Editing National Unity Party of Canada (section)

== History ==
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[[File:Insignes de grades du Parti National Social Chrétien.png|thumb|Rank insignia of the Blueshirts]]

Arcand founded the {{lang|fr|Parti national social chrétien du Canada|italics=no}} (PNSC) on February 22, 1934.{{sfn|Lacroix}} It was known as the "Christian National Socialist Party" in English.{{sfn|Goldberg|2016}} A fascist and [[Antisemitism|antisemite]], Arcand described [[Jews in Canada]] as "cockroaches and insects", decried [[liberal democracy]] as a "Jewish invention" and lauded Hitler as the "saviour of Christianity".{{sfn|Security Intelligence Review Committee|1994|p=1}} Arcand looked toward [[Nazi Germany]] and [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]] for ideological inspiration.{{sfn|Lacroix}} His supporters referred to him as the "Canadian ''[[Führer]]''", a reference to the title held by Hitler.{{sfn|Nadeau|2011|p=13}}

The [[Canadian Nationalist Party (1933)|Canadian Nationalist Party]], a fascist group based in the [[Canadian Prairies|Prairie provinces]] by the mid-1930s claimed to have a few thousand members, mainly concentrated in [[Quebec]], [[British Columbia]] and [[Alberta]], worked closely with the PNSC after 1934. The PNSC later expanded into [[Ontario]] and changed its English name to the "National Christian Party of Canada".{{sfn|Security Intelligence Review Committee|1994|p=1}}

[[File:Fascists Hold First Meeting in Kingston.jpg|thumb|Excerpt from the July 5, 1938, issue of the ''Kingston Whig-Standard''. Arcand is in the front row, seated farthest to the left.]]

On July 2, 1938, fascist groups from across Canada attended a conference hosted by the PNSC at Forester's Hall in Toronto, though the groups claimed to have met in [[Kingston, Ontario]] in defiance of a ban by Kingston City Council. Delegates then drove to Kingston and took pictures of themselves to release to the press "for no other purpose than to claim they had successfully met in that city in defiance of the city council".{{sfn|Wentzell|2023|pp=23–25}}{{sfn|Bradburn|2022}}{{sfn|Time|1938}} The attendees agreed to unite under a single organization and consequently established the National Unity Party of Canada (NUPC).{{sfn|Time|1938}} Arcand announced that "a flaming torch [would] be the new party's emblem, 'Canada for Canadians' its slogan, the [[Roman salute|upraised arm]] its salute and 'King, Country and Christianity' its program."{{sfn|Time|1938}} At a time of mounting English-French Canadian tension, Arcand hoped to unite the two groups and create a [[white nationalist]] movement under the leadership of the NUPC.{{sfn|Belshaw|2016|p=299}} Arcand was affirmed as the new party's leader and Joseph C. Farr, the Ontario chairman of the Canadian Nationalist Party, became the NUPC's secretary.{{sfn|Wentzell|2023|pp=23–25}} At this point, CNP leader William Whittaker was in declining health, having suffered a [[stroke]] in March 1938. He would die by the end of the year.{{sfn|Edward|1938a}}{{sfn|Edward|1938b}}{{sfn|Winnipeg Tribune|1938}}

Following the conference, Arcand and Farr held a rally at [[Massey Hall]] attended by around 2,500 people with the NUP newspaper, ''Le Combat National'' claiming that 850 people joined the NUP on the spot.{{sfn|Wentzell|2023|pp=23–25}}{{sfn|Bradburn|2022}} Arcand was accompanied by 85 "Blueshirts", armed members of the NUPC's paramilitary force.{{sfn|Time|1938}} The [[anti-fascist]] [[Canadian League for Peace and Democracy]] simultaneously held a counter-rally of 10,000 people at [[Maple Leaf Gardens]] in opposition to the NUPC.{{sfn|Time|1938}} A smaller protest of up to 800 people was organized by [[William Krehm]] and the Provisional Anti-Fascist Committee resulting in several arrests.{{sfn|Wentzell|2023|pp=23–25}} The NUPC described the anti-fascists as "the Jews and the organizations that they control", "Judeo-communist forces", and "the forces of Israel and Moscow", claiming that the protestors had planned to enter the meeting and break it up by force.{{sfn|Wentzell|2023|pp=23–25}}

The outbreak of [[World War II]] prompted the Canadian government to ban 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 [[Internment|interned]] for the duration of the war.{{sfn|Parent|Ellis|2014|p=8}} The party resumed its activities after its ban was lifted following the end of the war in 1945.

Arcand contested the [[1949 Canadian federal election|1949 federal election]] in the [[Quebec]] [[Electoral district (Canada)|riding]] of [[Richelieu—Verchères (federal electoral district)|Richelieu—Verchères]] as a candidate for the NUPC. He placed second, receiving 5,590 votes (29.1 per cent of the total).{{sfn|Library of Parliament}}{{sfn|Belshaw|2016|p=300}} He came in second again with 39 per cent of the vote when he ran as a "Nationalist" in [[Berthier—Maskinongé—Delanaudière]] in the [[1953 Canadian federal election|1953 federal election]].{{sfn|Belshaw|2016|p=300}}

The NUPC's last known event was a banquet held in honour of Arcand on November 14, 1965, inside [[Montreal]]'s [[Paul Sauvé Arena]].{{sfn|Nadeau|2011|p=307}} About 800{{sfn|Nadeau|2011|p=307}} to 850{{sfn|Belshaw|2016|p=300}} attendees toasted the sickly Arcand, who had prepared a final speech praising his "loyal student" Gérard Lanctôt.{{sfn|Nadeau|2011|p=307}} By December 1966, Arcand had become [[bedridden]] by [[insomnia]] and [[edema]]; his condition worsened in April 1967 and he suffered from severe pain in his [[larynx]].{{sfn|Nadeau|2011|p=308}} Arcand died shortly afterwards on August 1, 1967.{{sfn|Nadeau|2011|p=308}} His funeral was held at a church in [[Lanoraie]] and attended by hundreds of his supporters, many of whom gave Arcand a final [[Roman salute]].{{sfn|Nadeau|2011|p=308}} Lanctôt subsequently inherited Arcand's position as leader of the NUPC, a position which he held until his death in 2003.{{sfn|Nadeau|2011|p=307}}

The NUPC was registered as a [[private enterprise]] with the [[Government of Quebec]] from March 13, 1978, to July 27, 2016.{{sfn|Government of Quebec|2016}}