Rhinoceros Party Explained

Parti Rhinocéros Party
Leader:	Sébastien CoRhino^[1]
Founder:	François Gourd
Headquarters:	454 Tessier Street, Rimouski, Québec G5L 4L1
Ideology:	Political satire
Blank1 Title:	Fiscal policy
Blank2 Title:	Social policy
Seats2 Title:	House of Commons
Seats1 Title:	Senate
Country:	Canada
Parties Dab1:	List of federal political parties in Canada
Elections Dab1:	List of Canadian federal general elections

The Rhinoceros Party, officially the Parti Rhinocéros Party,^[2] is a Canadian federal political party. It originally existed from 1963 to 1993. It was refounded in Montreal on May 21, 2006, and was registered with Elections Canada on August 23, 2007.^[3] It was known as neorhino.ca until 2010 when the party changed its name and logo.

The party was founded by François "Yo" Gourd, who was involved with the original incarnation of the Rhinoceros Party. He has said that he named the new party (then under the name "neorhino") after the Rhinoceros Party and Neo, the Matrix character.^[4] The party is led by Sébastien Côrriveau^[5] (who used the names "Sébastien CôRhino Côrriveau" and "Sébastien CoRhino" when running in the 2015 and 2019 federal elections, respectively^{[6] [7]}). It promises, like its predecessor, not to keep any of its promises if elected.^[8]

Rhinoceros Party of Canada (1963–1993)

Rhinoceros Party of Canada
Native Name:	Parti Rhinocéros
Subheader:	Former federal party
Leader:	Cornelius the First
Founder:	Jacques Ferron
Foundation:	1963
Dissolution:	1993
Ideology:	Satire Frivolous Animals as electoral candidates
Blank1 Title:	Fiscal policy
Blank2 Title:	Social policy
Seats1 Title:	Seats in the House of Commons
Seats2 Title:	Seats in the Senate
Seats3 Title:	Seats in Legislature
Country:	Canada
Parties Dab1:	List of federal political parties in Canada
Elections Dab1:	List of Canadian federal general elections

The Rhinoceros Party (French: Parti Rhinocéros) was a registered political party in Canada from the 1960s to the 1990s. Operating within the tradition of political satire, the Rhinoceros Party's basic credo, their so-called primal promise, was "a promise to keep none of our promises".^[9] They then promised outlandishly impossible schemes designed to amuse and entertain the voting public.^[10]

The Rhinos were started in 1963 by Jacques Ferron,^[11] "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 Brazilian 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.^[12] 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".^[13]

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.^[14]

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^[15]) 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 Kingston and the Islands riding with the campaign slogan "Fauna, not flora", promising to give fauna equal representation.^[16] 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".^[17]

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.^[18] Penny Hoar, a safe sex activist, distributed condoms in Toronto while running under the slogan: "Politicians screw you—protect yourself".^[19]

1979 campaign

• Government:
  • The Queen of Canada would be seated in Buckingham, Quebec.^[20]
  • Rather than awarding money as prizes in the lottery, the winners would be appointed to the Senate of Canada.
  • Rather than patriate the constitution by bringing it to Canada, as proposed by Pierre Trudeau, the Rhinoceros Party pledged to bring Great Britain home and make it Canada's eleventh province.^[21]
• Energy:
  • Building one nuclear power plant per household, including monthly distributions of lead underwear to Canadians. Indoor lighting would then be provided by radioactive citizens.^[22]
  • Burning all the standing barns in Canada to provide energy, under the slogan Burn a barn for Britain.
• Gender issues:
  • Alimony 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 nurses, secretaries and receptionists.

1984 campaign

• Economy
  • The Rhinoceros Party pledged to eliminate small businesses, and replace them with very small businesses, having less than one employee.^[23]
  • Candidate Graham Ashley, standing in Ottawa-Vanier, pledged to take Canada off the Gold Standard, and implement a Snow Standard, which would improve the economy until the summer.^[24]
• Public works
  • Candidate Stardust the Magician promised to put a roof on the Olympic Stadium, using only a $25-million handkerchief.^[25]

Other campaigns

Other platform promises of the Rhinoceros Party included:

• Repealing the law of gravity^[26]
• Providing higher education by building taller schools
• Instituting English, French and illiteracy as Canada's three official languages
• Tearing down the Rocky Mountains so that Albertans could see the Pacific sunset
• Eliminating unemployment by abolishing Statistics Canada, thereby eliminating the bureaucrats that measure unemployment.^[27]
• Making Montreal the Venice of North America by damming the St. Lawrence River^[28]
• Abolishing the environment because it's too hard to keep clean and it takes up so much space
• Annexing the United States, which would take its place as the third territory in Canada's backyard (after the Yukon and the Northwest Territories—Nunavut did not yet exist), in order to eliminate foreign control of Canada's natural resources
• Ending crime by abolishing all laws^[29]
• To provide more parking in the Maritimes by paving the Bay of Fundy, and to create the world's largest parking by paving the province of Manitoba^[30]
• Turning Montreal's Saint Catherine Street 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".^[31]
• Making the Canadian climate more temperate by tapping into the natural resource of hot air in Ottawa.^[31]
• Storing nuclear waste in the Senate: "After all, we've been storing political waste there for years".^[31]
• Adopting the British 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 and wheelchairs last.
• Selling the Senate of Canada at an antique auction in California^[32]
• Putting the national debt on Visa^[33]
• Declaring war on Belgium because a Belgian cartoon character, Tintin, killed a rhinoceros in one of the cartoons^{[34] [35]}
• 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 Island to Newfoundland.^[36]
• Making the Trans-Canada Highway one way only.^[36]
• Changing Canada's currency to bubble gum, so it could be inflated or deflated at will.^[37]
• Donating a free rhinoceros to every aspiring artist in Canada
• Counting the Thousand Islands to see if the Americans have stolen any^[16]
• Knocking down the Rocky Mountains and building giant bicycle paths sloping downhill in both directions, so Canadians could coast from coast to coast.^[38]

