Joe Clark
Encyclopedia
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman
, businessman, and university professor
, and former journalist
and politician
. He served as the 16th Prime Minister of Canada
, from June 4, 1979, to March 3, 1980.
Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal politics, entering the House of Commons in the 1972 election
and winning the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party
in 1976. He came to power in the 1979 election
, defeating the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau
and ending sixteen continuous years of Liberal rule. Taking office the day before his 40th birthday, Clark is the youngest person to become Prime Minister. His tenure was brief as he only won a minority government, and it was defeated on a motion of non-confidence
. Clark subsequently lost the 1980 election
and the leadership of the party
in 1983.
He returned to prominence in 1984 as a senior cabinet minister in Brian Mulroney
's cabinet, retiring from politics after not standing for re-election for the House of Commons in 1993. He made a political comeback in 1998 to lead the Progressive Conservatives
before its dissolution, serving his final term in Parliament from 2000 to 2004. Clark today is recognized as a distinguished scholar and statesman, and serves as a university professor and as president of his own consulting firm.
, Alberta
, on June 5, 1939, the son of Charles A. Clark, who was the publisher of the local newspaper, and Grace Welch. He has a brother, Peter, who later became a lawyer and is now a judge
, presiding in Calgary
, and a sister Catherine who is retired in Victoria, British Columbia
.
, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in political science
. While in high school, he gained journalism
experience with the High River Times and the Calgary Albertan, and joined the staff of the Gateway
, the University of Alberta's campus newspaper as a freshman, eventually rising to editor-in-chief there. He also worked at the Edmonton Journal
for one summer, where he met his future biographer, David L. Humphreys
. He took a summer job with Canadian Press
in Toronto
, and for a time seriously considered a professional career in journalism.
Clark then attended Dalhousie University
in Halifax, Nova Scotia to make up some coursework, with the intention of entering Dalhousie Law School
. However, he spent more time with the Dalhousie Student Union
, Progressive Conservative politics and the Dalhousie Gazette, than on his courses. After leaving Dalhousie, he unsuccessfully pursued first-year law
studies at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law
in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was again active in student politics, and became president of the Progressive Conservative Youth wing for two terms. He then worked full time for the Progressive Conservative Party
.
Clark married Maureen McTeer
in 1973, while she was still a law student. The two met when Clark hired her to work in his parliamentary office; McTeer had been a political organizer herself since her early teens. McTeer has developed her own career as a well-known author and lawyer, and caused something of a fuss by keeping her maiden name after marriage. That feminist practice was not common at the time, but was later taken up by other political wives, such as Hillary Rodham Clinton
. Their daughter, Catherine
, is an art history graduate from the University of Toronto
who has pursued a career in public relations
and broadcasting
.
Young Progressive Conservatives, and eventually served as national president for the young PCs group. Clark sparred with future political rival Preston Manning
in debate forums on campus between the Young PCs and the Youth League of the Alberta Social Credit Party. Clark encountered another future rival when he met Brian Mulroney
at a national Young PCs meeting in 1958.
Clark spent time in France
to improve his fluency in the French language, and also took courses in French while he was living in Ottawa
. He eventually became comfortable speaking and answering questions in French, which helped his political standing in Quebec
.
Clark was keenly aware from a very young age of the politics of Canada. In his youth, Clark was an admirer of Progressive Conservative leader and Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker
, and he eventually entered politics himself at the provincial level at the age of 28. He was unsuccessful in his first foray into politics as an official constituency candidate for the provincial Progressive Conservatives
in the 1967 provincial election
. Clark served as a chief assistant to provincial opposition leader and future Premier Peter Lougheed
, and served in the office of federal Opposition leader Robert Stanfield
, learning the inner workings of government. Clark missed being elected to the Alberta Legislative Assembly in the 1971 provincial election
. However, he ran in the federal election held a year later
, and was elected to Parliament as the MP for Rocky Mountain
, a largely rural riding in southwestern Alberta.
Clark was the first Canadian politician to take a strong stand for decriminalization of marijuana
in Canada, and for a guaranteed minimum income
for everyone; both positions were characteristic of the Red Tories
. In many ways his social liberalism was as bold in the 1970s as Trudeau's was in the 1960s. These positions put Clark at odds with the right-wing members of his caucus, several members of which were not afraid to confront him. For example, in the lead-up to the 1979 election when Clark's riding was merged into the riding of another Tory MP during a redistribution
of ridings, the other MP refused to step aside (even though Clark was now party leader), forcing Clark to run in nearby Yellowhead
.
, Clark sought and won the leadership of the PC Party at the 1976 leadership convention
. Initially, the favourite among Red Tories
was Flora MacDonald; however she did worse than expected while Clark placed a surprising third in a field of eleven on the first ballot of convention delegates, behind only Claude Wagner
and Brian Mulroney
. MacDonald dropped off after the second ballot, encouraging her supporters to support Clark, who quickly became the compromise Red Tory candidate. The party's right-wing rallied behind Wagner. Mulroney, a Quebec
businessman with no elected political experience, was unable to expand his base of support significantly. Many delegates were offended by his expensive leadership campaign. As other Red Tory candidates were eliminated during the first four ballots, Clark gradually overtook Mulroney and then Wagner to emerge as the victor on the fourth ballot, by 1,187 votes to 1,122.
Clark, who won the Tory leadership at age 36, remains the youngest-ever leader of a major federal party in the history of Canadian politics. With many veteran Tories having been defeated in the 1968 election, the party effectively skipped a generation by selecting Clark as its new leader.
took much of Canada by surprise. The Toronto Star
announced Clark's victory with a headline that read "Joe Who?", giving Clark a nickname that stuck for years. Much joking was made of Clark's clumsiness and awkward mannerisms. Skinny and tall, he became a frequent target for editorial cartoonist
s, who delighted in portraying him as a sort of walking candy apple, with an enormous head and floppy dog-like ears; cartoonist Andy Donato
typically drew Clark with mittens on strings hanging from his suit sleeves. Initially, it seemed unlikely that a man that was the source of so much mockery could ever hope to compete against the confident and intellectual Pierre Trudeau
. It also did not help that the Progressive Conservatives lost a string of by-elections
on May 24, 1977.
However, Clark remained belligerent in his attacks on the Trudeau government, angrily clashing with the prime minister in Parliament. He hired experienced staffers such as Lowell Murray
, Duncan Edmonds
, and William Neville, who shaped his policies and ran his office efficiently. He improved his party's standing in national opinion polls. Clark worked very hard, and gradually earned the respect of most people, including his own caucus, by presenting a series of well thought out speeches and questions in Parliament. He benefited when live television came to the House of Commons in 1977, allowing viewers to see that he was evolving into a real rival for Trudeau.
Clark, despite being perceived by many people as something of a square, showed biting wit at times while in Opposition. One of his most famous quips was: "A recession is when your neighbour loses his job. A depression is when you lose your job. Recovery is when Pierre Trudeau loses his job."
to call an election
as long as possible, in the hope that his party could recover popular support but it backfired, as there was growing public antipathy towards his perceived arrogance. Clark campaigned on the slogans, "Let's get Canada working again," and "It's time for a change - give the future a chance!"
In the latter half of the campaign, the Liberals focused their attacks on Clark's perceived inexperience. Their advertisements claimed "This is no time for on-the-job training," and "We need tough leadership to keep Canada growing. A leader must be a leader." Clark played into their hands by appearing bumbling and unsure in public.
When Clark undertook a tour of the Middle East
in order to show his ability to handle foreign affairs issues, his luggage was lost, and Clark appeared to be uncomfortable with the issues being discussed. That incident was widely lampooned by Toronto Sun
cartoonist Andy Donato
. During the same tour, while inspecting a military honour guard, Clark turned too soon and nearly bumped into a soldier's bayonet
; one of the first major media reports on the incident hyperbolically claimed that he had nearly been beheaded.
Clark was bilingual but the PC party was also unable to make much headway in Quebec, which continued to be federally dominated by the Liberals. While Clark's 1976 leadership rivals were prominent in that province, Claude Wagner
had left politics and recently died, while Brian Mulroney
was still bitter about his loss and turned down an offer to serve under Clark.
Nonetheless, Clark's Progressive Conservatives won 136 seats to end sixteen continuous years of Liberal rule, falling just short of a majority, as they could only get two seats in Quebec. The Progressive Conservatives had also won the popular vote in seven provinces. The Liberals lost 27 seats, including several high-profile cabinet ministers, and Trudeau announced his intention to step down as party leader.
Party in the May 1979 general election
. Clark was the first Progressive Conservative to head Canada's federal government since the defeat of John Diefenbaker
's Progressive Conservative government in the 1963 election
.
With a minority government
in the House of Commons
, Clark had to rely on the support of the Social Credit Party
, with its six seats, or the New Democratic Party
(NDP), with its 26 seats. At the time, Opposition
leader Trudeau said that he would allow the Progressive Conservatives a chance to govern, though he warned the Prime Minister against dismantling Petro-Canada
, which was unpopular in Clark's home province of Alberta.
Social Credit was below the 12 seats needed for official party status
in the House of Commons. However, the six seats would have been just enough to give Clark's government a majority had the Progressive Conservatives formed a coalition government
with Social Credit, or had the two parties otherwise agreed to work together. Clark managed to lure Socred MP Richard Janelle
to the government caucus but this still left the PCs short. Clark however decided that he would govern as if he had a majority, and refused to grant the small Social Credit caucus official party status or form a coalition or co-operate with the party in any way.
Clark was unable to accomplish much in office, because of the tenuous situation of his minority government. However, historians have credited Clark's government with making access to information legislation a priority. The Clark government introduced Bill C-15, the Freedom of Information Act, which established a broad right of access to government records, an elaborate scheme of exemptions, and a two-stage review process. The legislation was debated at second reading at the end of November 1979 and was referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs. Within days the minority Conservative government was unseated; the legislation died on the order paper. The re-elected Trudeau government subsequently based its Access to Information Act
on the Clark government's Bill C-15. The Access to Information Act received royal assent in July 1982 and came into force in July 1983. The public now has the legal right of access to government records in some 150 federal departments and agencies.
Though the election had been held in May, Parliament did not resume sitting until October, one of the longest break periods in Confederation. The gas tax in the budget soured Clark's relationship with Ontario Premier Bill Davis
, even though both were Red Tories and both were Progressive Conservatives. Even before the budget, the government was criticized for its perceived inexperience, such as in its handling of its campaign commitment to move Canada's embassy in Israel
from Tel Aviv
to Jerusalem.
Internationally, Clark represented Canada in June 1979 at the 5th G7 summit
in Tokyo
. Compared to his predecessor as Prime Minister, Clark reportedly had a better relationship with US President
Jimmy Carter
, who phoned Clark to wish him luck in the upcoming 1980 election
.
by slowing economic activity, and also proposed an 18 cent per Imperial gallon tax on gasoline in order to reduce the budgetary deficit. Finance Minister
John Crosbie
touted the budget as "short term pain for long term gain." Though Clark had hoped this change in policy would work to his advantage, it actually earned him widespread animosity as a politician who could not keep his promises, even in such a short period.
