles" in French) in the Laurier
riding in Montréal. Côté came in second place, after the successful Liberal
candidate, but ahead of both other major parties: the third place New Democrat
, and the fourth-place Progressive Conservative candidate. Chatouille received almost twice as many votes as the PC candidate.
Early in the party's history, when it was mainly composed of French-speaking Québécois, they chose as their official translator a party member who was the only unilingual anglophone party member at the time.
while they questioned the constitutionality of new rules that required the party to run candidates in at least 50 ridings at a cost of $1,000 per candidature. On September 23, 1993, Canada's Chief Electoral Officer
, Jean-Pierre Kingsley
, refused to accept the party's abstention and ordered the removal of the Rhinoceros Party from the Registry of Canadian Political Parties, effectively eliminating them from the Canadian political system. Kingsley also directed the party's official agent, Charlie (le Concierge) McKenzie, to liquidate all party assets and return any revenues to the Receiver General of Canada. On instructions from the party, McKenzie refused. After two years of threatening letters, Ottawa refused to prosecute McKenzie, who now claims to hold the distinction of being Canada's "least-wanted fugitive
".
In 2001, Brian "Godzilla" Salmi, who received his nickname because of the Godzilla
suit he wore while campaigning, tried to revive the Rhinoceros Party to contest the British Columbia provincial election
. While they pulled some pranks that earned some media coverage, only two of its candidates (Liar Liar in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant
and Helvis in Vancouver-Burrard
) appeared on the ballots, as the party claimed the $1000 candidate registration fee was a financial hardship. Unregistered candidates included Geoff Berner
, who received national wire service coverage for promising "cocaine and whores to potential investors". The party disbanded shortly thereafter.
Salmi later legally changed his name to Sa Tan.
In 2007, Salmi filed a lawsuit against the federal government of the election rules that led to the disbanding of the Rhinoceros party, demanding $50 million compensation. As Salmi's name is now legally "Sa Tan", the lawsuit was filed under the name Satan versus Her Majesty The Queen.
, a prominent Rhino, later started another political movement, the entartistes
. The entartistes attracted attention in the 1990s by planting cream pies in the faces of various Canadian politicians. In 2006, he led a group that set up Neorhino.ca
in an attempt to recapture the Rhinoceros Party spirit, and ran as a Neorhino candidate in the 2007 Outremont by-election.
Other Rhinoceros Party members founded the Parti citron
(Lemon Party), which attempted to bring a similar perspective to provincial politics in Quebec.
After the party's dissolution, a number of independent election candidates informally claimed the Rhinoceros Party label even though the party itself no longer existed. There were also a number of unsuccessful attempts to revive the Rhinos as a legally incorporated political party, though this was not fully achieved until late 2007, with the current Rhinoceros Party becoming a registered federal party. The party renamed itself from its earlier name, "Neorhino.ca" in 2010.
Note:
(1) The Rhinoceros Party ran 12 candidates in the 1972 election, but was not recognized as a registered party by Elections Canada, and therefore its candidates were listed as independents. (Source: Toronto Star
, October 31, 1972.)
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, was a registered political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
from the 1960s to the 1990s. Operating within the Canadian tradition of political satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
, the Rhinoceros Party's basic credo, their so-called primal promise, was "a promise to keep none of our promises." They then promised outlandishly impossible schemes designed to amuse and entertain the voting public.
The Rhinos were started in 1963 by Jacques Ferron
Jacques Ferron
Jacques Ferron was a Canadian physician and author.Jacques Ferron was born in Louiseville, Quebec, the son of Joseph-Alphonse Ferron and Adrienne Caron. On March 5, 1931 his mother died. He attended Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf but was expelled in 1936...
, "Éminence de la Grande Corne du parti Rhinocéros". In the 1970s, a group of artists joined the party and created a comedic political platform to contest the federal election. Ferron (1979), poet Gaston Miron
Gaston Miron
Gaston Miron, was an important poet, writer, and editor of the Quebec post Quiet Revolution. His masterpiece, L'homme rapaillé has sold over 100 000 copies, in Quebec and overseas, ensuring Miron as one of the most widely read authors of...