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".^[39] They also declared victory after one election, claiming all candidates were Rhinoceroses, whether they knew or acknowledged it: thick-skinned, short-sighted, mean-tempered, etc.

Notable candidates

Michel Rivard once went on television (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 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".

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.^[40]

In the 2019 Canadian federal election, the Rhinoceros Party ran a candidate named Maxime Bernier in the riding of Beauce against the incumbent, Maxime Bernier, leader of the People's Party of Canada.^[41] Neither candidate won, with both being defeated by Conservative Party candidate Richard Lehoux.^[42] Rhino candidate Bernier managed 1084 votes. Even if all of these had gone to incumbent Bernier, who managed 16,796 votes, it still wouldn't have been enough to change the result. Lehoux received 22,860 votes.^[43]

Electoral record

The Rhinoceros Party never succeeded in winning a seat in the House of Commons. In the 1984 federal election, 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.^[44] 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 their only unilingual anglophone party member as their official translator.

Electoral results

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.)

1993 abstention and subsequent dissolution

The party abstained from the 1993 federal election 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.^[45] 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".^[46] The party disbanded shortly thereafter.

Successors

François Gourd, a prominent Rhino, later started another political movement, the entartistes, who attracted attention in the 1990s by planting cream pies in the faces of various Canadian politicians.^[47] In 2006, he led a group that set up Neorhino.ca in an attempt to recapture the Rhinoceros Party spirit,^[48] 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 Neorhino.ca.

Neorhino.ca

On August 7, 2007, Brian Salmi, then-president of the Rhinoceros Party, announced a $50-million lawsuit contesting an election reform law that had stripped his party of its registered status in 1993.

Legally changing his name to Sa Tan, he had planned to run under the Rhino banner in the September 2007 by-election. However, a previous law from 1993 stated that registered parties must run candidates in at least 50 ridings, at a cost of $1,000 per riding, to keep their status. In protest of the new law, the party planned to abstain from the election. Canada's then-chief electoral officer, Jean-Pierre Kingsley, rejected the abstention and ordered the party removed from the registry of Canadian political parties. The lawsuit was filed as a result of the removal from the national party registry by Mr. Kingsley. Since Salmi had legally changed his name, the lawsuit was filed as Sa Tan vs. Her Majesty The Queen.

The lawsuit was dropped after the ruling of the chief electoral officer was reversed in a new law passed in 2004 that said a party only had to run one candidate in a federal election or federal by-election to be considered registered.

Electoral record

Candidates of Neorhino.ca and the Rhinoceros Party have not recorded any electoral victories. Before the Neorhino.ca candidates stood for the ridings of Outremont and Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot in the 2007 federal by-elections, Neorhino.ca and the Rhinoceros Party before them had not fielded a candidate since Bryan Gold's failed bid to win a 1990 by-election in the New Brunswick electoral district of Beauséjour.

Neorhino.ca candidates did not win any seats in the 2007 by-elections, the 2008 federal election, or the 2011 federal election.

2007/2008 by-elections

Candidate	Votes	%	Placement	District	Date
François Gourd	145	0.6	6/12	Outremont	September 17, 2007
Christian Willie Vanasse	384	1.2	6/7	Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot	September 17, 2007
John Turner	111	0.4	5/6	Vancouver Quadra	March 17, 2008

2009 by-elections

Rhinoceros Party

The party changed from neorhino.ca to its new formal name the Rhinoceros Party in mid-2010. It also registered a new logo with Elections Canada.