Clark's refusal to work with the Socreds, combined with the 18 cent gas tax, led to the defeat of the government in the House of Commons in December 1979. NDP Finance Critic Bob Rae
attached a rider to a budget bill declaring that "this House has lost confidence
in the government." The five Socred MPs had demanded the tax revenues be allocated to Quebec and when that was turned down, they abstained, which ensured the vote's passage on a 139-133 margin.
Clark was criticized for his "inability to do math" in failing to predict the outcome, not only because he was a minority situation, but also because several members of his caucus would be absent for the crucial budget vote, as one was ill and two were stuck abroad on official business. The Liberals by contrast had assembled their entire caucus, save one, for the occasion.
Clark's government would last a total of nine months less a day, as it was defeated in the 1980 election. As Clark's Finance Minister, John Crosbie famously described it in his own inimitable way: "Long enough to conceive, just not long enough to deliver."
Clark's Tories campaigned under the slogan, "Real change deserves a fair chance," but the broken promises were still fresh in voters' minds. Progressive Conservative Premier Bill Davis
's criticism of the gas tax was used in the Liberals' Ontario
television ads, and the swing in support from the Tories to the Liberals in that province proved to be decisive in the campaign. Trudeau's Liberals swept his party back into power in the February 1980 election
with 146 seats, against 103 for the Progressive Conservatives.
by the Governor General
:
, noting that those qualities served Clark well in his party winning the 1979 election victory. However, Trudeau also complimented Clark as a respectable leader and a better choice over Brian Mulroney
, who had defeated Clark at the leadership convention
1983. Trudeau told his friends that the Tories had chosen the wrong guy. When Mulroney took over the reins of the Progressive Conservatives, Trudeau's Liberals attacked them with the slogan "Bring back Joe!", taking aim at how the Tories had replaced their proven leader with an unknown. In contrast to Clark, Trudeau and Mulroney had become bitter enemies over the Meech Lake Accord
, despite never having fought an election.
At Trudeau's funeral in 2000, his son Justin Trudeau
related a story in which he had told a joke about one of his father's chief rivals, and his father had corrected him, lectured him sternly on how it was wrong to insult someone just because they disagreed, and then introduced him to the rival. At this point in the ceremony, the CBC cut to an image of a teary-eyed Clark. There is reason to believe this reference (along with the mention that the rival had a "pretty blonde" daughter, a description that can be applied to Catherine
) had been to Clark.
appeared at a press conference with Clark to say that he was not seeking the leadership of the PC party.
The Liberal Party had regained national prominence by leading the "No" side to victory in the 1980 Quebec referendum
and the Constitution patriation
. While Trudeau's National Energy Program
was hugely unpopular in Western Canada
, especially Alberta
, it was able to shore up Liberal support in the voter-rich Eastern Canada, particularly Ontario
and Quebec
, generally having the opposite effect of Clark's proposed gas tax. Difficult budgets and the economic recession resulted in Trudeau's approval ratings declining after the bounce from the 1982 Constitution patriation and showed his party headed for certain defeat by early 1984, prompting him to retire. However, Clark was unable to stay on as Progressive Conservative leader long enough to regain the Prime Ministership.
At the party's 1981 convention, 33.5% of the delegates supported a leadership review; they felt that Clark would not be able to lead the party to victory again. At the January 1983 convention in Winnipeg
, 33.1% supported a review. The fact that Clark had been able to increase his support among party members by only 0.4% was likely a contributing factor to his decision to resign as leader and seek a renewed mandate from the membership through a leadership convention. This was also considering that the governing Liberals
under Pierre Trudeau
were slipping in polls, and although the PCs had built up a substantial lead in popularity, Trudeau was expected to retire before the election and a new Liberal leader might be able to pull off a victory.
to decide the issue. (In December 2007, German-Canadian businessman and lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber
told the House of Commons Ethics Committee that he and other Germans, including Bavaria
n politician Franz Josef Strauss, and Austria
n-Canadian entrepreneur Walter Wolf
, had contributed significant funds to finance Quebec
delegates to vote against Clark at Winnipeg, denying him the mandate he sought. A public inquiry
on these matters, and on other business dealings between Mulroney and Schreiber, was called for early 2008 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper
. This led further to the 2009 Oliphant Commission.)
Clark became a leadership candidate, and retained support from most of the Red Tories and other party members who were opposed to the public attacks on Clark's leadership by others in the party. Clark already had most of a campaign team up and running by the time he called the leadership convention, as he had mobilized support to help gain in the convention's leadership review, but Mulroney and John Crosbie
had been laying the groundwork for a campaign for some time, with Crosbie expecting Clark to lose or resign soon, and Mulroney supportive of the anti-Clark movement.
In a rematch of the 1976 convention, Mulroney emerged as the main challenger, gaining the support of the party's right wing, which viewed Clark as too progressive and opposed his continued leadership. Other party members felt that the federal Liberal Party's stranglehold on Quebec seats could only be broken by a native from that province, which gave Mulroney considerable support. Media coverage emphasized the pro-business and neo-liberal
bent of most of the candidates as a "Changing of the Guard" within the PC party from their more classical conservative and moderate elements. Clark's campaign countered this by trying to polarize the election between right wingers and a centrist who had been able to win before. The Mulroney campaign responded by continuing their pro-business line.
Several candidates agreed to a "ABC" (Anybody But Clark) strategy for the convention and when news of that back-room deal broke out, support was expected to rally around the party's embattled leader. During delegate voting, Clark led on the first three ballots, but his vote total was far short of the 50% required, and it dwindled as the convention progressed. He was defeated on the fourth ballot, though he urged his supporters to unite, and agreed to serve under Mulroney.
Many political observers and analysts have questioned Clark's rationale for the decision. One famous incident involved a 1987 state dinner held for Prince Charles
. The Prince, who was seated next to Clark at the function, asked him "why 66 percent was not enough?" Clark's wife, Maureen McTeer
, elaborated on Clark's decision in her 2003 autobiography, In My Own Name. McTeer suggested that for her husband, anything less than a 75% endorsement would not have been a clear enough mandate to forge onwards from the party membership. Clark feared that the 34% of PC members who did not support him would become his most vocal critics in the upcoming election campaign, and that his continued leadership would have led to fractures in the party. Clark was convinced that he could win another leadership race and gain a clear level of support, once his qualities were compared against the handful of politically inexperienced challengers who coveted his position and who were covertly undermining his leadership.
, and Mulroney became prime minister.
Despite their personal differences, Clark ably served in Mulroney's cabinet as Secretary of State for External Affairs
. Along with Arthur Meighen
, Clark is one of two former Prime Ministers who have returned to prominent roles in Parliament. Clark is the only ex-PM to subsequently serve as a cabinet minister, and he earned much more respect in his latter role.
Some of Clark's accomplishments and bold moves in this role included:
During his term as External Affairs minister, Clark championed Canada's unabashed disapproval of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Canada was the only G7 nation to take such a resolute stance against the apartheid regime during the 1980s. He also took on the difficult Constitution ministerial portfolio after the failure of the Meech Lake Accord
, and vigorously pursued his task.
He maintained Canada's independent voice politically and socially at a time of increasing economic integration with the US and the rise of more socially conservative right-wing politics
there.
.
With Quebec's constitutional status within Canada a rising issue, he shifted to become the minister responsible for constitutional affairs
. The latter position saw him play a leading role in the drafting of the Charlottetown Accord
, which was decisively rejected in a nationwide referendum and further hurt the standing of the PC party in polls.
under the leadership of Mulroney's successor Kim Campbell
.
Clark was appointed as Special Representative to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Cyprus
from 1993-1996. In 1993, he founded his own consulting firm, Joe Clark and Associates, Ltd., which he still heads. Clark has also served on the boards of directors or advisory boards of several Canadian companies.
In 1994, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada
. Also in 1994, he wrote the book A Nation Too Good to Lose: Renewing the Purpose of Canada. This book was also published in a French translation.
The 1995 Quebec referendum
saw the federal side win by less than one percent of the vote. It was widely seen as being the failure of the Charlottetown and prior Meech Lake
accords that had caused it to be so close.
praised Clark as an honest and admirable leader who had the distinction of being the only prime minister in recent memory who, even when he failed, was always respected, and never hated, by the Canadian public. At the time of his retirement polls showed that he was in fact the single most trusted political personality in Canada. However, the publication of The Secret Mulroney Tapes
shows that Mulroney continued to hold negative feelings towards Clark during the 1980s and 90's.
, became leader of the PC party following Campbell's resignation. After leading the party to a modest resurgence in the 1997 election
, winning 20 seats, Charest bowed to tremendous public pressure and left federal politics to become leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (unaffiliated with the federal Liberals
). The party had no obvious candidate to fill Charest's shoes, and turned to Clark once again in 1998. He was elected by a teleconference of PC members from around the country in which each of the party's riding association
s was allocated 100 points. The points for each riding were then assigned on the basis of each candidate's share of votes within each riding association. Clark defeated Hugh Segal
, free-trade opponent David Orchard
, and former Manitoba cabinet minister Brian Pallister
, for the leadership of the PC Party.
Clark was elected as Member of Parliament
for Kings—Hants
, Nova Scotia
, in a by-election on September 11, 2000, after the incumbent MP, Scott Brison
, stood down in his favour. This is common practice when a newly elected party leader doesn't already have a seat in Parliament. For the general election
held two months later, Clark yielded Kings-Hants back to Brison and was elected as the MP for Calgary Centre
, deep in the heart of Canadian Alliance
territory.
Clark ran on his previous experience as Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister. However, he faced a difficult task, with critics and opponents attacking him and the PC Party as a "vote for the past." Jean Chrétien
's governing Liberals were running on their successful economic record, and they were poised to regain the support that they lost in 1997, threatening the PC's 1997 gains in Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces. The PC party lost ground in Quebec (due in part to the departure of Jean Charest to provincial politics), which resulted in three members of the PC caucus defecting to join the Liberal Party prior to the election. However, Clark was judged by audiences to be the best speaker during the 2000 election debates. The party lost seats to the Liberals, though it managed to hang on to the minimum 12 seats necessary to be recognized in the House of Commons as an official party and therefore qualify for research funding, committee memberships, and minimum speaking privileges. Aside from Clark's Calgary seat (one of only three Alberta seats that did not go to the Canadian Alliance), and one each in Manitoba
and Quebec, the party's seats were concentrated in Tory bastions in the Atlantic provinces. Clark continually promoted the idea that the PCs would eventually retake Ontario and form a federal government again. His vision for the party was one that was to the left of the Alliance, but to the right of the Liberals.
He soon realized that there was no chance of dislodging the Liberals as long as the centre-right remained split. However, he wanted a merger on his terms. He got his chance in 2001, when several dissident Alliance MPs, the most prominent one being Alliance deputy leader and party matriarch Deborah Grey
, left the Alliance caucus. The dissidents felt that Alliance leader Stockwell Day
hadn't learned from mistakes made in the last election. While some of them rejoined the Alliance later, seven of them, led by Chuck Strahl
of British Columbia and including Grey, refused and formed the Democratic Representative Caucus
. The DRC quickly entered a coalition with the Progressive Conservatives. Clark served as leader of the joint PC-DRC caucus.
