National Unity Party of Canada

National Unity Party of Canada
Parti de l'unité nationale du Canada
AbbreviationNUPC (English)
PUNC (French)
LeaderAdrien Arcand
FoundedFebruary 22, 1934 (1934-02-22) (as the PNSC); July 1938 (as the National Unity Party)
DissolvedJuly 27, 2016 (2016-07-27)
Merger ofSeveral fascist groups, notably the PNSC
Headquarters7337 Chemin Parkinson
Rawdon, Quebec
J0K 1S0
Newspaper
  • The Canadian Nationalist (English)
  • Le Combat National (French)
Paramilitary wingBlueshirts
Ideology
Political positionFar-right
ReligionChristianity
Slogan"Canada for Canadians"

The National Unity Party of Canada (NUPC)[a] was a Canadian far-right political party which based its ideology on Adolf Hitler's Nazism and Benito Mussolini's fascism. It was founded as the Parti national social chrétien du Canada (PNSC)[b] by Nazi sympathizer Adrien Arcand on February 22, 1934. The party's activities were originally limited to Quebec, but it later expanded to Ontario and Western Canada. Party membership swelled in the mid-to-late 1930s as the party absorbed smaller fascist groups across the country. Following the outbreak of World War II, the Canadian government banned the NUPC on May 30, 1940, under the Defence of Canada Regulations of the War Measures Act. Arcand and many of his followers were consequently arrested and interned for the duration of the war.

The ban on the NUPC was lifted following the war's end in 1945, and the party resumed its activities shortly afterwards. However, its public presence greatly diminished after the war and all but disappeared following Arcand's death in 1967. The 1949 federal election was the only election ever contested by the NUPC; Arcand ran in the Quebec riding of Richelieu—Verchères and placed second, receiving just over 29 percent of the vote.


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