Election	of candidates	of votes	% of popular vote	% in ridings run	of seats
2011	14	3,800	0.026%	0.57%	0
2015	27	7,263	0.04%	0.52%	0
2019	43	9,408	0.04%	0.45%	0
2021	27	6,085	0.04%		0

2011 candidates

Riding	Province	Candidate	Occupation	Notes	Votes	%	Placement
Ahuntsic	Quebec	Jean-Olivier Berthiaume			299	0.64	6/6
Berthier—Maskinongé	Quebec	Martin Jubinville			373	0.66	6/6
Chicoutimi—Le Fjord	Quebec	Marielle Couture			340	0.67	6/6
Hochelaga	Quebec	Hugo Samson Veillette			246	0.53	6/8
Honoré-Mercier	Quebec	Valery Chevrefils-Latulippe			181	0.38	6/7
LaSalle—Émard	Quebec	Guillaume Berger-Richard			208	0.50	7/7
Laurier—Sainte-Marie	Quebec	François Yo Gourd			398	0.79	6/9
Outremont	Quebec	Tommy Gaudet			160	0.41	6/7
Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie	Quebec	Jean-Patrick Berthiaume	Politician^[49]	Born in Saint-Jérôme, Berthiaume contested Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie in the 2008 federal election as a neorhino.ca candidate.^[50] He was the leader of the Rhinoceros Party's Laboratoire des Sciences de la Démocratie (LSD) in 2011.^[51]	417	0.77	6/7
Sherbrooke	Quebec	Crédible Berlingot Landry			233	0.45	6/6
Trois-Rivières	Quebec	Francis Arsenault			256	0.51	7/7
Westmount—Ville-Marie	Quebec	Victoria Haliburton			140	0.34	6/7
Peace River	Alberta	Donovan Eckstrom			345	0.72	6/6
Cariboo—Prince George	British Columbia	Jordan Turner			204	0.47	7/7

2015 candidates

On August 17, Sébastien CôRhino declared in Montréal he was willing to nationalize Tim Hortons and privatize the Royal Canadian Army at the same time: "We'll look at the results after five years, after 10 years, after 50 years and with the results of these studies we'll be able to determine if other economic sectors should also be nationalized or be privatized."Montreal candidate Ben 97 also publicly announced that he wanted to move the capital to Kapuskasing, Ontario, to "bring democracy closer to Canadians", as Kapuskasing is in the country's center.^{[52] [53]}

Riding	Province	Candidate Name	Occupation	Notes	Votes	%	Placement
Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou	Quebec	Mario Gagnon			258	0.75	6/6
Abitibi—Témiscamingue	Quebec	Pascal Le Fou Gélinas			425	0.85	6/6
Ahuntsic-Cartierville	Quebec	Catherine Gascon-David			285	0.51	6/6
Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia	Quebec	Éric Normand			175	0.48	7/7
Compton—Stanstead	Quebec	Kevin Côté			315	0.56	6/6
Edmonton Centre	Alberta	Steven Stauffer			257	0.48	5/6
Edmonton Griesbach	Alberta	Bun Bun Thompson			144	0.30	7/8
Edmonton Strathcona	Alberta	Donovan Eckstrom			133	0.24	7/10
Elgin—Middlesex—London	Ontario	Lou Bernardi			185	0.32	6/6
Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine	Quebec	Max Boudreau			300	0.76	6/6
Hochelaga	Quebec	Nicolas Lemay			411	0.79	6/8
	Quebec	Marielle Couture			382	0.79	6/6
Kings—Hants	Nova Scotia	Megan Brown-Hodges			184	0.39	5/7
La Pointe-de-l'Île	Quebec	Ben 97 Benoit			358	0.65	6/8
Lethbridge	Alberta	Solly Krygier-Paine			209	0.37	6/6
Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne	Quebec	Matthew Iakov Liberman			325	0.63	6/7
Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup	Quebec	Bien Gras Gagné			287	0.58	6/6
Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan	Saskatchewan	Robert Thomas			208	0.50	5/5
Ottawa Centre	Ontario	Conrad Lukawski			167	0.22	6/8
Papineau	Quebec	Tommy Gaudet		Challenged Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, who became Prime Minister of Canada after the election	323	0.64	7/10
Richmond—Arthabaska	Quebec	Antoine Dubois			384	0.66	6/6
Rimouski—Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques	Quebec	Sébastien CôRhino Côrriveau		Leader of party	273	0.61	6/6
Rivière du Nord	Quebec	Fobozof A. Côté			261	0.46	6/6
Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie	Quebec	Laurent Aglat			495	0.85	6/8
Saskatoon—University	Saskatchewan	Eric Matthew Schalm			93	0.21	5/5
Sherbrooke	Quebec	Hubert Richard			265	0.46	7/7
Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs	Quebec	Daniel Wolfe			161	0.32	6/7

