Michael Houlton was a Canadian political activist. He contested both the 1973 and 1976 Ontario Liberal leadership conventions

Ontario Liberal leadership conventions

Ballot-by-ballot results of leadership elections in the Ontario Liberal Party, a political party in the Province of Ontario, Canada.Note: Before 1919, the leaders of the Ontario Liberal Party were chosen by the party's elected Members of the Legislative Assembly...

 placing last in both attempts with 11 votes in 1973 and 4 votes in 1976.

He was an Independent candidate in the 1972 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1972

The Canadian federal election of 1972 was held on October 30, 1972 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 29th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in a slim victory for the governing Liberal Party, which won 109 seats, compared to 107 seats for the opposition Progressive...

 placing last in Peel South

Peel South

Peel South was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1974. It was located in the province of Ontario...

 with 461 votes. He listed his occupation as "self-employed".http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/HFER/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Cresdetail&Election=8273 He again placed last as an Independent in the October 1978 federal by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 in Ottawa Centre

Ottawa Centre

Ottawa Centre is an urban federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968...

 receiving 254 votes. This time he listed his occupation as "leader" suggesting he was leading an unrecognized political party.http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/HFER/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Cresdetail&Election=1848

In provincial politics, aside from running for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party

Ontario Liberal Party

The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...

, he was a non-party candidate in Ottawa South

Ottawa South

Ottawa South is a federal electoral district in Ottawa in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is represented in the Canadian House of Commons by David McGuinty, brother of Ontario Premier and Ottawa South MPP Dalton McGuinty. The riding was created in 1987 from parts of Ottawa—Vanier, Ottawa...

 in the 1977 Ontario election

Ontario general election, 1977

The Ontario general election of 1977 was held on June 9, 1977, to elect the 125 members of the 31st Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....

 receiving 574 votes. A candidate named Michael Houlton-Charette ran for Mayor of Toronto in 1997http://www.toronto.ca/elections/results/results_1997.htm winning 211 votes in the municipal election

Toronto municipal election, 1997

The 1997 Toronto municipal election was the first election held for offices in the amalgamated "megacity" of Toronto, Canada. The elections were administered by the old City of Toronto and its five suburbs within Metropolitan Toronto...

but it is not known if this is the same person.