(1972) and singer Michel Rivard
Michel Rivard
Michel Rivard , is a singer-songwriter and musician from Quebec. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His father was an actor, Robert Rivard...
(1980) ran against Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
in his Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
seat.
The party claimed to be the spiritual descendants of Cacareco, a Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian rhinoceros
Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
who was elected member of São Paulo's city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
in 1958, and listed Cornelius the First
Cornelius the First
Cornelius the First was a Canadian black rhinoceros from the Granby Zoo in Granby, Quebec, who was the nominal leader of the federal political party, the Rhinoceros Party of Canada from 1965 to 1993...
, a rhinoceros from the Granby Zoo
Granby Zoo
The Granby Zoo is a zoo in Granby, Quebec and is one of Quebec's major tourist attractions.It was founded in 1953 by the mayor of Granby at the time, Pierre-Horace Boivin. There are currently more than 1000 different animals grouped into 200 species. The zoo has 516,000 visitors per year and...
, east of Montreal, as its leader. It declared that the rhinoceros was an appropriate symbol for a political party since politicians, by nature, are "thick-skinned, slow-moving, dim-witted, can move fast as hell when in danger, and have large, hairy horns growing out of the middle of their faces."
Some members of the Rhino party would call themselves Marxist-Lennonist, a parody of the factional split between the Communist Party of Canada
Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...
and the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)
Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)
The Communist Party of Canada is a Canadian federal Marxist–Leninist political party.The party is registered with Elections Canada as the Marxist–Leninist Party of Canada...
, although the Rhinoceros Party meant the term in reference to Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
and John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
.
As seen at right, the party used as its logo a woodcut of a rhinoceros
Dürer's Rhinoceros
Dürer's Rhinoceros is the name commonly given to a woodcut executed by German painter and printmaker Albrecht Dürer in 1515. The image was based on a written description and brief sketch by an unknown artist of an Indian rhinoceros that had arrived in Lisbon earlier that year. Dürer never saw the...
by Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
, with the words D'une mare à l'autre (a French translation of Canada's Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
motto a mari usque ad mare, playing on the word mare, which means pond in French) at the top.
Policies and politics
In addition to the national platform promises released by the party leadership, individual candidates also had considerable freedom to campaign on their own ideas and slogans. Bryan Gold of the Rhinoceros Party described the party platform as two feet high and made of wood. "My platform is the one I'm standing on." A candidate named Ted "not too" Sharp ran in Flora MacDonald's OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
riding
Kingston and the Islands
Kingston and the Islands is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968....
with the campaign slogan "Fauna, not flora", promising to give fauna equal representation. He also took a stand on abortion (promising, if elected, never to have an abortion) and capital punishment: "If it was good enough for my grandfather, then it's good enough for me." To strengthen Canada's military, Sharp planned to tow Antarctica north to the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
. "Once we have Antarctica, we'll control all of the world's cold.
If another Cold War starts, we'll be unbeatable."
In the 1988 election
Canadian federal election, 1988
The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....
, the Rhinoceros Party ran a candidate named John Turner in the same riding as Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
leader John Turner
John Turner
John Napier Wyndham Turner, PC, CC, QC is an English Canadian lawyer and retired politician, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984....
, and received 760 votes. Penny Hoar, a safe sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
activist, distributed condom
Condom
A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
s in Toronto while running under the slogan "Politicians screw you — protect yourself."
1979 campaign
- Government:
- The Queen of Canada would be seated in Buckingham, QuebecBuckingham, QuebecBuckingham was a city located in the Outaouais region of the province of Quebec. Since January 1, 2002, it has been part of the amalgamated city of Gatineau which merged five former municipalities, including Masson-Angers, Buckingham, Hull, Aylmer and Gatineau, into a single entity...