2019 candidates

List of candidates and election results:^{[54] [55]}

Riding	Province	Candidate Name	Occupation	Notes	Votes	%	Placement
Québec	Québec	Sébastien CoRhino	Leader of the Rhinoceros Party and eternal commander of good humour^[56]	Party dealer^[57]	349	0.6	7/8
Beauce	Québec	Maxime Bernier		Ran against former cabinet minister Maxime Bernier	1,072	0.8	7/7
Laurentides—Labelle	Québec	Ludovic Schneider			265	0.4	7/8
Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs	Québec	Tommy Douteulogue Gaudet			165	0.3	7/10
Hochelaga	Québec	Chinook Blais-Leduc			301	0.6	7/9
Thérèse-De Blainville	Québec	Alain Lamontagne			213	0.4	7/8
LaSalle—Émard—Verdun	Québec	Rhino Jacques Bélanger			261	0.5	8/9
Laurier—Sainte-Marie	Québec	Mélissa Archie Morals Charron			203	0.4	7/10
Outremont	Québec	Mark John Hiemstra			151	0.4	7/7
West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country	British Columbia	Gordon Jeffrey			206	0.3	6/7
Drummond	Québec	Réal BatRhino			205	0.5	7/8
Compton—Stanstead	Québec	Jonathan Therrien			250	0.4	7/7
Thornhill	Ontario	Nathan Bregman			217	0.4	5/6
Mégantic—L'Érable	Québec	Damien Roy			250	0.5	7/8
Edmonton Centre	Alberta	Donovan Eckstrom			201	0.4	6/8
Berthier—Maskinongé	Québec	Martin Acetaria Caesar Jubinville			161	0.3	7/9
Calgary Signal Hill	Alberta	Christina Bassett			505	0.8	6/7
Newmarket—Aurora	Ontario	Laurie Goble			101	0.2	7/7
Sherbrooke	Québec	Steve A Côté DeLaTrack			221	0.4	7/8
Papineau	Québec	Jean-Patrick “Cacereco” Berthiaume		Challenged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau	334	0.7	6/11
Montarville	Québec	Thomas Thibault-Vincent			208	0.4	7/7
Hull—Aylmer	Québec	Sébastien Grenier			191	0.4	8/8
Glengarry—Prescott—Russell	Ontario	Marc-Antoine Gagnier	Author and YouTuber^[58]		187	0.3	8/8
Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine	Québec	Cowboy Jay			353	0.9	6/7
Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle	Québec	Xavier Watso			169	0.3	8/8
Chicoutimi—Le Fjord	Québec	Line “Wallace” Bélanger			290	0.7	7/7
Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie	Québec	Jos Guitare Lavoie			342	0.6	6/9
Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques	Québec	Lysane Picker-Paquin			176	0.4	7/7
Brome—Missisquoi	Québec	Steeve Cloutier			307	0.5	7/8
Regina—Qu'Appelle	Saskatchewan	Éric Normand		Challenged Conservative Official Opposition leader Andrew Scheer	75	0.2	8/8
Windsor West	Ontario	Conrad Lukawski			N/A	N/A	N/A
Terrebonne	Québec	Paul Vézina			252	0.4	7/8
Toronto Centre	Ontario	Sean Carson	Comedian and writer^[59]		143	0.3	6/9
Ottawa—Vanier	Ontario	Derek Miller			339	0.5	7/10
Kings—Hants	Nova Scotia	Nicholas Tan			147	0.3	6/7
Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing	Ontario	Le Marquis de Marmalade			124	0.3	6/6
Richmond Hill	Ontario	Otto Fungi Wevers			126	0.3	6/6
Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia	Québec	Mathieu Castonguay	Web programmer^[60]		178	0.5	7/7
Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas	Ontario	Spencer Rocchi	Teacher^[61]		159	0.2	6/6
Hamilton Mountain	Ontario	Richard Plett	Businessman^[62]		109	0.2	7/7
Regina—Qu'Appelle	Saskatchewan	Daniel Gagnon		Refused^[63]	N/A	N/A	N/A
Regina—Qu'Appelle	Saskatchewan	Ryan Huard	Firmware developer^[64]	Refused	N/A	N/A	N/A

2021 candidates

List of candidates and election results:^[65]

Riding	Province	Candidate	Occupation	Notes	Votes	%	Placement
Central Nova	Nova Scotia	Ryan Smyth			65	0.16	8/8
Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup	Quebec	Thibaud Mony			269	0.56	6/6
Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques	Quebec	Megan Hodges			192	0.46	8/8
Jonquière	Quebec	Line Bélanger			372	0.82	6/6
Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier	Quebec	Tommy Pelletier			490	0.75	7/7
Saint-Maurice—Champlain	Quebec	Dji-Pé Frazer			285	0.51	8/9
Richmond—Arthabaska	Quebec	Marjolaine Delisle			448	0.78	7/7
Beloeil—Chambly	Quebec	Thomas Thibault-Vincent		Challenged Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet	185	0.28	9/10
Papineau	Quebec	Above Znoneofthe		Challenged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau	418	0.92	7/10
Hochelaga	Quebec	Alan Smithee			238	0.50	7/9
Abitibi—Témiscamingue	Quebec	Joël Lirette			275	0.60	8/8
Gatineau	Quebec	Sébastien Grenier			178	0.34	8/9
Hull—Aylmer	Quebec	Mike LeBlanc			203	0.40	8/9
Rivière-du-Nord	Quebec	Jean-François René			373	0.65	7/8
Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston	Ontario	Blake Hamilton			211	0.34	6/6
Durham	Ontario	Adam Smith		Challenged Conservative Official Opposition leader Erin O'Toole	150	0.22	6/7
Etobicoke—Lakeshore	Ontario	Sean Carson			119	0.19	7/7
Mississauga—Lakeshore	Ontario	Kayleigh Tahk			94	0.17	6/6
Burlington	Ontario	Jevin David Carroll			122	0.18	6/6
Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas	Ontario	Spencer Rocchi			137	0.22	6/6
Kitchener South—Hespeler	Ontario	Stephen Davis			93	0.19	7/8
Saint Boniface—Saint Vital	Manitoba	Sébastien CoRhino	Leader of the Rhinoceros Party and eternal commander of good humour	Party dealer	80	0.18	6/21
Grande Prairie-Mackenzie	Alberta	Donovan Eckstrom			314	0.59	6/6
Calgary Heritage	Alberta	Mark Dejewski			230	0.43	7/7
Calgary Nose Hill	Alberta	Vanessa Wang			285	0.57	6/9
Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge	British Columbia	Peter Buddle			161	0.30	6/6
West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country	British Columbia	Gordon Jeffrey			198	0.15	6/8