This lasted until 2002, when Stephen Harper
ousted Day as Alliance leader. Harper wanted a closer union with the PCs, but Clark turned the offer down in April 2002, and all but two of the DRC members rejoined the Alliance. One of the two, Inky Mark
, eventually joined the PCs. Two by-election victories later in 2002 increased the PC caucus to 15 members and fourth place in the Commons.
Clark was selected by the media and many parliamentarians for three years in a row to be Canada's most effective opposition leader between 2000 and 2002, pursuing the Liberal government on issues such as Shawinigate
and the Groupaction
scandal. In his final mandate, Jean Chrétien repeatedly referred to Clark as the Leader of the Opposition
(Clark wasn't), much to the chagrin of the Canadian Alliance politicians who occupied the Opposition Leader's chair during the same period. Indeed, Chrétien and Clark had been fellow parliamentarians since the 1970s and they shared a mutual respect despite sitting on opposite benches.
Clark's personal popularity grew as, once again, scandal enveloped Chrétien's Liberal government. Clark was widely trusted by Canadians, but this, in his own words, did not translate into more votes and additional seats. Citing this, Clark announced his intention to step down as PC leader on August 6, 2002, at the PC Party's Edmonton
policy convention. It was expected that a pro-Alliance merger candidate would succeed Clark, but Clark was instead replaced by Peter MacKay
on May 31, 2003. MacKay had signed a controversial deal with Red Tory rival David Orchard
, promising not to merge the PC Party with the Alliance. Clark had always encouraged MacKay to keep Orchard and his followers within the PC camp.
MacKay immediately reversed his position on seeking a merger, and in 2003, 90% of PC Party delegates voted in favor of a merger with the Canadian Alliance. Orchard unsuccessfully tried to block the merger and later joined the Liberal Party.
as the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons, after by-election wins in Newfoundland and Labrador
and Ontario
. Many of his supporters have suggested his actions helped sustain the relevance of the weakened Progressive Conservative Party during some of its toughest years when its national alternative status was seriously challenged by the prairie populism
of Preston Manning
and the Reform Party of Canada
and the social conservatism
of Stockwell Day
and the Canadian Alliance.
At the same time, the party was still $10 million in debt from the 2000 election. The PC Party's membership had also dropped from 100,000 in 1998 to 45,000 card carrying PCs in May 2003. Clark's leadership of the Progressive Conservatives was also the subject of criticism from many United Alternative supporters, who argued that his staunch opposition to a merger with the Reform/Alliance parties helped divide the "conservative" vote during the tenure of Jean Chrétien
. Some critics accused Clark of being more interested in helping the interests of his own party and own career than the Canadian conservative movement in general. Others attacked Clark's goal of the PC party regaining its former power as unrealistic.
were dissolved and the new Conservative Party of Canada
registered, Clark was one of three MPs — the other two were André Bachand
and John Herron
— to announce that they would not join the new caucus. MP Scott Brison
had already joined the Liberals.
Clark announced that he would continue to sit for the remainder of the session as a "Progressive Conservative" MP, and retired from Parliament
at the end of the session.
Later, Clark openly criticized the new Conservative Party in the run-up to the 2004 election
. He gave a tepid endorsement to the Liberal Party
in the 2004 election
, calling Paul Martin
"the devil we know". He criticized the new Conservative Party as an 'Alliance take-over', and speculated that eastern Canada would not accept the new party or its more socially conservative policies against gay marriage and abortion. Clark endorsed former NDP leader Ed Broadbent
and other Liberals and Conservatives as individuals, saying that the most important thing was to have "the strongest possible Canadian House of Commons
" since neither large party offered much hope. Clark was criticized by some for dismissing the new Conservative Party outright rather than helping to steer it towards a moderate path.
. He served as Distinguished Statesman in Residence, School of International Service, and Senior Fellow, Center for North American Studies, both at the American University
, Washington, D.C.
. In addition to teaching classes at the American University in Washington, Clark has also written several op-ed pieces for several of Canada's national newspapers since his retirement. In October 2006, Clark took a position at McGill University
as a Professor of Practice for Public-Private Sector Partnerships at the McGill Institute for the Study of International Development. He also serves with the Jimmy Carter
Center, routinely traveling overseas as part of the centre's international observing activities. Clark is a member of the Global Leadership Foundation
, an organization which works to promote good governance around the world. Clark also sits on the International Advisory Board of Governor's of the Centre for International Governance Innovation
, on which he is actively engaged.
Clark was attacked while walking down the street in Montreal
in mid-November 2007. The attacker first asked him if he was the former prime minister, and when Clark answered that he was, the man struck him and fled. Clark sustained a bloody nose but was not seriously hurt.
As of 2011, Clark has enjoyed the second longest retirement of any Canadian Prime Minister. If he lives past January 12, 2014 he will surpass the current record holder, Arthur Meighen
.
. He is a member of the Alberta Order of Excellence
. He was honoured as Commandeur de l'Ordre de la Pleiade from La Francophonie
. He also holds the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
, 125th Anniversary of Confederation Medal, Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
, and the Alberta Centennial Medal
. Clark was the first recipient of the Vimy Award
. He is Honorary Chief Bald Eagle of the Samson Cree
Nation.
In 2004, Clark's lifetime achievements were recognized with the Award for Excellence in the Cause of Parliamentary Democracy by Canada's Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy.
On Tuesday, May 27, 2008, Clark's official parliamentary portrait was unveiled during a reception ceremony to be hung in Centre Block
alongside Canada's past prime ministers.
In a 1999 survey of Canadian historians Clark was ranked #15 out of the first 20 prime ministers through Jean Chrétien
. The survey was used in the book Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders by J.L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer
.
on October 19, 1994. His citation reads:
s from several institutions:
University of New Brunswick
in Fredericton, New Brunswick
(LL.D) in 1976 York University
in Toronto
, Ontario
(LL.D) in Spring 2009
Clark has received honorary degrees from the University of New Brunswick
, the University of Alberta
, the University of Calgary
, Carleton University
. Concordia University in Montreal, Grant MacEwan College
, the University of King's College in Halifax, St. Thomas University of St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
.
Statesman
A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...
, businessman, and university professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, and former journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He served as the 16th Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
, from June 4, 1979, to March 3, 1980.
Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal politics, entering the House of Commons in the 1972 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...
and winning the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative leadership convention, 1976
The 1976 leadership election of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was held in Ottawa on February 22, 1976, to elect a leader to replace Robert Stanfield, who had resigned after losing the 1968, 1972, and 1974 elections. It unexpectedly elected a 36-year-old, little-known PC Member of...
in 1976. He came to power in the 1979 election
Canadian federal election, 1979
The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...
, defeating the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
and ending sixteen continuous years of Liberal rule. Taking office the day before his 40th birthday, Clark is the youngest person to become Prime Minister. His tenure was brief as he only won a minority government, and it was defeated on a motion of non-confidence
Motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...
. Clark subsequently lost the 1980 election
Canadian federal election, 1980
The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
and the leadership of the party
Progressive Conservative leadership convention, 1983
The 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held on June 11, 1983 in Ottawa, Ontario to elect a leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada...
in 1983.
He returned to prominence in 1984 as a senior cabinet minister in Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
's cabinet, retiring from politics after not standing for re-election for the House of Commons in 1993. He made a political comeback in 1998 to lead the Progressive Conservatives
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
before its dissolution, serving his final term in Parliament from 2000 to 2004. Clark today is recognized as a distinguished scholar and statesman, and serves as a university professor and as president of his own consulting firm.
Early years
Charles Joseph Clark was born in High RiverHigh River, Alberta
High River is a town in southwestern Alberta, Canada with a population of 10,716. It is south of the city of Calgary, at the junction of Alberta Highways 2 and 23...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, on June 5, 1939, the son of Charles A. Clark, who was the publisher of the local newspaper, and Grace Welch. He has a brother, Peter, who later became a lawyer and is now a judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, presiding in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, and a sister Catherine who is retired in Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
.
Education, journalism, marriage
He attended local schools and the University of AlbertaUniversity of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
. While in high school, he gained journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
experience with the High River Times and the Calgary Albertan, and joined the staff of the Gateway
The Gateway (newspaper)
The Gateway is the student newspaper at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.-History:The newspaper was founded in North Garneau at the home of Liddy Lloyd on October 26, 1910. A group of students had gathered to discuss the creation of a student newspaper. They came up with the...
, the University of Alberta's campus newspaper as a freshman, eventually rising to editor-in-chief there. He also worked at the Edmonton Journal
Edmonton Journal
The Edmonton Journal is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network.-History:The Journal was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunningham — as a rival to Alberta's first newspaper, the 23-year-old...
for one summer, where he met his future biographer, David L. Humphreys
David L. Humphreys
David L. Humphreys is a Canadian journalist, writer, lobbyist, and consultant.-Biography:Humphreys was born in Kingston, Ontario. Following his birth, he moved with his family to Alberta. He was educated at Ridley College in St. Catharines, Ontario, and at St. John's College in Winnipeg...
. He took a summer job with Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Canadian Press Enterprises Inc. is the entity which "will take over the operations of the Canadian Press" according to a November 26, 2010 article in the Toronto Star...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, and for a time seriously considered a professional career in journalism.
Clark then attended Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University is a public research university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university comprises eleven faculties including Schulich School of Law and Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine. It also includes the faculties of architecture, planning and engineering located at...
in Halifax, Nova Scotia to make up some coursework, with the intention of entering Dalhousie Law School
Dalhousie Law School
The Schulich School of Law is part of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Formerly called Dalhousie Law School, it was established in 1883, making it the oldest university-affiliated common law school in the Commonwealth. It is the primary law school in Atlantic Canada and...
. However, he spent more time with the Dalhousie Student Union
Dalhousie Student Union
The Dalhousie Student Union is the official representative of students at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.- History :On November 10, 1869 students accepted ownership of the Dalhousie Gazette from the founding editors....
, Progressive Conservative politics and the Dalhousie Gazette, than on his courses. After leaving Dalhousie, he unsuccessfully pursued first-year law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
studies at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law
University of British Columbia Faculty of Law
The University of British Columbia Faculty of Law is one of the largest English language legal programs in Canada, with over 600 law students. The school offers a three-year Juris Doctor program and the graduate degrees of Master of Laws , Master of Jurisprudence and doctorate degrees...
in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was again active in student politics, and became president of the Progressive Conservative Youth wing for two terms. He then worked full time for the Progressive Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
.