. - Rather than awarding money as prizes in the lottery, the winners would be appointed to the Canadian SenateCanadian SenateThe Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
. - Rather than patriate the constitution by bringing it to CanadaCanada Act 1982The Canada Act 1982 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was passed at the request of the Canadian federal government to "patriate" Canada's constitution, ending the necessity for the country to request certain types of amendment to the Constitution of Canada to be made by the...
, as proposed by Pierre TrudeauPierre TrudeauJoseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
, the Rhinoceros Party pledged to bring Great Britain home and make it Canada's eleventh province.
- The Queen of Canada would be seated in Buckingham, Quebec
- Energy:
- Building one nuclear powerNuclear powerNuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
plant per household, including monthly distributions of leadLeadLead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
underwear to Canadians. Indoor lighting would then be provided by radioactive citizens. - Burning all the standing barnBarnA barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...
s in Canada to provide energy, under the slogan Burn a barn for Britain.
- Building one nuclear power
- Gender issues:
- AlimonyAlimonyAlimony is a U.S. term denoting a legal obligation to provide financial support to one's spouse from the other spouse after marital separation or from the ex-spouse upon divorce...
payments would go directly to the federal government, and responsibility for withholding those payments would fall upon the federal government. - Men would be allowed to work as prostitutes, wet nurseWet nurseA wet nurse is a woman who is used to breast feed and care for another's child. Wet nurses are used when the mother is unable or chooses not to nurse the child herself. Wet-nursed children may be known as "milk-siblings", and in some cultures the families are linked by a special relationship of...
s, secretariesSecretaryA secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
and receptionistReceptionistA receptionist is an employee taking an office/administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business...
s.
- Alimony
1984 campaign
- Economy
- The Rhinoceros Party party pledge to eliminate small businesses, and replace them with very small business, having less than one employee.
- Candidate Graham Ashley, standing in Ottawa-Vanier, pledged to take Canada off the Gold StandardGold standardThe gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed mass of gold. There are distinct kinds of gold standard...
, and implement a Snow Standard, which would improve the economy until the summer.
- Public works
- Candidate Stardust the Magician promised to put a roof on Olympic StadiumOlympic StadiumThe Olympic Stadium is the name usually given to the big centrepiece stadium of the Summer Olympic Games. Traditionally, the opening and closing ceremonies and the track and field competitions are held in the Olympic Stadium. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words Olympic...
, using only a $25 million handkerchiefHandkerchiefA handkerchief , also called a handkercher or hanky, is a form of a kerchief, typically a hemmed square of thin fabric that can be carried in the pocket or purse, and which is intended for personal hygiene purposes such as wiping one's hands or face, or blowing one's nose...
.
- Candidate Stardust the Magician promised to put a roof on Olympic Stadium
Other campaigns
Other platform promises of the Rhinoceros Party included:- Repealing the law of gravityLaw of Gravity"Law of Gravity" is the fifteenth episode of the seventh season of the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.-Plot:Before the start of his shift, Keppler eats dinner at a diner where he runs into an older man named Frank McCarty...
- Providing higher education by building taller schools
- Instituting EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and illiteracy as Canada's three official languages - Tearing down the Rocky MountainsRocky MountainsThe Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
so that AlbertaAlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
ns could see the PacificPacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
sunset - Making Montreal the VeniceVeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
of North America by damming the St. Lawrence River - Abolishing the environment because it's too hard to keep clean and it takes up so much space
- AnnexingAnnexationAnnexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, which would take its place as the third territory in Canada's backyard (after the YukonYukonYukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
and the Northwest TerritoriesNorthwest TerritoriesThe Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
-- NunavutNunavutNunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
did not yet exist), in order to eliminate foreign control of Canada's natural resources - Ending crime by abolishing all laws
- To provide more parking in the Maritimes and to create the world's largest parking lot respectively, paving the Bay of FundyBay of FundyThe Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
and the province of ManitobaManitobaManitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other... - Turning Montreal's Saint Catherine StreetSaint Catherine StreetThis article is about the street in Montreal called the rue Sainte-Catherine in French. For other streets of this name, see Rue Sainte-Catherine ....
into the world's longest bowling alley - Amending Canada's Freedom of Information Act. "Nothing is free anymore; Canadians should have to pay for their information."