Platform

2019 campaign:

• National Defence
  • The Rhinoceros Party says that National Defense is their number one priority.^[66]
• The Economy
  • The Rhinoceros Party says that the Economy is their number one priority.
  • The party plans to open tax havens in all provinces to keep foreign funds "local".
  • By 2022, the party pledges to complete the privatization of the Senate initiated by previous governments.
  • Fill the coffers of the state by allowing advertising in the Senate and the House of Commons.
  • To stimulate the economy, were it to be elected, the party would change 25 cents into thirty-cents. In this way, taxpayers would see their income increase by 16%!
• Education
  • The Rhinoceros Party says that education is their number one priority
  • Replace teachers on leave with photos of famous scientists.
• Employment
  • The Rhinoceros Party says that employment is their number one priority
  • By 2020 all citizens will have a job and some will even have two.
  • Rewrite the Labour Code in order to add one holiday per month. April 1 and the birthday of the party leader will also become holidays. Finally, it will be forbidden to work the day after a holiday.
  • Reduce the number of accidents in factories by wrapping all workers in bubble wrap.
• Green Plan
  • The Rhinoceros Party says that the Environment is their number one priority
  • Green cars are not available in sufficient numbers in Canada. Car manufacturers would be forced to build more green cars: forest green, pale green, khaki green and neon green.
  • Scientists predict that in the next 20 years, global warming will threaten the existence of human beings. The party says they can make it happen in 10 years!
  • In order to fight global warming, all citizens will be forced to leave their windows open in the summer and to operate the air conditioning to the maximum.
  • Bribe the Weather Network hosts to announce more sunshine on the weekend and less snow in the winter.
  • Use global warming to Canada's advantage, making the country warmer, shortening winters, and creating an agriculture industry in the territories.^[67]
• Justice
  • The Rhinoceros Party says that justice is their number one priority
  • In the interests of equity among all Canadian provinces, the War Measures Act will be applied to the 9 provinces that did not have the privilege in October 1970.
• Canadian Heritage
  • The Rhinoceros Party says that Canadian Heritage is their number one priority
  • Make "Sorry" the new official motto of Canada.
  • Nationalize bacon.
  • To create a more egalitarian Canada, all maps will be redrawn so that all provinces are rectangular like Saskatchewan.
  • Make illiteracy the third official language of Canada.
• International relationships
  • The Rhinoceros Party says that International relationships are their number one priority
  • Following the Trudeau government's inaction, the magnetic pole moved from Canada to Russia. The Rhinoceros Party has promised to bring it back.
  • Finished, ambassador appointments in a partisan and arbitrary way! The ambassador positions will now be sold to the highest bidders.
  • Annexation of Massachusetts to have champion sports teams again.
• Health
  • The Rhinoceros Party says that health is their number one priority
  • Reduce traffic in emergency rooms across Canada by eliminating waiting rooms.
  • To counter the shortage of doctors and nurses, all employees will be provided with steroids to increase their performance.
• Public security
  • The Rhinoceros Party says that public security is their number one priority
  • To help victims of identity theft, a new name and birth date will be provided to citizens who request it.
  • To increase the safety of Canadian children, the name of newborns must be at least 12 letters, including a capital letter, a number and a special character.

If elected, the Rhinoceros Party of Canada has promised to:

• Take Canada off the gold standard, opting instead to use a snow standard to boost the economy^[68]
• Repeal the law of gravity
• Promote higher education by building taller schools
• Pave the Bay of Fundy to make more parking for the Maritimes
• Count the Thousand Islands to make sure the Americans didn’t steal any
• Change Montreal’s rue Ste-Catherine into the world’s longest bowling alley
• Ban crappy Canadian winters
• Abolish all laws to end crime
• Tear down the Rockies so Albertans can see the Pacific sunset
• Abolish lawn mowing in Outremont, QC
• Ban guns and butter—both kill
• Reform the retail lottery scheme by replacing cash prizes with Senate appointments
• Forget having two official languages; replace with having two official ears (In French, the same word is used for "language" and for "tongue")
• Seat the Queen of Canada in Buckingham, Quebec
• Privatize the Queen^[69]
• Tax the black market
• Nationalize Tim Hortons^[70]
• Move the national capital to Kapuskasing, Ontario to be closer to the centre of the country^[70]
• In order to increase car pooling and reduce road speeds, car manufacturers will need to move the brake pedal to the passenger side.
• Rename black ice to neon yellow ice.
• During a storm all speed limits will be eliminated to make sure Canadians spend as little time on the roads as possible in order to reduce the likelihood of a collision.
• Use rubber instead of concrete when building roads in major cities to reduce the number of injuries to cyclists.
• Encouraged by the success of law that now allows motorists to turn right on a red light, the party will now allow them to turn left or go straight.
• Mandate archeologists to discover if remains of roads actually exist under Montreal potholes.
• Promote MP fitness by having them cross the floor daily.
• Transport oil and gas in blimps instead of pipelines.

Archives

There is Rhinoceros Party fonds at Library and Archives Canada.^[71]

See also

• • List of frivolous political parties
• Independent Rhinoceros candidates in the 1997 Canadian federal election
• Non-human electoral candidates

External links

• Official website
• Rhinoceros Party – Canadian Political Parties and Political Interest Groups – Web Archive created by the University of Toronto Libraries

Notes and References

1. Web site: Registered Political Parties and Parties Eligible for Registration. August 20, 2021. March 31, 2021. April 1, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210401051228/https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=pol&dir=par&document=index&lang=e#neorhino. live.
2. Web site: Registered Political Parties and Parties Eligible for Registration . . 18 September 2021 . July 6, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210706201937/https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=pol&dir=par&document=index&lang=e . live .
3. Web site: Registered Political Parties and Parties Eligible for Registration. Elections. Canada. www.elections.ca. December 6, 2018. February 3, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230203094856/https://elections.ca/content.aspx?section=pol&dir=par&document=index&lang=e#neorhino. live.
4. Web site: Rhinos return to Canadian political landscape. Canada.com. CanWest. November 23, 2011. February 29, 2008. April 5, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160405000934/http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=06741687-dc70-4c22-93ee-63135b0e57f6&sponsor=. live.
5. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20151208133541/http://elections.ca/content.aspx?section=pol&dir=par&document=index&lang=e#neorhino . December 8, 2015 . Registered Political Parties and Parties Eligible for Registration . Elections Canada .
6. Web site: List of Candidates for the 42nd General Election: Quebec . October 30, 2019 . Elections Canada . 2015 . November 4, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191104155251/https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=ele&dir=pas/42ge/can/QC&document=index&lang=e . live .
7. Web site: Élections fédérales: Jean-Yves Duclos l'emporte par 215 voix . Mon Saint-Roch . Amélie Légaré . October 22, 2019 . October 30, 2019 . October 30, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191030051148/http://monsaintroch.com/2019/elections-federales-jean-yves-duclos-lemporte-par-215-voix/ . live .
8. News: Rhino party escapes extinction to run in September byelection. CBC News. August 7, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20121109030040/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2007/08/07/rhino-election.html. November 9, 2012.
9. News: Rhino party escapes extinction to run in September byelection. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. August 7, 2007. October 4, 2007. March 8, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210308052435/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/rhino-party-escapes-extinction-to-run-in-september-byelection-1.664111?ref=rss. live.
10. Web site: A Writer's Voices – A Celebration of Jacques Ferron at Glendon. Marika Kemeny. York University. August 29, 2019. January 14, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090114070513/http://gl.yorku.ca/monglendon.nsf/992addabf75a2dcd8525727c0069afd7/37003a7524d4d4b5852571020059fa03?OpenDocument. dead.
11. Web site: Rhinoceros Party. The Canadian Encyclopedia. September 23, 2017. December 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171216101254/http://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/rhinoceros-party/. live.
12. News: After years of near-extinction, the whacky Rhino party is back. Ingrid Peritz. The Globe and Mail. August 8, 2007.
13. Web site: Federal election in dire need of laughs. FFWD Weekly. Evan Kayne. January 12, 2006. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070927013621/http://www.ffwdweekly.com/Issues/2006/0112/election.htm. September 27, 2007.
14. There is a 1969 comedy record by The Firesign Theatre troupe popularly known as "All Hail Marx and Lennon" which makes the same joke.
15. News: Rhinoceros Party goes head-hunting this time. . Ambroziak . Alycia . . June 14, 1974 . 8 . October 16, 2020 . October 23, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211023220716/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pIg1AAAAIBAJ&pg=6696%2C3988336&dq=rhinoceros-party&hl=en . live .
16. News: Rhinoceros party wants island count. Bill Whitelow. January 22, 1980. The Whig-Standard.
17. News: Flora running scared, Rhino candidate claims. Beth McKenzie. January 25, 1980. The Queen's Journal.
18. News: The Rhinoceros Party. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. August 8, 2007. October 4, 2007. July 3, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070703045949/http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/rhino-party/index.html. dead.
19. Web site: Whore Heroines and Heroes. Commercial Sex Information Services. March 3, 2004. August 29, 2019. November 4, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191104122850/https://walnet.org/csis/people/index.html. live.
20. News: Rhinoceros Party promises pie in the face . Drouin . Linda . . April 26, 1979 . 8 . October 16, 2020 . October 20, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211020163537/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Vb4yAAAAIBAJ&pg=7160%2C2875812&dq=rhinoceros-party&hl=en . live .
21. News: Rhinos ride roughshod over Canadian issues . Landrey . Wilbur . . May 14, 1979 . 7–A.
