John C. Turmel (also known as The Engineer, The Gambler, and The Banking System Engineer) is a perennial candidate for election in Canada and holds the Guinness Book of Records record for losing the largest number of elections (56 to the end of 2003). Turmel believes in the social credit theory of monetary reform. He has also campaigned for the legalization of gambling, the adoption of �Local Employment Trading Systems� (LETS) which are barter arrangements, and for the legalization of marijuana use for medicinal purposes.
Turmel, who lists his occupation as "professional gambler", was active in the Social Credit parties of Canada and Ontario in the 1970s and 1980s. He often wears a construction helmet when campaigning, and calls himself "the Engineer".
Turmel's grandfather, Adelard Turmel, supported the Social Credit Party of Canada from its inception in 1935 and he passed on belief in the social credit monetary theories to his descendents.