- Making the Canadian climate more temperate by tapping into the natural resource of hot air in Ottawa.
- Storing nuclear waste in the Senate. "After all, we've been storing political waste there for years."
- Adopting the BritishGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
system of driving on the left; this was to be gradually phased in over five years with large trucks and tractors first, then buses, eventually including small cars and bicycles last. - Selling the Canadian SenateCanadian SenateThe Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
at an antique auction in California - Putting the national debt on Visa
- Declaring war on BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
because a Belgian cartoon character, TintinThe Adventures of TintinThe Adventures of Tintin is a series of classic comic books created by Belgian artist , who wrote under the pen name of Hergé...
, killed a rhinoceros in one of the cartoons - Offering to call off the proposed Belgium-Canada war if Belgium delivered a case of mussels and a case of Belgian beer to Rhinoceros "Hindquarters" in Montreal (the Belgian Embassy in Ottawa did, in fact, do this)
- Painting Canada's coastal sea limits in watercolour so that Canadian fish would know where they were at all times
- Banning guns and butter, since both kill
- Banning lousy Canadian winters
- Building a bridge spanning the country, from Vancouver IslandVancouver IslandVancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
to Newfoundland. - Making the Trans-Canada HighwayTrans-Canada HighwayThe Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins the ten provinces of Canada. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km...
one way only. - Changing Canada's currency to bubble gum, so it could be inflated or deflated at will.
- Donate a free rhinoceros to every aspiring artist in Canada
- Counting the Thousand IslandsThousand IslandsThe Thousand Islands is the name of an archipelago of islands that straddle the Canada-U.S. border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for about downstream from Kingston, Ontario. The Canadian islands are in the province of Ontario, the...
to see if the Americans have stolen any
The Rhino Party also declared that, should they somehow actually win an election, they would immediately dissolve and force a second election. "We Rhinos think that elections are so much fun, we want to hold them all the time."
Notable candidates
Michel Rivard once went on TV (during free air time given to political parties) and stated: "I have but two things to say to you: Celery and Sidewalk. Thank you, good night."A British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
splinter group proposed running a professional dominatrix
Dominatrix
Dominatrix or mistress is a woman or women who takes the dominant role in bondage, discipline and sadomasochism, or BDSM. A common form of address for a submissive to a dominatrix is "mistress", "ma'am", "domina" or "maîtresse"...
for the position of party whip, renaming "British Columbia" to "La La Land", moving the provincial capital, and merging with the Progressive Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
so as "not to split the silly vote."
Alfred the Alien (the only politician to admit he came from outer space) ran in 1988 in Coast Capilano on a platform of "Safe sex, prescription drugs, and easy listening"- an update to the original party tag line of "sex, drugs, and rock'n roll". He also coined the slogan: "The primary obligation of a political party is to have one". While campaigning, he always wore a tuxedo
Tuxedo
A tuxedo is a type of semi-formal dress for men.Tuxedo may also refer to:-Places:Canada* Tuxedo, Winnipeg, Manitoba, a city neighborhood** Tuxedo , a provincial electoral district in Manitoba...
, but with baggy grey sweat pants and a cumberbund festooned with 'rhinostones', as well as a grey headdress with an outsized horn adorned with a condom. He supported global warming as part of the savannafication process to create better Rhino habitat on the prairies. He also supported Free Trade- to trade Baffin Island for Maui, or Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
for some peace and quiet. Another plank was to advocate for Canadian citizenship for Jose Cuervo- Rhinos drank so much tequila that it seemed reasonable to recognize Jose as truly Canadian.
Later, Alfred the Alien campaigned in support of the undecided vote during the Meech Lake Accord debate, stating that it would be a truly Canadian compromise to leave the issues unresolved. Alfred has reverted to the political centre, and now sits on the local council on Bowen Island, BC and as a director of Metro Vancouver.
Although not recognized in the United States, former baseball pitcher Bill Lee
Bill Lee (left-handed pitcher)
William Francis Lee III , nicknamed "Spaceman", is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for the Boston Red Sox from - and the Montreal Expos from -...
ran for President of the United States in 1988 on the Rhinoceros Party ticket.
Electoral record
The Rhinoceros Party never succeeded in winning a seat in the House of Commons. In the 1984 federal electionCanadian federal election, 1984
The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...
, however, the party won the fourth-largest number of votes, after the three main political parties, but ahead of several well-established minor parties. Rhino candidates sometimes came in second in certain ridings, humiliating traditional Canadian parties in the process. In the 1980 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1980
The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
, for instance, the Rhinoceros party nominated a professional clown/comedian named Sonia "chatouille" Côté ("chatouille" means "Tickles" in French) in the Laurier
Laurier (electoral district)
Laurier was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1935 to 1988.It was created in 1933 from parts of Laurier—Outremont and Saint-Denis ridings....
riding in Montréal. Côté came in second place, after the successful Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
candidate, but ahead of both other major parties: the third place New Democrat
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
, and the fourth-place Progressive Conservative candidate. Chatouille received almost twice as many votes as the PC candidate.
Early in the party's history, when it was mainly composed of French-speaking Québécois, they chose as their official translator a party member who was the only unilingual anglophone party member at the time.
1993 abstention and subsequent dissolution
The party abstained from the 1993 federal electionCanadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...
while they questioned the constitutionality of new rules that required the party to run candidates in at least 50 ridings at a cost of $1,000 per candidature. On September 23, 1993, Canada's Chief Electoral Officer
Chief Electoral Officer (Canada)
The Chief Electoral Officer is the person responsible for overseeing elections in Canada.The position of Chief Electoral Officer was created in 1920 by the Dominion Elections Act. The Chief Electoral Officer is appointed by a resolution of the Canadian House of Commons...
, Jean-Pierre Kingsley
Jean-Pierre Kingsley
Jean-Pierre Kingsley was the President and CEO of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. He was the Chief Electoral Officer of Elections Canada, before he stepped down in December 2006. On April 28, 2009 he announced his resignation as President of IFES. He was succeeded by Bill...
, refused to accept the party's abstention and ordered the removal of the Rhinoceros Party from the Registry of Canadian Political Parties, effectively eliminating them from the Canadian political system. Kingsley also directed the party's official agent, Charlie (le Concierge) McKenzie, to liquidate all party assets and return any revenues to the Receiver General of Canada. On instructions from the party, McKenzie refused. After two years of threatening letters, Ottawa refused to prosecute McKenzie, who now claims to hold the distinction of being Canada's "least-wanted fugitive
Fugitive
A fugitive is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from private slavery, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals...
".
In 2001, Brian "Godzilla" Salmi, who received his nickname because of the Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
suit he wore while campaigning, tried to revive the Rhinoceros Party to contest the British Columbia provincial election
British Columbia general election, 2001
The British Columbia general election of 2001 was the 37th provincial election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 18, 2001, and held on May 16, 2001...
. While they pulled some pranks that earned some media coverage, only two of its candidates (Liar Liar in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant
Vancouver-Mount Pleasant
Vancouver-Mount Pleasant is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was one of only two electoral districts to return an NDP MLA in the 2001 election when the NDP was nearly wiped off the electoral map, and it did so by a much wider margin than...
and Helvis in Vancouver-Burrard
Vancouver-Burrard
Vancouver-Burrard was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It first appeared on the hustings in the 1933 general election....
) appeared on the ballots, as the party claimed the $1000 candidate registration fee was a financial hardship. Unregistered candidates included Geoff Berner
Geoff Berner
Geoff Berner is a Canadian singer-songwriter and accordion player from Vancouver, British Columbia.Due to his insightful humor, politically inflammatory compositions and showmanship, Berner has gained a cult following over the years, especially in Canada and Norway, where he recorded his first...