22. News: Rhinoceros Party charges into election fray . Tetley . Jane . May 10, 1979 . The Montreal Gazette . 4 . October 16, 2020 . October 31, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211031075139/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=d2IxAAAAIBAJ&pg=6855%2C2411650&dq=rhinoceros-party&hl=en . live .
23. News: Oh, Boy – The Rhinoceros Party's at it again . SCHNURMACHER . Thomas . The Montreal Gazette . March 22, 1984 . D-9 . October 16, 2020 . November 2, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211102164050/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=diwyAAAAIBAJ&pg=5691%2C884226&dq=rhinoceros-party&hl=en . live .
24. News: Graham Ashley, Rhinoceros Party . February 11, 1980 . The Ottawa Citizen . 5 . October 16, 2020 . October 21, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211021010326/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fq4yAAAAIBAJ&pg=3803%2C4948927&dq=rhinoceros-party&hl=en . live .
25. News: Rhinoceros Party heralds backing of gravediggers . 4 . August 11, 1984 . The Ottawa Citizen . October 16, 2020 . November 2, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211102164052/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=m9EyAAAAIBAJ&pg=3483%2C19910&dq=rhinoceros-party&hl=en . live .
26. News: Canada Rhino Party Thunders Off Softly. The New York Times. Associated Press. May 1, 1985. August 29, 2019. September 26, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230926200217/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/01/world/canada-rhino-party-thunders-off-softly.html. live.
27. Web site: MacIntyre. Iain. Vancouver Sun columnist. National Post. November 25, 2015.
28. News: After years of near-extinction, the whacky Rhino party is back. https://web.archive.org/web/20071215013704/http://apathyisboring.com/en/the_facts/news/367. dead. December 15, 2007. Ingrid Peritz. The Globe and Mail. August 8, 2007.
29. News: Back from extinction. The Montreal Mirror. Patrick Lejtenyi. October 4, 2007. October 7, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081007113620/http://www.montrealmirror.com/2007/082307/news2.html. live.
30. News: The Heirs of the Rhino Party. Dan Brown. June 19, 2004. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. October 4, 2007. October 18, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071018033129/http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes2004/analysiscommentary/columns/danbrown190604.html. live.
31. News: Ted "not too" Sharp advocates lawn flamingo tax deductibility . Doug Ronson. January 17, 1980. The Queen's Journal.
32. From the campaign literature of Judi Skuce, candidate for The Beaches, in the 1979 election.
33. News: Longtime Rhino candidate dies of cancer at 63 years of age. Joanna Habdank. October 12, 2006. The Vancouver Sun. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20121110083833/http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=92596c7d-467a-4ce2-b092-3cc60cb62042. November 10, 2012.
34. News: Ne tirez pas sur le rhinocéros! Jean-Simon Gagné Politique. November 1, 2016. La Presse. fr-CA. November 1, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161101104840/http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/actualites/politique/201309/27/01-4694075-ne-tirez-pas-sur-le-rhinoceros.php. dead.
35. Web site: Dateline-Montreal Grand Prix update. Forces Canada. September 5, 2003. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070625142517/http://www.forces.org/canada/news-archive/092003.htm. June 25, 2007.
36. Dr. Robinson, Introductory Canadian Politics
37. Web site: yo, csis, here's your chance . Brian Salmi . Rhinoceros Party of Canada . February 20, 2008 . March 11, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080311012314/http://rhinoparty.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=37 . live .
38. The Globe and Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/a-thick-skinned-ex-rhino-offers-his-take-on-debates-mustaches-and-sovereignty/article740645/ Retrieved on 13 October 2020
39. News: Flora running scared, Rhino candidate claims . Beth McKenzie. January 25, 1980. The Queen's Journal.
40. News: Low and Inside. The Washington Post. Jonathan Yardley. February 24, 2005. CO2. August 29, 2019. August 29, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190829190037/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48705-2005Feb23.html. live.
41. Web site: Satirical party runs own candidate named Maxime Bernier in PPC leader's riding The Star. thestar.com. September 10, 2019. en. October 6, 2019. October 6, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191006005552/https://www.thestar.com/politics/2019/09/10/take-a-chance-vote-for-both-satirical-party-runs-own-candidate-named-maxime-bernier-in-ppc-leaders-riding.html. live.
42. Web site: People's Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier defeated in Quebec riding of Beauce. October 22, 2019. October 23, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191023011233/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/maxime-bernier-loses-beauce-1.5329969. live.
43. https://www.elections.ca/res/rep/off/ovr2019app/51/10971e.html
44. Web site: History of Federal Ridings since 1867. Parliament of Canada.
45. Web site: Marginal characters – A guide to some of Canada's lesser-known political parties. Paul Hellyer. Montreal Mirror. May 1, 1997. April 13, 2011. August 17, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070817133624/http://www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/1997/050197/news6.html. live.