Clark married Maureen McTeer
Maureen McTeer
Maureen Anne McTeer is a Canadian author and a lawyer, married to Joe Clark, the 16th Prime Minister of Canada.-Life and career:...
in 1973, while she was still a law student. The two met when Clark hired her to work in his parliamentary office; McTeer had been a political organizer herself since her early teens. McTeer has developed her own career as a well-known author and lawyer, and caused something of a fuss by keeping her maiden name after marriage. That feminist practice was not common at the time, but was later taken up by other political wives, such as Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
. Their daughter, Catherine
Catherine Clark
Catherine Jane Clark is a Canadian television broadcaster, and the daughter of former Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark and Maureen McTeer.-Life and career:Clark was born in Ottawa, Ontario...
, is an art history graduate from the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
who has pursued a career in public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
and broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
.
Early political career
Clark first became active in politics at the university level. He competed with the University of Alberta Debate Society. He served as President of the University of AlbertaUniversity of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
Young Progressive Conservatives, and eventually served as national president for the young PCs group. Clark sparred with future political rival Preston Manning
Preston Manning
Ernest Preston Manning, CC is a Canadian politician. He was the only leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a Canadian federal political party that evolved into the Canadian Alliance...
in debate forums on campus between the Young PCs and the Youth League of the Alberta Social Credit Party. Clark encountered another future rival when he met Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
at a national Young PCs meeting in 1958.
Clark spent time in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to improve his fluency in the French language, and also took courses in French while he was living in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
. He eventually became comfortable speaking and answering questions in French, which helped his political standing in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
Clark was keenly aware from a very young age of the politics of Canada. In his youth, Clark was an admirer of Progressive Conservative leader and Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...
, and he eventually entered politics himself at the provincial level at the age of 28. He was unsuccessful in his first foray into politics as an official constituency candidate for the provincial Progressive Conservatives
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...
in the 1967 provincial election
Alberta general election, 1967
The Alberta general election of 1967 was the sixteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on May 23, 1967 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
. Clark served as a chief assistant to provincial opposition leader and future Premier Peter Lougheed
Peter Lougheed
Edgar Peter Lougheed, PC, CC, AOE, QC, is a Canadian lawyer, and a former politician and Canadian Football League player. He served as the tenth Premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985....
, and served in the office of federal Opposition leader Robert Stanfield
Robert Stanfield
Robert Lorne Stanfield, PC, QC was the 17th Premier of Nova Scotia and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. He is sometimes referred to as "the greatest prime minister Canada never had", and earned the nickname "Honest Bob"...
, learning the inner workings of government. Clark missed being elected to the Alberta Legislative Assembly in the 1971 provincial election
Alberta general election, 1971
The Alberta general election of 1971 was the seventeenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 30, 1971 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
. However, he ran in the federal election held a year later
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...
, and was elected to Parliament as the MP for Rocky Mountain
Rocky Mountain (electoral district)
Rocky Mountainwas a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1979.This riding was created in 1966 from parts of Bow River, Jasper—Edson, Lethbridge and Macleod ridings....
, a largely rural riding in southwestern Alberta.
Clark was the first Canadian politician to take a strong stand for decriminalization of marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
in Canada, and for a guaranteed minimum income
Guaranteed minimum income
Guaranteed minimum income is a system of social welfare provision that guarantees that all citizens or families have an income sufficient to live on, provided they meet certain conditions. Eligibility is typically determined by citizenship, a means test and either availability for the labour...
for everyone; both positions were characteristic of the Red Tories
Red Tory
A red Tory is an adherent of a particular political philosophy, tradition, and disposition in Canada somewhat similar to the High Tory tradition in the United Kingdom; it is contrasted with "blue Tory". In Canada, the phenomenon of "red toryism" has fundamentally, if not exclusively, been found in...
. In many ways his social liberalism was as bold in the 1970s as Trudeau's was in the 1960s. These positions put Clark at odds with the right-wing members of his caucus, several members of which were not afraid to confront him. For example, in the lead-up to the 1979 election when Clark's riding was merged into the riding of another Tory MP during a redistribution
Redistribution (election)
Redistribution , called redistricting in the United States, is the process of changing of political borders. This is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral district boundaries, usually in response to periodic census results that cause malportionment of representation...
of ridings, the other MP refused to step aside (even though Clark was now party leader), forcing Clark to run in nearby Yellowhead
Yellowhead (electoral district)
Yellowhead is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979. The district is in west-central Alberta, and represents the counties of Yellowhead, Woodlands, Lac Ste. Anne, Barrhead, the improvement districts No. 9 and No...
.
Progressive Conservative leadership convention 1976
Following the resignation of PC party leader Robert StanfieldRobert Stanfield
Robert Lorne Stanfield, PC, QC was the 17th Premier of Nova Scotia and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. He is sometimes referred to as "the greatest prime minister Canada never had", and earned the nickname "Honest Bob"...
, Clark sought and won the leadership of the PC Party at the 1976 leadership convention
Progressive Conservative leadership convention, 1976
The 1976 leadership election of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was held in Ottawa on February 22, 1976, to elect a leader to replace Robert Stanfield, who had resigned after losing the 1968, 1972, and 1974 elections. It unexpectedly elected a 36-year-old, little-known PC Member of...
. Initially, the favourite among Red Tories
Red Tory
A red Tory is an adherent of a particular political philosophy, tradition, and disposition in Canada somewhat similar to the High Tory tradition in the United Kingdom; it is contrasted with "blue Tory". In Canada, the phenomenon of "red toryism" has fundamentally, if not exclusively, been found in...
was Flora MacDonald; however she did worse than expected while Clark placed a surprising third in a field of eleven on the first ballot of convention delegates, behind only Claude Wagner
Claude Wagner
Claude Wagner, PC, QC was a judge and politician in the Province of Quebec, Canada. In his career, Wagner was a Crown prosecutor, professor of criminal law and judge...
and Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
. MacDonald dropped off after the second ballot, encouraging her supporters to support Clark, who quickly became the compromise Red Tory candidate. The party's right-wing rallied behind Wagner. Mulroney, a Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
businessman with no elected political experience, was unable to expand his base of support significantly. Many delegates were offended by his expensive leadership campaign. As other Red Tory candidates were eliminated during the first four ballots, Clark gradually overtook Mulroney and then Wagner to emerge as the victor on the fourth ballot, by 1,187 votes to 1,122.
Clark, who won the Tory leadership at age 36, remains the youngest-ever leader of a major federal party in the history of Canadian politics. With many veteran Tories having been defeated in the 1968 election, the party effectively skipped a generation by selecting Clark as its new leader.
Opposition Leader, 1976-79
Joe Clark's rapid rise from a relatively unknown Alberta MP to the Leader of the OppositionLeader of the Opposition (Canada)
The Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition , or simply the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of Canada's Official Opposition, the party with the most seats in the House of Commons that is not a member of the government...
took much of Canada by surprise. The Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
announced Clark's victory with a headline that read "Joe Who?", giving Clark a nickname that stuck for years. Much joking was made of Clark's clumsiness and awkward mannerisms. Skinny and tall, he became a frequent target for editorial cartoonist
Editorial cartoonist
An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary....
s, who delighted in portraying him as a sort of walking candy apple, with an enormous head and floppy dog-like ears; cartoonist Andy Donato
Andy Donato
Andy Donato is an editorial cartoonist for the Toronto Sun newspaper chain.He was born in Scarborough, Ontario. He graduated from Danforth Technical School in 1955 and worked at Eaton's as a layout artist. He joined the Toronto Telegram in 1961, working as a graphic artist in the promotion...
typically drew Clark with mittens on strings hanging from his suit sleeves. Initially, it seemed unlikely that a man that was the source of so much mockery could ever hope to compete against the confident and intellectual Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
. It also did not help that the Progressive Conservatives lost a string of by-elections
30th Canadian Parliament
The 30th Canadian Parliament was in session from September 30, 1974 until March 26, 1979. The membership was set by the 1974 election on July 8, 1974, and was only changed somewhat due to resignations and by-elections before it was dissolved prior to the 1979 election.It was controlled by a...
on May 24, 1977.
However, Clark remained belligerent in his attacks on the Trudeau government, angrily clashing with the prime minister in Parliament. He hired experienced staffers such as Lowell Murray
Lowell Murray
Lowell Murray, PC is a former Canadian senator and long-time activist with the federal Progressive Conservative Party.-Education:...
, Duncan Edmonds
Duncan Edmonds
Duncan Edmonds is a Canadian businessman, politician, consultant, lobbyist, university professor, and writer. In 1969, he unsuccessfully ran for the leadership of the Manitoba Liberal Party....
, and William Neville, who shaped his policies and ran his office efficiently. He improved his party's standing in national opinion polls. Clark worked very hard, and gradually earned the respect of most people, including his own caucus, by presenting a series of well thought out speeches and questions in Parliament. He benefited when live television came to the House of Commons in 1977, allowing viewers to see that he was evolving into a real rival for Trudeau.
Clark, despite being perceived by many people as something of a square, showed biting wit at times while in Opposition. One of his most famous quips was: "A recession is when your neighbour loses his job. A depression is when you lose your job. Recovery is when Pierre Trudeau loses his job."
1979 election
Large budget deficits, high inflation, and high unemployment made the Liberal government unpopular. Trudeau had put off asking the Canadian Governor-GeneralGovernor-General
A Governor-General, is a vice-regal person of a monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription. Depending on the political arrangement of the territory, a Governor General can be a governor of high rank, or a principal governor ranking above "ordinary" governors.- Current uses...
to call an election
Canadian federal election, 1979
The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...
as long as possible, in the hope that his party could recover popular support but it backfired, as there was growing public antipathy towards his perceived arrogance. Clark campaigned on the slogans, "Let's get Canada working again," and "It's time for a change - give the future a chance!"
In the latter half of the campaign, the Liberals focused their attacks on Clark's perceived inexperience. Their advertisements claimed "This is no time for on-the-job training," and "We need tough leadership to keep Canada growing. A leader must be a leader." Clark played into their hands by appearing bumbling and unsure in public.
When Clark undertook a tour of the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
in order to show his ability to handle foreign affairs issues, his luggage was lost, and Clark appeared to be uncomfortable with the issues being discussed. That incident was widely lampooned by Toronto Sun
Toronto Sun
The Toronto Sun is an English-language daily tabloid newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is known for its daily Sunshine Girl feature and for what it sees as a populist conservative editorial stance.-History:...
cartoonist Andy Donato
Andy Donato
Andy Donato is an editorial cartoonist for the Toronto Sun newspaper chain.He was born in Scarborough, Ontario. He graduated from Danforth Technical School in 1955 and worked at Eaton's as a layout artist. He joined the Toronto Telegram in 1961, working as a graphic artist in the promotion...
. During the same tour, while inspecting a military honour guard, Clark turned too soon and nearly bumped into a soldier's bayonet
Bayonet
A bayonet is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit in, on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear...
; one of the first major media reports on the incident hyperbolically claimed that he had nearly been beheaded.
Clark was bilingual but the PC party was also unable to make much headway in Quebec, which continued to be federally dominated by the Liberals. While Clark's 1976 leadership rivals were prominent in that province, Claude Wagner
Claude Wagner
Claude Wagner, PC, QC was a judge and politician in the Province of Quebec, Canada. In his career, Wagner was a Crown prosecutor, professor of criminal law and judge...
had left politics and recently died, while Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
was still bitter about his loss and turned down an offer to serve under Clark.
