Portrait of a Prime Minister: Joe Clark

Charles Joseph Clark was born on June 5, 1939, in High River, a small town in southwestern Alberta. High River is known for its wide-open spaces, vast skies, and prosperous farmers. The Clark family was involved in journalism: Clark’s father, Charles, was editor-in-chief of the weekly High River Times, founded by Clark’s grandfather in 1905.

The Second World War broke out shortly after Clark’s birth. His hometown gained a certain geopolitical importance when a British Commonwealth Air Training Plan school was established there, training no fewer than 4,000 pilots up until 1944.

Joe Clark was tempted to follow in his family’s journalistic footsteps, but he was also fascinated by politics, and straddled both worlds for a number of years. At the University of Alberta, he earned a bachelor’s degree in history, while editing the magazine The Gateway. He went on to study law at Dalhousie University in Halifax, then at the University of British Columbia, but his heart wasn’t in it.

Clark preferred to devote his time to activism, and accordingly presided over the Progressive Conservative Student Federation of Canada. He then re-enrolled at his first alma mater, the University of Alberta, where he earned a master’s degree in political science. This same university remained a constant in his life. After earning his two degrees, he became a teaching assistant there in the 1960s. In 1985, the University presented him with an honorary doctorate. He came full circle in the 1990s when he was made an associate professor in the Faculty of Arts.

Electoral politics did not yet interest Clark, although the role of political advisor did. After Robert Stanfield was made leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 1967, Clark became his speechwriter and moved to Ottawa. Clark enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with Stanfield, a level-headed man who, like Clark, had come from a remote town (he was Nova Scotian), and who wanted to modernize his party without abandoning its traditions. These years in Stanfield’s shadow were formative ones. Clark learned the inner workings of the Ottawa political scene, and began assiduously studying French — an essential asset, in his opinion, to any national future.

But what exactly were his views? Joe Clark was a so-called “Red Tory”: a left-leaning Conservative. This is often how people described politicians who were cautious on the economic front, but who also demonstrated openness on social issues, such as the advancement of women and cultural minorities. “Red Tories” like Clark also embraced bilingualism, and believed that the State could be a positive force in society. These convictions often placed Clark in an awkward position when it came to the more traditional Conservative base.

At the same time, Joe Clark fully embraced his conservatism, by advocating for a central government that would not oversee and control every last thing. His first speech as prime minister, in 1979, made this crystal clear: “The nation is more than the central government.”

Clark was also open to the unique character of Quebec. More broadly, he celebrated the differences that, in his opinion, made Canada a great country. He summed up his pluralistic approach in a famous speech delivered at Toronto’s Empire Club in 1979:

During the May 1979 federal election, Joe Clark defeated Pierre Trudeau. At the age of 39, he became the youngest prime minister in Canadian history. Clark could be justifiably proud, but his victory was hardly a walk in the park. In fact, his party won only 136 seats — against 114 for the Liberals, 27 for the New Democratic Party and 5 for the Social Credit Party based in rural Quebec. It was thus a minority government, sentenced to caution and the forming of alliances on a case-by-case basis.

The Clark government settled in for good or ill. The ministers and MPs often betrayed their lack of experience as the party in power. There were blunders galore, although new and often daring initiatives also emerged. Several international briefs reflect this curious mix.

Joe Clark and his party thus returned to the polls. In the February 1980 election, the country restored Pierre Trudeau’s Liberals to power, with a majority win. It was a tough defeat. Clark was forced to cross the floor in the Commons, returning to the opposition benches.

Discord was also rising within his party. At the Progressive Conservative convention in early 1983, Clark received the support of 67 per cent of members. This was nothing to sneeze at, but he wanted to establish his authority once and for all, spearheading a leadership convention for June 1983. He was now campaigning as his own successor. He faced off against a number of opponents, including Brian Mulroney, whom Clark had defeated seven years earlier. For convention attendees, Mulroney represented hope and something new. They chose Mulroney on the fourth and final ballot over Clark, who now returned to being a simple MP.

After two major setbacks (with the electorate in 1980, then within his own party), most public figures would have retreated to the private sector, fleeing the slings and arrows of politics. Joe Clark, however, did not throw in the towel. He bound up his wounds and rallied around his new leader.

In the 1984 elections, Clark was part of the “Blue Wave” that returned the Progressive Conservatives to power. The new Prime Minister magnanimously offered Clark the External Affairs portfolio. Mulroney valued Clark’s experience, integrity and dedication to public service. Their former rivalry gave way to mutual respect, and Joe Clark would later write:

In 1991, the Mulroney government was confronted with a national unity crisis. The Meech Lake Accord, aimed at settling the position of Quebec within Canada, had failed the previous year. Discontent was also brewing in the West, and among Indigenous nations. Almost everywhere there were acute regional, linguistic and identity-related tensions. How could these be appeased? Mulroney called upon his most reliable minister, Joe Clark. As Clark would later recall with a touch of irony: “My daughter, Catherine, best characterized the change, on the day I was ‘sworn out’ of External Affairs and ‘sworn in’ to my new portfolio. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘so long Paris, hello Moose Jaw.’”

Joe Clark buckled down to the task in his usual way, with determination and without fuss. After extensive consultations, in the fall of 1991, he presented a draft solution under the title, Shaping Canada’s Future Together.

In Charlottetown in the summer of 1992 — during intense negotiations between provincial and territorial premiers, as well as four national Indigenous organizations — Minister Clark achieved consensus on a suite of reforms. The Charlottetown Accord was both ambitious and complex. Among other things, the Constitution would be amended to recognize Quebec’s “distinct society,” would enshrine “the inherent right of self-government” for Indigenous Peoples, and would transform the Senate into a “Triple E” chamber: “elected, equal and effective.”

By all appearances, Clark had accomplished the impossible — or almost — gaining the approval of all Canadian political authorities around a constitutional document. Moreover, the New Democratic Party and the Liberal Party of Canada expressed their support.

The ultimate test would come in the court of public opinion. A nationwide referendum was held on October 26, 1992. It was a heartbreaking defeat for Clark and for the government. The Accord was rejected by 55 per cent of the Canadian electorate, and 56 per cent of the Quebec electorate. Too generous to Quebec, and too decentralizing, according to many. Not enough for Quebec, according to others. The “No” forces defeated the compromise embodied in the Charlottetown Accord. In the wake of this verdict Joe Clark ended his term as both MP and minister. He did not stand for re-election in 1993.

After 1993, Joe Clark seemed to have permanently turned the political page. After having occupied the highest positions and experienced political highs and lows, he turned to writing, to teaching and to the role of advisor, both in Canada and abroad. He became, in essence, an elder statesman. The days of the contemptuous “Joe Who?” were now a distant memory.

But never say never in politics. In 1998, Clark was back in the harness again. His beloved Progressive Conservative Party was seeking a leader, following the departure of Jean Charest. Clark agreed to lead his fellow Conservatives in a final campaign. The “Blues” of the time had been weakened, several of its previous supporters having deserted it for other parties. Clark and his party won only 12 seats and 12 per cent of the vote during the 2000 election. The return of Joe Clark to centre stage would be short-lived. Disappointed by the merger of his party with the Canadian Alliance (the new name for the Reform Party), he left the House of Commons for good just before the 2004 election.

Although Joe Clark’s term as prime minister was brief, it is his entire career that matters. In 25 years of parliamentary service (9,051 days, to be precise), he left his mark on the Commons, “the principal place where the Canadian community can act together,” as he said in his farewell speech in the House in 2004. Beyond Parliament itself, he had served his country with determination: