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JOE CLARK

At this writing, the strange, strange, back-to-front political career of Canadian politician Charles Joseph Clark (1939- ), is well off life support. In fact, Mr. Clark shows continual unexpected vigour. Like a political Punch-me Elmo, or the Pillsbury doughboy to whom Mr. Clark has often been compared, people continually poke him in the tummy. Mr. Clark gives his jowly shit-eating grin, giggles sheepishly, and keeps trying.

Mr. Clark currently leads the historic Progressive Conservative party of Canada, the fifth-largest party in the Canadian House of Commons, for the second time. As he has pointed out, his is the party of Sir John Alexander Macdonald (1815-1891), Canada's first prime minister and primary creator. His is the party also of Sir Robert Laird Borden (1854-1937), Canada's prime minister during World War I, and of John George Diefenbaker (1895-1979), who won one of Canada's greatest electoral victories. (It is also the party of a great many of Canada's most historic prime-ministerial mediocrities.) Since he resumed leadership of the party 10 years ago Joe Clark has brought it back from electoral catastrophe and near bankruptcy to -- surprisingly -- decent respectabilty. It is effective beyond its numbers. In the face of common wisdom, Clark has laboured against negative doubters and sensible nay-sayers, against pessimists and polls, deserters and discouragement. He has persisted against all good sense to a kind of spiritual victory. Clark has, in short . . . led.

Not only that, but in the last year or so he has, from a remote and distant corner of the House of Commons, been the single most effective member of the House. Clark has hammered and hammered and vigourously pressed and deeply embarrassed the Liberal government of Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (1934- ), notably about odd financial activities involving money and a Shawinigan, Quebec, golf club in which the PM had a financial interest. Clark has been unable to topple the government, but he has made them smell a good deal.

Clark has also lured into close alliance a number of discontented members of the increasingly failed Canadian Alliance party. Canadians -- many Canadians -- have responded to these events with grudging respect. Clark's surprisingly effective performance has given him greatly increased attention. Everyone has known for years that he is basically a decent guy, but many Canadians have come to respect and appreciate him. It has lately been said that when Clark has risen to speak, the House has often gone completely silent -- as members wait expectantly for what Mr. Clark has to say. In the context of the House of Commons this is astonishing.

In short, Mr. Clark has emerged from the political wilderness to a point where he is regarded as not only one of the most decent of our politicians, but as one of our most important.

It was not always so. If we but lightly examine Joe Clark's political career, it must be seen from many angles as a failure.

Mr. Clark's History

In 1979 Mr. Clark became the youngest prime minister in the history of Canada, attaining the post at the age of 39. Toppling the Liberal government of Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1919-2000) and attaining a minority government, Clark was unable to retain his job for more than a few months.

His strategic plan as PM, to act as if his party had a majority in the House of Commons, turned out to be a disaster. In his very first budget, presented within a few days of his party's first opening a House of Commons session, Clark's failure to ensure that he had enough support to win a vote of non-confidence caused the immediate fall of his government. An election was called. Liberal opposition leaders then prevailed upon the just-retired Trudeau to lead them again. He consented, and ably defeated Clark in the ensuing 1980 election.

Clark was then in a humiliating and awkward position. He had caused his party's defeat through two blunders. Summoning up the resilience for which he is best known, he fought back as Leader of the Opposition. But forces built in his party to overthrow him. Agents of Martin Brian Mulroney (1939- ), the Conservative activist and former Montreal lawyer-turned-corporate-executive, undermined Clark. When Clark made yet another bad decision -- not to accept the degree of support he had in the Conservative party but to run in a special convention for his own post as leader -- Mulroney opposed him and, with the corporate support and political finesse he often showed in campaigns, defeated Clark and became leader.

Clark had been defeated and humiliated again. The resilient politician did an unusual thing. Swallowing his pride and humiliation, he agreed to serve in Mulroney's government (1984-1992) as external affairs minister. He occupied his post with dignity and distinction.

Mulroney was an able politician. However, his government, like nearly all democratic governments, eventually became deeply unpopular. This was for many reasons. Three were:

the adoption of an unpopular federal value-added sales levy, the Goods and Services Tax (GST);
the adoption of a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the United States;
the economic recession of the early 1990s.

Mulroney resigned in early 1992. His successor, Canada's first woman prime minister Kim Campbell (1947- ), proved not up to the challenge. In the federal election of 1992 she could not overcome the intense dislike of Canadians for the Mulroney Conservatives. Ms. Campbell appeared completely out of touch with ordinary Canadians, indifferent to the sufferings of the unemployed. After a brief electoral campaign in which her support sank daily, Ms. Campbell led the Conservatives to the worst electoral catastrophe in the history of Canada. From a majority government in Canada's 360-seat House of Commons, the Conservatives were reduced to . . . two seats.

Ms. Campbell even defeated in her own Vancouver constituency. She shortly left politics. Joe Clark, however, was one of the two Conservatives re-elected. He naturally re-assumed the leadership of his fallen party.

At this point the Conservative party was in a shambles. Mr. Clark did everything any human could have done to restore his party's fortunes. He raised money to pay its debts. He organized its forces to remain a credible force. In the next election, Mr. Clark won some more seats. In the election after that, he won a few more.

At present Mr. Clark seems to intend to lead the party into one more election. Then he apparently wishes to merge it with the Canadian Alliance party. But his party and the Alliance seldom seem to agree on anything. How can this merger possibly take place?

UPDATE on June 1, 2003. Mr. Clark has just resigned as Conservative leader and been feted at the ongoing Conservative leadership convention. He will go into retirement at the expected 2004 federal election. 37-year-old member of parliament Peter Murphy from Nova Scotia has been chosen to replace Mr. Clark. There is already talk of tentative feelers to the Canadian Alliance party, so as not to split the small-c conservative vote. Perhaps the two parties can agree not to oppose each other in certain geographical areas in the next election.

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Last modified: 1:23 PM 26/10/2003