Nonetheless, Clark's Progressive Conservatives won 136 seats to end sixteen continuous years of Liberal rule, falling just short of a majority, as they could only get two seats in Quebec. The Progressive Conservatives had also won the popular vote in seven provinces. The Liberals lost 27 seats, including several high-profile cabinet ministers, and Trudeau announced his intention to step down as party leader.
Prime minister
On June 4, 1979, the day before his 40th birthday, Clark was sworn in as Canada's youngest prime minister, after defeating the LiberalLiberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
Party in the May 1979 general election
Canadian federal election, 1979
The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...
. Clark was the first Progressive Conservative to head Canada's federal government since the defeat of John Diefenbaker
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...
's Progressive Conservative government in the 1963 election
Canadian federal election, 1963
The Canadian federal election of 1963 was held on April 8 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 26th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of the minority Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.-Overview:During the Tories' last year in...
.
With a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
in the House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
, Clark had to rely on the support of the Social Credit Party
Social Credit Party of Canada
The Social Credit Party of Canada was a conservative-populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform...
, with its six seats, or the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
(NDP), with its 26 seats. At the time, Opposition
Official Opposition (Canada)
In Canada, Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition , commonly known as the Official Opposition, is usually the largest parliamentary opposition party in the House of Commons or a provincial legislative assembly that is not in government, either on its own or as part of a governing coalition...
leader Trudeau said that he would allow the Progressive Conservatives a chance to govern, though he warned the Prime Minister against dismantling Petro-Canada
Petro-Canada
Petro-Canada was a crown corporation of Canada in the field of oil and natural gas. It was headquartered in the Petro-Canada Centre in Calgary, Alberta. In August, 2009, Petro-Canada merged with Suncor Energy, a deal in which Suncor investors received approximately 60 per cent ownership of the...
, which was unpopular in Clark's home province of Alberta.
Social Credit was below the 12 seats needed for official party status
Official party status
Official party status refers to the Canadian practice of recognizing political parties in the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures. The type of recognition and threshold needed to obtain it varies...
in the House of Commons. However, the six seats would have been just enough to give Clark's government a majority had the Progressive Conservatives formed a coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
with Social Credit, or had the two parties otherwise agreed to work together. Clark managed to lure Socred MP Richard Janelle
Richard Janelle
Richard Janelle was a member of the Canadian House of Commons. He was a secretary and coordinator by career.Janelle represented Quebec's Lotbinière electoral district at which he won a 16 October 1978 by-election...
to the government caucus but this still left the PCs short. Clark however decided that he would govern as if he had a majority, and refused to grant the small Social Credit caucus official party status or form a coalition or co-operate with the party in any way.
Clark was unable to accomplish much in office, because of the tenuous situation of his minority government. However, historians have credited Clark's government with making access to information legislation a priority. The Clark government introduced Bill C-15, the Freedom of Information Act, which established a broad right of access to government records, an elaborate scheme of exemptions, and a two-stage review process. The legislation was debated at second reading at the end of November 1979 and was referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs. Within days the minority Conservative government was unseated; the legislation died on the order paper. The re-elected Trudeau government subsequently based its Access to Information Act
Access to Information Act
Access to Information Act or Information Act is a Canadian act providing the right of access to information under the control of a government institution...
on the Clark government's Bill C-15. The Access to Information Act received royal assent in July 1982 and came into force in July 1983. The public now has the legal right of access to government records in some 150 federal departments and agencies.
Though the election had been held in May, Parliament did not resume sitting until October, one of the longest break periods in Confederation. The gas tax in the budget soured Clark's relationship with Ontario Premier Bill Davis
Bill Davis
William Grenville "Bill" Davis, was the 18th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the MPP for Peel in the 1959 provincial election where he was a backbencher in Leslie Frost's government. Under John Robarts, he was a cabinet minister overseeing the education...
, even though both were Red Tories and both were Progressive Conservatives. Even before the budget, the government was criticized for its perceived inexperience, such as in its handling of its campaign commitment to move Canada's embassy in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
from Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
to Jerusalem.
Internationally, Clark represented Canada in June 1979 at the 5th G7 summit
5th G7 summit
The 5th G7 Summit was held at Tokyo, Japan between June 28 and 29, 1979. The venue for the summit meetings was the State Guesthouse in Tokyo, Japan....
in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. Compared to his predecessor as Prime Minister, Clark reportedly had a better relationship with US President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, who phoned Clark to wish him luck in the upcoming 1980 election
Canadian federal election, 1980
The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
.
Fall of government
During the 1979 election campaign, Clark had promised to cut taxes to stimulate the economy. However, once in office he adopted a budget designed to curb inflationInflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
by slowing economic activity, and also proposed an 18 cent per Imperial gallon tax on gasoline in order to reduce the budgetary deficit. Finance Minister
Minister of Finance (Canada)
The Minister of Finance is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible each year for presenting the federal government's budget...
John Crosbie
John Crosbie
John Carnell Crosbie, PC, OC, ONL, QC is a retired provincial and federal politician and the 12th Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada...
touted the budget as "short term pain for long term gain." Though Clark had hoped this change in policy would work to his advantage, it actually earned him widespread animosity as a politician who could not keep his promises, even in such a short period.
Clark's refusal to work with the Socreds, combined with the 18 cent gas tax, led to the defeat of the government in the House of Commons in December 1979. NDP Finance Critic Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
attached a rider to a budget bill declaring that "this House has lost confidence
Motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...
in the government." The five Socred MPs had demanded the tax revenues be allocated to Quebec and when that was turned down, they abstained, which ensured the vote's passage on a 139-133 margin.
Clark was criticized for his "inability to do math" in failing to predict the outcome, not only because he was a minority situation, but also because several members of his caucus would be absent for the crucial budget vote, as one was ill and two were stuck abroad on official business. The Liberals by contrast had assembled their entire caucus, save one, for the occasion.
Clark's government would last a total of nine months less a day, as it was defeated in the 1980 election. As Clark's Finance Minister, John Crosbie famously described it in his own inimitable way: "Long enough to conceive, just not long enough to deliver."
1980 election
The no-confidence vote loss was partially welcomed by the PC Party. When a new election was called, Clark expected his party would be able to defeat the demoralized and leaderless Liberals easily, since Trudeau had announced his intention to step aside. However, the Progressive Conservatives had misjudged the electorate, since they had not commissioned any polls since August. A November Gallup poll published eight days before the December 11 budget reported that their popularity was down from 36% during the summer to 28%, with the party 19 points behind the Liberals, giving the latter the popular support to initiate the non-confidence motion. After the government fell, Clark's party was caught off guard when Pierre Trudeau quickly rescinded his resignation from the Liberal leadership (as no convention had been held) to lead his party into the subsequent election.Clark's Tories campaigned under the slogan, "Real change deserves a fair chance," but the broken promises were still fresh in voters' minds. Progressive Conservative Premier Bill Davis
Bill Davis
William Grenville "Bill" Davis, was the 18th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the MPP for Peel in the 1959 provincial election where he was a backbencher in Leslie Frost's government. Under John Robarts, he was a cabinet minister overseeing the education...
's criticism of the gas tax was used in the Liberals' Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
television ads, and the swing in support from the Tories to the Liberals in that province proved to be decisive in the campaign. Trudeau's Liberals swept his party back into power in the February 1980 election
Canadian federal election, 1980
The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
with 146 seats, against 103 for the Progressive Conservatives.
Supreme Court appointments
Clark chose the following jurist to be appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court of CanadaSupreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
by the Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
:
- Julien ChouinardJulien ChouinardJulien Chouinard, was a Canadian lawyer, civil servant and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada....
(September 24, 1979 – February 6, 1987)
Relationship between Trudeau and Clark
Trudeau commented in his memoirs, published in 1993, that Clark was much more tough and aggressive than past Tory leader Robert StanfieldRobert Stanfield
Robert Lorne Stanfield, PC, QC was the 17th Premier of Nova Scotia and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. He is sometimes referred to as "the greatest prime minister Canada never had", and earned the nickname "Honest Bob"...
, noting that those qualities served Clark well in his party winning the 1979 election victory. However, Trudeau also complimented Clark as a respectable leader and a better choice over Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
, who had defeated Clark at the leadership convention
Progressive Conservative leadership convention, 1983
The 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held on June 11, 1983 in Ottawa, Ontario to elect a leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada...
1983. Trudeau told his friends that the Tories had chosen the wrong guy. When Mulroney took over the reins of the Progressive Conservatives, Trudeau's Liberals attacked them with the slogan "Bring back Joe!", taking aim at how the Tories had replaced their proven leader with an unknown. In contrast to Clark, Trudeau and Mulroney had become bitter enemies over the Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...
, despite never having fought an election.
At Trudeau's funeral in 2000, his son Justin Trudeau
Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau, MP is a Canadian politician. He has represented the Montreal electoral division of Papineau in the Canadian House of Commons since 2008 as a member of the Liberal Party and currently serves as the party's critic for youth, post-secondary education, and amateur...
related a story in which he had told a joke about one of his father's chief rivals, and his father had corrected him, lectured him sternly on how it was wrong to insult someone just because they disagreed, and then introduced him to the rival. At this point in the ceremony, the CBC cut to an image of a teary-eyed Clark. There is reason to believe this reference (along with the mention that the rival had a "pretty blonde" daughter, a description that can be applied to Catherine
Catherine Clark
Catherine Jane Clark is a Canadian television broadcaster, and the daughter of former Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark and Maureen McTeer.-Life and career:Clark was born in Ottawa, Ontario...
) had been to Clark.
Opposition leader 1980-83
Opposition to Clark's leadership began to grow after the fall of the PC minority government, and the party's defeat by a resurgent Liberal Party. There were frequent rumors that several potential challengers were covertly undermining Clark's leadership; though in 1982 Brian MulroneyBrian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
appeared at a press conference with Clark to say that he was not seeking the leadership of the PC party.
The Liberal Party had regained national prominence by leading the "No" side to victory in the 1980 Quebec referendum
1980 Quebec referendum
The 1980 Quebec referendum was the first referendum in Quebec on the place of Quebec within Canada and whether Quebec should pursue a path toward sovereignty. The referendum was called by Quebec's Parti Québécois government, which strongly favoured secession from Canada...
and the Constitution patriation
Patriation Reference
Reference re a Resolution to amend the Constitution, [1981] 1 S.C.R. 753 – also known as the Patriation Reference – is a historic Supreme Court of Canada reference case that occurred during negotiations for the patriation of the Constitution of Canada.The Court affirmed the existence of...
. While Trudeau's National Energy Program
National Energy Program
The National Energy Program was an energy policy of the Government of Canada. It was created under the Liberal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau by Minister of Energy Marc Lalonde in 1980, and administered by the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.-Description:The NEP was...
was hugely unpopular in Western Canada
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
, especially Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, it was able to shore up Liberal support in the voter-rich Eastern Canada, particularly Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, generally having the opposite effect of Clark's proposed gas tax. Difficult budgets and the economic recession resulted in Trudeau's approval ratings declining after the bounce from the 1982 Constitution patriation and showed his party headed for certain defeat by early 1984, prompting him to retire. However, Clark was unable to stay on as Progressive Conservative leader long enough to regain the Prime Ministership.
At the party's 1981 convention, 33.5% of the delegates supported a leadership review; they felt that Clark would not be able to lead the party to victory again. At the January 1983 convention in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, 33.1% supported a review. The fact that Clark had been able to increase his support among party members by only 0.4% was likely a contributing factor to his decision to resign as leader and seek a renewed mandate from the membership through a leadership convention. This was also considering that the governing Liberals
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
under Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
were slipping in polls, and although the PCs had built up a substantial lead in popularity, Trudeau was expected to retire before the election and a new Liberal leader might be able to pull off a victory.
1983 leadership convention
In 1983, after declaring that an endorsement by 66.9% of delegates at the party's biennial convention was not enough, Clark called a leadership conventionProgressive Conservative leadership convention, 1983
The 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held on June 11, 1983 in Ottawa, Ontario to elect a leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada...
to decide the issue. (In December 2007, German-Canadian businessman and lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber
Karlheinz Schreiber
Friedrich Karlheinz Hermann Schreiber is a German and Canadian citizen, an industrialist, lobbyist, fundraiser, arms dealer and businessman...
told the House of Commons Ethics Committee that he and other Germans, including Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n politician Franz Josef Strauss, and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n-Canadian entrepreneur Walter Wolf
Walter Wolf (industrialist)
Walter Wolf is a Canadian oil-drilling equipment supplier who in the early 1970s made a fortune from the North Sea oil business and decided to join the world of Formula One motor racing....
, had contributed significant funds to finance Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
delegates to vote against Clark at Winnipeg, denying him the mandate he sought. A public inquiry
Public inquiry
A Tribunal of Inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body in Common Law countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland or Canada. Such a public inquiry differs from a Royal Commission in that a public inquiry accepts evidence and conducts its hearings in a more...
on these matters, and on other business dealings between Mulroney and Schreiber, was called for early 2008 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
. This led further to the 2009 Oliphant Commission.)
John Crosbie
John Carnell Crosbie, PC, OC, ONL, QC is a retired provincial and federal politician and the 12th Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada...
had been laying the groundwork for a campaign for some time, with Crosbie expecting Clark to lose or resign soon, and Mulroney supportive of the anti-Clark movement.
In a rematch of the 1976 convention, Mulroney emerged as the main challenger, gaining the support of the party's right wing, which viewed Clark as too progressive and opposed his continued leadership. Other party members felt that the federal Liberal Party's stranglehold on Quebec seats could only be broken by a native from that province, which gave Mulroney considerable support. Media coverage emphasized the pro-business and neo-liberal
Neoliberalism
Neoliberalism is a market-driven approach to economic and social policy based on neoclassical theories of economics that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the...
bent of most of the candidates as a "Changing of the Guard" within the PC party from their more classical conservative and moderate elements. Clark's campaign countered this by trying to polarize the election between right wingers and a centrist who had been able to win before. The Mulroney campaign responded by continuing their pro-business line.
Several candidates agreed to a "ABC" (Anybody But Clark) strategy for the convention and when news of that back-room deal broke out, support was expected to rally around the party's embattled leader. During delegate voting, Clark led on the first three ballots, but his vote total was far short of the 50% required, and it dwindled as the convention progressed. He was defeated on the fourth ballot, though he urged his supporters to unite, and agreed to serve under Mulroney.
Many political observers and analysts have questioned Clark's rationale for the decision. One famous incident involved a 1987 state dinner held for Prince Charles
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
. The Prince, who was seated next to Clark at the function, asked him "why 66 percent was not enough?" Clark's wife, Maureen McTeer
Maureen McTeer
Maureen Anne McTeer is a Canadian author and a lawyer, married to Joe Clark, the 16th Prime Minister of Canada.-Life and career:...
, elaborated on Clark's decision in her 2003 autobiography, In My Own Name. McTeer suggested that for her husband, anything less than a 75% endorsement would not have been a clear enough mandate to forge onwards from the party membership. Clark feared that the 34% of PC members who did not support him would become his most vocal critics in the upcoming election campaign, and that his continued leadership would have led to fractures in the party. Clark was convinced that he could win another leadership race and gain a clear level of support, once his qualities were compared against the handful of politically inexperienced challengers who coveted his position and who were covertly undermining his leadership.
Secretary of State for External Affairs
The Progressive Conservatives, led by Mulroney, went on to win a huge victory in the 1984 electionCanadian federal election, 1984
The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...
, and Mulroney became prime minister.
Despite their personal differences, Clark ably served in Mulroney's cabinet as Secretary of State for External Affairs
Secretary of State for External Affairs (Canada)
Canada's Secretary of State for External Affairs was, from 1909 to 1993, the member of the Cabinet of Canada responsible for overseeing the federal government's international relations and the former Department of External Affairs...
. Along with Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen, PC, QC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served two terms as the ninth Prime Minister of Canada: from July 10, 1920 to December 29, 1921; and from June 29 to September 25, 1926. He was the first Prime Minister born after Confederation, and the only one to represent a riding...
, Clark is one of two former Prime Ministers who have returned to prominent roles in Parliament. Clark is the only ex-PM to subsequently serve as a cabinet minister, and he earned much more respect in his latter role.
Some of Clark's accomplishments and bold moves in this role included:
- convincing Mulroney to recommend the appointment of Stephen LewisStephen LewisStephen Henry Lewis, is a Canadian politician, broadcaster and diplomat. He was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party for most of the 1970s. During many of the those years as leader, his father David Lewis was simultaneously the leader of the Federal New Democratic Party...
as Canada's ambassador to the United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
— who later became the UN special envoy on the AIDSAIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
crisis; many believe Lewis' appointment was Clark's price to serve under Mulroney; - in 1984, being the very first developed nation foreign affairs minister to land in previously-isolated EthiopiaEthiopiaEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
to lead the Western response to the 1984 - 1985 famine in Ethiopia1984 - 1985 famine in EthiopiaA widespread famine affected the inhabitants of today's Eritrea and Ethiopia from 1983 to 1985. In northern Ethiopia, famine led to more than 400,000 deaths; over half this mortality can be attributed to human rights abuses that caused the famine to come earlier, strike harder, and extend further...
; Canada's response was overwhelming, and led the USA and Great BritainGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
to follow suit almost immediately — an unprecedented situation in foreign affairs to that time, since Ethiopia had a MarxistMarxismMarxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
one-party state and had previously been wholly isolated by "the West"; - taking a strong stand against apartheid and for economic sanctions against South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
at a time when Canadian allies Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and Margaret ThatcherMargaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
opposed such sanctions; - taking a strong stand against American intervention in NicaraguaNicaraguaNicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
; - accepting refugees from El SalvadorEl SalvadorEl Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
and GuatemalaGuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
; - managing nonetheless to maintain extremely strong ties with the US, helping steer the North American Free Trade AgreementNorth American Free Trade AgreementThe North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
negotiations to a final agreement.
During his term as External Affairs minister, Clark championed Canada's unabashed disapproval of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Canada was the only G7 nation to take such a resolute stance against the apartheid regime during the 1980s. He also took on the difficult Constitution ministerial portfolio after the failure of the Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...
, and vigorously pursued his task.
He maintained Canada's independent voice politically and socially at a time of increasing economic integration with the US and the rise of more socially conservative right-wing politics
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
there.
Minister of Constitutional Affairs
Clark later served as the President of the Queen's Privy Council for CanadaPresident of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
In the Canadian cabinet, the President of The Queen's Privy Council for Canada is nominally in charge of the Privy Council Office. The President of the Privy Council also has the largely ceremonial duty of presiding over meetings of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, a body which only convenes...
.
With Quebec's constitutional status within Canada a rising issue, he shifted to become the minister responsible for constitutional affairs
Minister of Constitutional Affairs (Canada)
The Minister of Constitutional Affairs was the Canadian cabinet minister responsible for constitutional affairs. The position was created in 1991, following the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, and was abolished in 1993 following the failure of the Charlottetown Accord.Joe Clark was the only...
. The latter position saw him play a leading role in the drafting of the Charlottetown Accord
Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October 26 of that year, and was defeated.-Background:...
, which was decisively rejected in a nationwide referendum and further hurt the standing of the PC party in polls.
First Canadian political retirement
He retired from politics in 1993, side-stepping the near annihilation of the PC party in the 1993 electionCanadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...
under the leadership of Mulroney's successor Kim Campbell
Kim Campbell
Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993...
.
Clark was appointed as Special Representative to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
from 1993-1996. In 1993, he founded his own consulting firm, Joe Clark and Associates, Ltd., which he still heads. Clark has also served on the boards of directors or advisory boards of several Canadian companies.
In 1994, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. Also in 1994, he wrote the book A Nation Too Good to Lose: Renewing the Purpose of Canada. This book was also published in a French translation.
The 1995 Quebec referendum
1995 Quebec referendum
The 1995 Quebec referendum was the second referendum to ask voters in the Canadian province of Quebec whether Quebec should secede from Canada and become an independent state, through the question:...
saw the federal side win by less than one percent of the vote. It was widely seen as being the failure of the Charlottetown and prior Meech Lake
Meech Lake
Meech Lake is located within Gatineau Park in the Municipality of Chelsea, Quebec, Canada . The lake was named after Reverend Asa Meech, an early settler in this area....
accords that had caused it to be so close.
Mulroney's attitude to Clark
Although Clark and Mulroney had long been perceived as bitter opponents, Mulroney's speech at the 2003 PC leadership conventionProgressive Conservative leadership convention, 2003
The 2003 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held on May 31, 2003 to elect a leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Peter MacKay was elected as leader to replace former Prime Minister Joe Clark who had retired as party leader. In the end, five candidates emerged as...
praised Clark as an honest and admirable leader who had the distinction of being the only prime minister in recent memory who, even when he failed, was always respected, and never hated, by the Canadian public. At the time of his retirement polls showed that he was in fact the single most trusted political personality in Canada. However, the publication of The Secret Mulroney Tapes
The Secret Mulroney Tapes
The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister is a controversial biography of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, by veteran writer and former Mulroney confidant Peter C...
shows that Mulroney continued to hold negative feelings towards Clark during the 1980s and 90's.
Progressive Conservative leadership, 1998-2003
One of the two PC candidates to survive the 1993 wipe-out, Jean CharestJean Charest
John James "Jean" Charest, PC, MNA is a Canadian politician who has been the 29th Premier of Quebec since 2003. He was leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998 and has been leader of the Quebec Liberal Party since 1998....
, became leader of the PC party following Campbell's resignation. After leading the party to a modest resurgence in the 1997 election
Canadian federal election, 1997
The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...
, winning 20 seats, Charest bowed to tremendous public pressure and left federal politics to become leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (unaffiliated with the federal Liberals
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
). The party had no obvious candidate to fill Charest's shoes, and turned to Clark once again in 1998. He was elected by a teleconference of PC members from around the country in which each of the party's riding association
Riding association
In Canadian politics a riding association , officially called an electoral district association is the basic unit of a political party, that is it is the party's organization at the level of the electoral district, or "riding"...
s was allocated 100 points. The points for each riding were then assigned on the basis of each candidate's share of votes within each riding association. Clark defeated Hugh Segal
Hugh Segal
Hugh Segal, CM is a Canadian senator, political strategist, author, and commentator. Segal is credited with helping Stephen Harper become Prime Minister by moderating his image.-Life and career:...
, free-trade opponent David Orchard
David Orchard
David Orchard is a Canadian political figure, member of the Liberal Party of Canada, who was the Liberal Party candidate for the Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River in the 2008 federal election.Previously, Orchard was a member of the now defunct Progressive Conservative...
, and former Manitoba cabinet minister Brian Pallister
Brian Pallister
Brian William Pallister is a Canadian politician. He represented the riding of Portage—Lisgar in the Canadian House of Commons from 2000 to 2008. He previously served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1992 to 1997, and was a cabinet minister in the provincial government of Gary Filmon...
, for the leadership of the PC Party.
Clark was elected as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Kings—Hants
Kings—Hants
Kings—Hants is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, in a by-election on September 11, 2000, after the incumbent MP, Scott Brison
Scott Brison
Scott A. Brison, PC, MP is a Canadian politician from Nova Scotia, Canada. Brison has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Kings-Hants since the 1997 federal election. Brison was originally elected as a Progressive Conservative but crossed the floor to join the Liberal Party in 2003...
, stood down in his favour. This is common practice when a newly elected party leader doesn't already have a seat in Parliament. For the general election
Canadian federal election, 2000
The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada....
held two months later, Clark yielded Kings-Hants back to Brison and was elected as the MP for Calgary Centre
Calgary Centre
Calgary Centre is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968. It is an 42 km² riding in the city of Calgary with 124,197 people. The riding consists of many young adults who have a relatively high average household income...
, deep in the heart of Canadian Alliance
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...
territory.
Clark ran on his previous experience as Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister. However, he faced a difficult task, with critics and opponents attacking him and the PC Party as a "vote for the past." Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
's governing Liberals were running on their successful economic record, and they were poised to regain the support that they lost in 1997, threatening the PC's 1997 gains in Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces. The PC party lost ground in Quebec (due in part to the departure of Jean Charest to provincial politics), which resulted in three members of the PC caucus defecting to join the Liberal Party prior to the election. However, Clark was judged by audiences to be the best speaker during the 2000 election debates. The party lost seats to the Liberals, though it managed to hang on to the minimum 12 seats necessary to be recognized in the House of Commons as an official party and therefore qualify for research funding, committee memberships, and minimum speaking privileges. Aside from Clark's Calgary seat (one of only three Alberta seats that did not go to the Canadian Alliance), and one each in Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
and Quebec, the party's seats were concentrated in Tory bastions in the Atlantic provinces. Clark continually promoted the idea that the PCs would eventually retake Ontario and form a federal government again. His vision for the party was one that was to the left of the Alliance, but to the right of the Liberals.
He soon realized that there was no chance of dislodging the Liberals as long as the centre-right remained split. However, he wanted a merger on his terms. He got his chance in 2001, when several dissident Alliance MPs, the most prominent one being Alliance deputy leader and party matriarch Deborah Grey
Deborah Grey
Deborah Cleland Grey, OC, sometimes called Deb Grey is a former Canadian Member of Parliament from Alberta for the Reform Party of Canada, Canadian Alliance and Conservative Party of Canada....
, left the Alliance caucus. The dissidents felt that Alliance leader Stockwell Day
Stockwell Day
Stockwell Burt Day, Jr., PC, MP is a former Canadian politician, and a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. He is a former cabinet minister in Alberta, and a former leader of the Canadian Alliance. Day was MP for the riding of Okanagan—Coquihalla in British Columbia and the president of...
hadn't learned from mistakes made in the last election. While some of them rejoined the Alliance later, seven of them, led by Chuck Strahl
Chuck Strahl
Charles Strahl, PC, MP was a politician in British Columbia, Canada. He was a Member of Parliament in the governing Conservative Party of Canada.-Before politics:...
of British Columbia and including Grey, refused and formed the Democratic Representative Caucus
Democratic Representative Caucus
The Democratic Representative Caucus was a group of Canadian Members of Parliament who left the Canadian Alliance in 2001 in protest against the leadership of Stockwell Day...
. The DRC quickly entered a coalition with the Progressive Conservatives. Clark served as leader of the joint PC-DRC caucus.
This lasted until 2002, when Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
ousted Day as Alliance leader. Harper wanted a closer union with the PCs, but Clark turned the offer down in April 2002, and all but two of the DRC members rejoined the Alliance. One of the two, Inky Mark
Inky Mark
Inky Mark is a Canadian politician and a former member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the Manitoba riding of Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette. Mark is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada....
, eventually joined the PCs. Two by-election victories later in 2002 increased the PC caucus to 15 members and fourth place in the Commons.
Clark was selected by the media and many parliamentarians for three years in a row to be Canada's most effective opposition leader between 2000 and 2002, pursuing the Liberal government on issues such as Shawinigate
Shawinigate
Shawinigate was a 1990s Canadian political scandal in which Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was accused of profiting from real estate deals, and government policies in his hometown of Shawinigan, Quebec.-The scandal:...
and the Groupaction
Groupaction
Groupaction Inc. is a Canadian advertising agency at the centre of the 2004 Canadian sponsorship scandal. It was incorporated in 1983 as Groupaction Marketing Inc. and received its first federal advertising contract in 1994 with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ....
scandal. In his final mandate, Jean Chrétien repeatedly referred to Clark as the Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition (Canada)
The Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition , or simply the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of Canada's Official Opposition, the party with the most seats in the House of Commons that is not a member of the government...
(Clark wasn't), much to the chagrin of the Canadian Alliance politicians who occupied the Opposition Leader's chair during the same period. Indeed, Chrétien and Clark had been fellow parliamentarians since the 1970s and they shared a mutual respect despite sitting on opposite benches.
Clark's personal popularity grew as, once again, scandal enveloped Chrétien's Liberal government. Clark was widely trusted by Canadians, but this, in his own words, did not translate into more votes and additional seats. Citing this, Clark announced his intention to step down as PC leader on August 6, 2002, at the PC Party's Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
policy convention. It was expected that a pro-Alliance merger candidate would succeed Clark, but Clark was instead replaced by Peter MacKay
Peter MacKay
Peter Gordon MacKay, PC, QC, MP is a lawyer and politician from Nova Scotia, Canada. He is the Member of Parliament for Central Nova and currently serves as Minister of National Defence in the Cabinet of Canada....
on May 31, 2003. MacKay had signed a controversial deal with Red Tory rival David Orchard
David Orchard
David Orchard is a Canadian political figure, member of the Liberal Party of Canada, who was the Liberal Party candidate for the Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River in the 2008 federal election.Previously, Orchard was a member of the now defunct Progressive Conservative...
, promising not to merge the PC Party with the Alliance. Clark had always encouraged MacKay to keep Orchard and his followers within the PC camp.
MacKay immediately reversed his position on seeking a merger, and in 2003, 90% of PC Party delegates voted in favor of a merger with the Canadian Alliance. Orchard unsuccessfully tried to block the merger and later joined the Liberal Party.
Legacy of second PC leadership
Overall, Clark's efforts to rebuild the PC party had mixed results. In May 2003, the party finally overtook the New Democratic PartyNew Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
as the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons, after by-election wins in Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
and Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. Many of his supporters have suggested his actions helped sustain the relevance of the weakened Progressive Conservative Party during some of its toughest years when its national alternative status was seriously challenged by the prairie populism
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
of Preston Manning
Preston Manning
Ernest Preston Manning, CC is a Canadian politician. He was the only leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a Canadian federal political party that evolved into the Canadian Alliance...
and the Reform Party of Canada
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....
and the social conservatism
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
of Stockwell Day
Stockwell Day
Stockwell Burt Day, Jr., PC, MP is a former Canadian politician, and a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. He is a former cabinet minister in Alberta, and a former leader of the Canadian Alliance. Day was MP for the riding of Okanagan—Coquihalla in British Columbia and the president of...
and the Canadian Alliance.
At the same time, the party was still $10 million in debt from the 2000 election. The PC Party's membership had also dropped from 100,000 in 1998 to 45,000 card carrying PCs in May 2003. Clark's leadership of the Progressive Conservatives was also the subject of criticism from many United Alternative supporters, who argued that his staunch opposition to a merger with the Reform/Alliance parties helped divide the "conservative" vote during the tenure of Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
. Some critics accused Clark of being more interested in helping the interests of his own party and own career than the Canadian conservative movement in general. Others attacked Clark's goal of the PC party regaining its former power as unrealistic.
Progressive Conservative/Canadian Alliance merger
On December 8, 2003, the day that the PC Party and the Canadian AllianceCanadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...
were dissolved and the new Conservative Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
registered, Clark was one of three MPs — the other two were André Bachand
André Bachand (Progressive Conservative MP)
André Bachand is a Canadian politician, who represented the riding of Richmond—Arthabaska as member of the Progressive Conservatives from 1997 to 2003....
and John Herron
John Herron (New Brunswick politician)
John Herron is a former Canadian politician and Red Tory.Herron was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1997 federal election as a candidate of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada . He was reelected in the 2000 election...
— to announce that they would not join the new caucus. MP Scott Brison
Scott Brison
Scott A. Brison, PC, MP is a Canadian politician from Nova Scotia, Canada. Brison has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Kings-Hants since the 1997 federal election. Brison was originally elected as a Progressive Conservative but crossed the floor to join the Liberal Party in 2003...
had already joined the Liberals.
Clark announced that he would continue to sit for the remainder of the session as a "Progressive Conservative" MP, and retired from Parliament
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...
at the end of the session.
Later, Clark openly criticized the new Conservative Party in the run-up to the 2004 election
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
. He gave a tepid endorsement to the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
in the 2004 election
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
, calling Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
"the devil we know". He criticized the new Conservative Party as an 'Alliance take-over', and speculated that eastern Canada would not accept the new party or its more socially conservative policies against gay marriage and abortion. Clark endorsed former NDP leader Ed Broadbent
Ed Broadbent
John Edward "Ed" Broadbent, is a Canadian social democratic politician and political scientist. He was leader of the federal New Democratic Party from 1975 to 1989. In the 2004 federal election, he returned to Parliament for one additional term as the Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre.-Life...
and other Liberals and Conservatives as individuals, saying that the most important thing was to have "the strongest possible Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
" since neither large party offered much hope. Clark was criticized by some for dismissing the new Conservative Party outright rather than helping to steer it towards a moderate path.
Post-politics 2004—present
Clark continues to apply his experience in foreign affairs. Clark served as Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for ScholarsWoodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars , located in Washington, D.C., is a United States Presidential Memorial that was established as part of the Smithsonian Institution by an act of Congress in 1968...