, who received national wire service coverage for promising "cocaine and whores to potential investors". The party disbanded shortly thereafter.
Salmi later legally changed his name to Sa Tan.
In 2007, Salmi filed a lawsuit against the federal government of the election rules that led to the disbanding of the Rhinoceros party, demanding $50 million compensation. As Salmi's name is now legally "Sa Tan", the lawsuit was filed under the name Satan versus Her Majesty The Queen.
Successors
François GourdFrançois Gourd
François Gourd is a Canadian political figure and entertainer, who has been involved in the Rhinoceros Party of Canada and the entartistes, two satirical political movements...
, a prominent Rhino, later started another political movement, the entartistes
Entartistes
The entartistes are a Canadian satirical political group whose members throw cream pies at political and cultural figures whom the group deems to be in need of public embarrassment....
. The entartistes attracted attention in the 1990s by planting cream pies in the faces of various Canadian politicians. In 2006, he led a group that set up Neorhino.ca
Neorhino.ca
The Rhinoceros Party is a Canadian federal political party. Referred to in English Canada as the Second Rhinoceros Party. It was known as neorhino.ca until 2010, when the party changed names and registered a new party logo...
in an attempt to recapture the Rhinoceros Party spirit, and ran as a Neorhino candidate in the 2007 Outremont by-election.
Other Rhinoceros Party members founded the Parti citron
Parti Citron
The Lemon Party of Canada is a frivolous Canadian party which has operated on a federal level, as well as provincially in Quebec. The party was officially registered on January 8, 1987, by then leader, Denis R. Patenaude and deregistered on November 14, 1998 for failing to have at least ten...
(Lemon Party), which attempted to bring a similar perspective to provincial politics in Quebec.
After the party's dissolution, a number of independent election candidates informally claimed the Rhinoceros Party label even though the party itself no longer existed. There were also a number of unsuccessful attempts to revive the Rhinos as a legally incorporated political party, though this was not fully achieved until late 2007, with the current Rhinoceros Party becoming a registered federal party. The party renamed itself from its earlier name, "Neorhino.ca" in 2010.
Electoral results
| Election | # of candidates nominated | # of seats won | # of total votes | % of popular vote | % of vote in ridings contested |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 Canadian federal election, 1965 The Canadian federal election of 1965 was held on November 8 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 27th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was re-elected with a larger number of seats in the House... |
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| 1968 Canadian federal election, 1968 The Canadian federal election of 1968 was held on June 25, 1968, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 28th Parliament of Canada... |
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| 1972 Canadian federal election, 1972 The Canadian federal election of 1972 was held on October 30, 1972 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 29th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in a slim victory for the governing Liberal Party, which won 109 seats, compared to 107 seats for the opposition Progressive... (1) |
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| 1979 Canadian federal election, 1979 The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive... |
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| 1980 Canadian federal election, 1980 The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada... |
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| 1984 Canadian federal election, 1984 The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada... |
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| 1988 Canadian federal election, 1988 The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement .... |
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Note:
(1) The Rhinoceros Party ran 12 candidates in the 1972 election, but was not recognized as a registered party by Elections Canada, and therefore its candidates were listed as independents. (Source: Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, October 31, 1972.)
See also
- Joke political partyJoke political partyA frivolous party or a joke party is a political party which has been created for the purposes of entertainment or political satire. Such a party may or may not have a serious point behind its activities...
- List of frivolous political parties
- Independent Rhinoceros candidates, 1997 Canadian federal electionIndependent Rhinoceros candidates, 1997 Canadian federal electionThe Rhinoceros Party of Canada ceased to exist after the 1988 federal election, although several independent candidates since them have adopted the "Rhinoceros" label. A number of independent Rhinoceros candidates campaigned in the 1997 election. Information about them may be found here.-M...