46. http://lawiscool.com/2007/09/19/sa-tan-sues-the-queen/ "Sa Tan Sues the Queen"
47. "Pied snipers". The Gazette, January 31, 1999.
48. Web site: A new political animal is on the scene. The McGill Daily. Sarah Babbage. September 13, 2007. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20071021051540/http://mcgilldaily.com/view.php?aid=6282. October 21, 2007.
49. http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliament/FederalRidingsHistory/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Cresdetail&Election=12876 History of Federal Ridings since 1867: ROSEMONT—LA PETITE-PATRIE (2011/05/02)
50. Berthiaume received 319 votes (0.61%), finishing sixth.
51. http://ruemasson.com/?p=8892 Éric Noël, "Jean-Patrick Berthiaume du parti Rhinocéros: de la folie à la créativité"
52. Web site: History of Federal Ridings since 1867. lop.parl.ca. December 6, 2018. December 7, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181207102809/https://lop.parl.ca/About/Parliament/FederalRidingsHistory/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Cres&canName=&canParty=72&ridProvince=0&ridName=&submit1=Search. live.
53. Web site: Anything but extinct: Rhinoceros Party back for 2015 federal election – CTV News. www.ctvnews.ca. August 23, 2015. December 6, 2018. July 19, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180719085618/https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/anything-but-extinct-rhinoceros-party-back-for-2015-federal-election-1.2528464. live.
54. Web site: Nos Candidats. Parti Rhinocéros Party. en-CA. October 6, 2019. October 8, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191008151012/https://www.partyrhino.ca/en/candidats/. live.
55. Web site: Canada Votes 2019. CBCNews. en-CA. August 19, 2020. October 22, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191022051419/https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/elections/federal/2019/results/. live.
56. Web site: Sébastien CoRhino. 2020-08-21. www.partyrhino.ca. en-CA. October 28, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028200213/https://www.partyrhino.ca/en/candidats/sebastien-corhino-2/. live.
57. Web site: The Dealer. Parti Rhinocéros Party. en-CA. August 19, 2020. October 28, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028092037/https://www.partyrhino.ca/en/bio/. live.
58. Web site: Marc-Antoine Gagnier. 2020-08-21. www.partyrhino.ca. en-CA. October 28, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028210607/https://www.partyrhino.ca/en/candidats/marc-antoine-gagnier-2/. live.
59. Web site: Sean Carson. 2020-08-21. www.partyrhino.ca. en-CA. October 28, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028214944/https://www.partyrhino.ca/en/candidats/sean-carson-2/. live.
60. Web site: Mathieu Castonguay. 2020-08-21. www.partyrhino.ca. en-CA. October 28, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028215413/https://www.partyrhino.ca/en/candidats/mathieu-castonguay-2/. live.
61. Web site: Spencer Rocchi. 2020-08-21. www.partyrhino.ca. en-CA. October 28, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028041112/https://www.partyrhino.ca/en/candidats/spencer-john-rocchi/. live.
62. Web site: Richard Plett. 2020-08-21. www.partyrhino.ca. en-CA. July 26, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200726105235/https://www.partyrhino.ca/en/candidats/richard-plett/. live.
63. Web site: Daniel Gagnon. 2020-08-21. www.partyrhino.ca. en-CA. October 28, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028201424/https://www.partyrhino.ca/en/candidats/daniel-gagnon-2/. live.
64. Web site: Ryan Huard. 2020-08-21. www.partyrhino.ca. en-CA. October 28, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028203844/https://www.partyrhino.ca/en/candidats/ryan-huard/. live.
65. Web site: Nos Candidats . October 6, 2019 . October 8, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191008151012/https://www.partyrhino.ca/en/candidats/ . live .
66. Web site: The Promises. Parti Rhinocéros Party. en-CA. October 16, 2019. October 18, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191018175055/https://www.partyrhino.ca/en/our-promises/. live.
67. News: Holey moley! National party leader opts for mini putt over canvassing in Hamilton. Gray. Barry. October 10, 2019. The Hamilton Spectator. October 26, 2019. en-CA. 1189-9417. October 26, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191026163400/https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9638118-holey-moley-national-party-leader-opts-for-mini-putt-over-canvassing-in-hamilton/. live.
68. News: 14 weird platform promises from the now-defunct Rhinoceros Party. August 30, 2014. Macleans.ca. November 7, 2017. en-US. November 2, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171102081442/http://www.macleans.ca/society/14-weird-platform-promises-from-the-now-defunct-rhinoceros-party/. live.
69. Web site: Promises. utiliser. Ne pas. www.eatgoogle.com. en-CA. November 7, 2017. November 5, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171105221130/http://www.eatgoogle.com/en/promises/. live.
70. https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/08/18/rhino-party-promises-to-nationalize-tim-hortons-move-capital-to-kapuskasing.html "Rhino Party promises to nationalize Tim Hortons, move capital to Kapuskasing"
71. Web site: Rhinoceros Party fonds, Library and Archives Canada. July 20, 2017. September 18, 2020. September 26, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230926200218/https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/fra/accueil/notice?app=fonandcol&IdNumber=107066. live.