Natural Law Party of Canada
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The Natural Law Party of Canada was the Canadian branch of the international Natural Law Party, the political arm of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation movement. It never won a seat in Parliament, nor came close to doing so.
Its most famous member was the magician Doug Henning, who ran as a candidate for the Natural Law Party in the 1993 federal election. Henning was featured so prominently in the party's ads that many Canadian voters mistakenly thought he was the party's leader; the party was in fact led by Dr. Neil Paterson.
The NLP advocated federal funding for research in yogic flying, believing that this form of meditation was the key to achieving world peace and universal health. It also proposed the construction of Maharishi Veda Land near Niagara Falls. The project was never completed.
The Natural Law Party in Canada was one of a number of Natural Law parties around the world.
The NLP was primarily active in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec (Parti de la loi naturelle du Québec) and British Columbia.
The party's official agent, Maxim Newby, said that the party closed down after concluding the public's interest is waning in the political process.
The party was de-registered by Elections Canada, the Canadian government's election agency, on January 23, 2003.
Natural Law also ran candidates in provincial elections without success. The provincial parties have also become defunct.
Election results
| Election | # of candidates nominated | # of seats won | # of total votes | % of popular vote | % of pop vote NLP ridings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 231
| <center> 0 | <center> 85,450 | <center> 0.63% | <center> 0.77% |
| 1997 | <center> 136 | <center> 0 | <center> 37,085 | <center> 0.29% | <center> 0.61% |
| 2000 | <center> 69 | <center> 0 | <center> 16,573 | <center> 0.13% | <center> 0.53% |