. He served as Distinguished Statesman in Residence, School of International Service, and Senior Fellow, Center for North American Studies, both at the American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. In addition to teaching classes at the American University in Washington, Clark has also written several op-ed pieces for several of Canada's national newspapers since his retirement. In October 2006, Clark took a position at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
as a Professor of Practice for Public-Private Sector Partnerships at the McGill Institute for the Study of International Development. He also serves with the Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
Center, routinely traveling overseas as part of the centre's international observing activities. Clark is a member of the Global Leadership Foundation
Global Leadership Foundation
The Global Leadership Foundation is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 2004 by former State President of South Africa and Nobel Prize laureate F.W. de Klerk....
, an organization which works to promote good governance around the world. Clark also sits on the International Advisory Board of Governor's of the Centre for International Governance Innovation
Centre for International Governance Innovation
The Centre for International Governance Innovation is an independent, non-partisan think tank on global governance. Led by experienced practitioners and academics, CIGI supports research, forms networks, advances policy debate and generates ideas for multilateral governance improvements...
, on which he is actively engaged.
Clark was attacked while walking down the street in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
in mid-November 2007. The attacker first asked him if he was the former prime minister, and when Clark answered that he was, the man struck him and fled. Clark sustained a bloody nose but was not seriously hurt.
As of 2011, Clark has enjoyed the second longest retirement of any Canadian Prime Minister. If he lives past January 12, 2014 he will surpass the current record holder, Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen, PC, QC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served two terms as the ninth Prime Minister of Canada: from July 10, 1920 to December 29, 1921; and from June 29 to September 25, 1926. He was the first Prime Minister born after Confederation, and the only one to represent a riding...
.
Honours
As a former prime minister, Clark is entitled to carry "The Right Honourable" designation for life. Clark was made a Companion of the Order of CanadaOrder of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. He is a member of the Alberta Order of Excellence
Alberta Order of Excellence
The Alberta Order of Excellence is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Alberta. Instituted in 1979 when Lieutenant Governor Frank C...
. He was honoured as Commandeur de l'Ordre de la Pleiade from La Francophonie
La Francophonie
Francophonie is an international organization of politics and governments with French as the mother or customary language, where a significant proportion of people are francophones , or where there is a notable affiliation with the French language or culture.Formally known as the Organisation...
. He also holds the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the 25th anniversary of the accession to the throne of Queen Elizabeth II...
, 125th Anniversary of Confederation Medal, Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of the accession to the throne of Queen Elizabeth II...
, and the Alberta Centennial Medal
Alberta Centennial Medal
The Alberta Centennial Medal is a commemorative medal celebrating Alberta’s first 100 years of confederation.-Purpose:This medal is meant to pay tribute to Albertans whose achievements have benefited their fellow citizens, their community and their province....
. Clark was the first recipient of the Vimy Award
Vimy Award
The Vimy Award is an award presented by the Conference of Defence Associations Institute to the “Canadian who has made a significant and outstanding contribution to the defence and security of and the preservation of democratic values". The award has been presented annually since 1991...
. He is Honorary Chief Bald Eagle of the Samson Cree
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
Nation.
In 2004, Clark's lifetime achievements were recognized with the Award for Excellence in the Cause of Parliamentary Democracy by Canada's Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy.
On Tuesday, May 27, 2008, Clark's official parliamentary portrait was unveiled during a reception ceremony to be hung in Centre Block
Centre Block
The Centre Block is the main building of the Canadian parliamentary complex on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario, containing the Commons and Senate chambers, as well as the offices of a number of Members of Parliament and Senators, as well as senior administration for both legislative houses...
alongside Canada's past prime ministers.
In a 1999 survey of Canadian historians Clark was ranked #15 out of the first 20 prime ministers through Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
. The survey was used in the book Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders by J.L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer
Norman Hillmer
George Norman Hillmer is a leading Canadian historian and teacher and is among the leading scholars on Canada-US relations....
.
Order of Canada Citation
Clark was appointed a Companion of the Order of CanadaOrder of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
on October 19, 1994. His citation reads:
Canada's sixteenth and youngest Prime Minister, he served with distinction as Secretary of State for External Affairs, President of the Privy Council and Minister responsible for Constitutional Affairs. His talent for negotiation and consensus diplomacy has served him well in politics and as Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in Cyprus. He has earned the admiration of all Canadians as one of our country's most respected statesmen.
Honorary degrees
Joe Clark has received honorary degreeHonorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
s from several institutions:
University of New Brunswick
University of New Brunswick
The University of New Brunswick is a Canadian university located in the province of New Brunswick. UNB is the oldest English language university in Canada and among the first public universities in North America. The university has two main campuses: the original campus founded in 1785 in...
in Fredericton, New Brunswick
Fredericton, New Brunswick
Fredericton is the capital of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, by virtue of the provincial parliament which sits there. An important cultural, artistic, and educational centre for the province, Fredericton is home to two universities and cultural institutions such as the Beaverbrook Art...
(LL.D) in 1976 York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
(LL.D) in Spring 2009
Clark has received honorary degrees from the University of New Brunswick
University of New Brunswick
The University of New Brunswick is a Canadian university located in the province of New Brunswick. UNB is the oldest English language university in Canada and among the first public universities in North America. The university has two main campuses: the original campus founded in 1785 in...
, the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
, the University of Calgary
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1966 the U of C is composed of 14 faculties and more than 85 research institutes and centres.More than 25,000 undergraduate and 5,500 graduate students are currently...
, Carleton University
Carleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
. Concordia University in Montreal, Grant MacEwan College
Grant MacEwan College
Grant MacEwan University is a post-secondary educational institution located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1971 as "Grant MacEwan Community College,” the institution got its start by offering primarily one and two-year certificate and diploma programs. In 1988 it received approval to...
, the University of King's College in Halifax, St. Thomas University of St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
-Academics:SAIT Polytechnic offers two full baccalaureate degrees , four applied degrees, 66 diploma and certificate programs, 32 apprenticeship trades and 1,600 continuing education and corporate training courses....
.
Further reading
- Winners, Losers, by Patrick Brown (journalist)Patrick Brown (journalist)Patrick Brown is a Canadian journalist based in and living in Beijing, China.He was born in Birmingham, England and came to Canada in 1970. He was computer systems analyst, teacher and freelance journalist before joining Radio-Canada International as a news editor.He went to Montreal to work as a...
, Rae Murphy, and Robert Chodos, 1976. - Joe Clark: A Portrait, by David L. HumphreysDavid L. HumphreysDavid L. Humphreys is a Canadian journalist, writer, lobbyist, and consultant.-Biography:Humphreys was born in Kingston, Ontario. Following his birth, he moved with his family to Alberta. He was educated at Ridley College in St. Catharines, Ontario, and at St. John's College in Winnipeg...
, Toronto 1978, Deneau and Greenberg Publishers Ltd., ISBN 0-00-216169-9. - Joe Clark: The Emerging Leader, by Michael Nolan, Toronto 1978, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, ISBN 0-88902-436-7.
- 200 Days: Joe Clark in Power, by Warner TroyerWarner TroyerWarner Troyer was a Canadian broadcast journalist and writer.Troyer was born in Cochrane, Ontario, the son of Gordon Troyer, a Presbyterian circuit minister...
, Toronto 1980, Personal Library, Publishers, ISBN 0-920510-05-1. - Discipline of Power: the Conservative Interlude and the Liberal Restoration, by Jeffrey SimpsonJeffrey SimpsonJeffrey Carl Simpson, OC , is a Canadian journalist. He has been The Globe and Mails national affairs columnist for almost three decades...
, Macmillan of Canada, 1984, ISBN 0920510248. - One-Eyed Kings, by Ron Graham, Toronto 1986, Collins Publishers.
- The Insiders: Government, Business, and the Lobbyists, by John SawatskyJohn SawatskyFerdinand John Sawatzky is a Canadian author, journalist and expert on interviewing techniques.-Early career:Born in Winkler, Manitoba, he graduated from Mennonite Educational Institute in Abbotsford and attended Simon Fraser University in the late 1960s. Graduating in political science, he...
, 1987. - Prime Ministers of Canada, by Jim Lotz, 1987.
- Mulroney: The Politics of Ambition, by John SawatskyJohn SawatskyFerdinand John Sawatzky is a Canadian author, journalist and expert on interviewing techniques.-Early career:Born in Winkler, Manitoba, he graduated from Mennonite Educational Institute in Abbotsford and attended Simon Fraser University in the late 1960s. Graduating in political science, he...
, Toronto 1991, MacFarlane, Walter, and Ross publishers. - Memoirs, by Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Toronto 1993, McClelland & Stewart publishers, ISBN 0-7710-8587-7.
- A Nation Too Good to Lose: Renewing the Purpose of Canada, by Joseph Clark, Toronto 1994, Key Porter Books, ISBN 1-55013-603-8.
- Right Honourable Men: the descent of Canadian politics from Macdonald to Mulroney, by Michael BlissMichael BlissJohn William Michael Bliss, CM, FRSC is a Canadian historian and award-winning author. Though his early works focused on business and political history, he has written several important medical biographies, including of Sir William Osler...
, 1994. - The Prime Ministers of Canada, by Gordon Donaldson (journalist)Gordon Donaldson (journalist)Archibald Gordon Clark Donaldson was a Scottish-Canadian author and journalist. He appeared on television and also produced television programming.- Early life :...
, 1997. - Prime Ministers: Rating Canada's Leaders, by Norman HillmerNorman HillmerGeorge Norman Hillmer is a leading Canadian historian and teacher and is among the leading scholars on Canada-US relations....
and J.L. Granatstein, 1999. ISBN 0-00-200027-X. - Egotists and Autocrats: The Prime Ministers of Canada, by George BoweringGeorge BoweringGeorge Harry Bowering, OC, OBC is a prolific Canadian novelist, poet, historian, and biographer. He has served as Canada's Parliamentary Poet Laureate....
, 1999. - Bastards and Boneheads: Canada's Glorious Leaders, Past and Present, by Will FergusonWill FergusonWilliam Stener "Will" Ferguson is a Canadian writer and novelist best known for his humorous observations on Canadian history and culture....
, 1999. - In My Own Name, by Maureen McTeerMaureen McTeerMaureen Anne McTeer is a Canadian author and a lawyer, married to Joe Clark, the 16th Prime Minister of Canada.-Life and career:...
, 2003. - The Secret Mulroney TapesThe Secret Mulroney TapesThe Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister is a controversial biography of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, by veteran writer and former Mulroney confidant Peter C...
, edited by Peter C. NewmanPeter C. NewmanPeter Charles Newman, CC, CD is a Canadian journalist and writer.Born in Vienna, Austria, Newman emigrated from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to Canada in 1940 as a Jewish refugee. His father, Oscar, was a self-made wealthy factory owner. Newman was educated at Upper Canada College, where he was...
, 2006. - Memoirs 1939-1993, by Brian MulroneyBrian MulroneyMartin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
, 2007.