Joe Clark

Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, PC, CC, AOE ( born June 5, 1939 in High River, Alberta ) is a Canadian politician, journalist, entrepreneur and professor. He was the 16th Prime Minister of the country. His tenure was short, lasting from June 4, 1979 to March 3, 1980. Having been in 1972 elected to the House of Commons, followed by 1976, the election of the Chairman of the Progressive Conservative Party. Clark's party won the general election in 1979. At 39 he was the youngest prime minister in Canadian history. However, the Progressive Conservatives did not have the majority of seats and lost just over half a year, a vote of no confidence. In 1983 he had the party chairmanship to Brian Mulroney leave, but belonged from 1984 to 1993 whose reign and continued as Secretary of important accents. In 1998 he was again the party presidency of the Progressive Conservatives and from 2000 to 2004, a second time, the House deputy.

Early years

The son of the publisher of a local newspaper in Alberta went to High River to school and later to the University of Alberta, where he successfully completed his studies in political science with a bachelor's and later a master's degree. During his school days he had gained experience as a journalist and was at the University of the chief editor of the student newspaper. During the semester break, he worked for the Edmonton Journal and the Canadian Press news agency. Clark went on to study law at Dalhousie University in Halifax and at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. However, it was this field of study on after a year to work full time for the Progressive Conservative Party.

1973, nor during his student days, he married Maureen McTeer, a feminist writer and lawyer. Three years later, their daughter Catherine Clark to the world that was around the turn of the century to a well-known media personality.

Beginning of the political career

During his studies, Clark became politically active. He was first president of the youth organization of the Progressive Conservative Party at the University of Alberta, and finally at the national level. He spent some time in France to improve his knowledge of the French language. In 1967 he ran for a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, but without success. Clark worked as an assistant to the provincial premiers Peter Lougheed and later by Robert Stanfield, leader of the opposition at the federal level.

In 1971 Clark again a run to be elected to the Legislative Assembly, again without success. At the general election in 1972 but he was successful and won in the constituency Rocky Mountain, a largely rural area in southwest Alberta. Clark was the first Canadian politician who campaigned for the decriminalization of the consumption of marijuana. His socially liberal attitude pushed by the right wing of the party with strong opposition. When about Clark's constituency was merged in 1979 with a new division with the constituency of another progressive- conservative deputies refused this to release his seat and Clark was forced to compete in the neighboring constituency Yellowhead.

Leader of the Opposition (1976-1979)

At the Congress of the Progressive Conservatives in Ottawa on February 22, 1976, Clark one of eleven candidates for the successor to the retiring Robert Stanfield as party chairman. In the first round he reached the third place. He could rally the social-liberal wing of the party around and finally sat down just in the fifth round by. He was then 36 years old and become the youngest leader of a federal party in Canadian history.

The choice of the previously little-known Clark as party leader and thus to the opposition leader was a surprise to many. So dubbed as the Toronto Star report on his victory with Joe Who? (Joe Who? ) Clark initially struggled to gain respect, especially since his party was defeated in May 1977 with several by-elections. Compared with the Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, he was colorless and awkward, but could gradually overcome this impression with a convincing presence in the House.

Large budget deficits, high inflation and high unemployment rates have led to an increasing unpopularity of Trudeau's government. The Prime Minister tried to postpone the elections as far as possible, as he hoped for an improvement in the situation. But this tactic did not work out and put Clark in the polls significantly. In the general election, 1979, the Progressive Conservative Party emerged as the strongest force, but they missed the majority by six seats. This was due primarily to a poor result in the province of Quebec, where they were able to win only two seats.

Prime Minister (1979-1980)

On June 4, 1979 a day before his 40th birthday, Clark was sworn in as the new Prime Minister. He was the youngest Prime Minister in Canadian history. In Parliament, he had to rely on the support of the Social Credit Party ( Socreds ) or the New Democratic Party (NDP ).

Due to these circumstances Clark could not do much. The elections had indeed taken place in May, but began the next session of Parliament in October ( one of the longest session breaks at all). During the campaign he had promised to cut taxes to stimulate the economy. However, in the budget, a new gasoline tax was included, with the deficit should be reduced in the state budget. Clark now had the negative image of being a politician who could not keep his promise after a short time.

His refusal to cooperate with the Socreds, quickly led to the fall of the government. On 13 December 1979 ranged Bob Rae of the NDP up a no-confidence vote, which was adopted by 139 to 133 votes. The Liberal Party and the NDP voted against the government, while the Socreds abstained and three MPs from the ruling party were absent. Trudeau revoked shortly after his announced resignation as party leader ( in the meantime had yet been chosen no successor ). He led the Liberals in the early general elections in February 1980 to victory. Clark remained in office until March 3.

Again, opposition leader (1980-1983)

After the election defeat Clarks waned backing of the Progressive Conservative Party. 1981 called for 33.5 % of the delegates at the Congress election of a new chairman. They were convinced, with Clark at the top are the next elections can not be won. In January 1983, 33.1% called for his removal. The fact that the approval rating had risen to such a slight extent, Clark moved to announce his resignation and convene another congress. He finally wanted to clarify the situation and was raised again as a candidate available.

At the party on June 11, 1983 Clark was in the first three rounds still in the first place, before he lost in the fourth round with 45.5 % of the votes to his challenger Brian Mulroney. In December 2007, the arms dealer Karlheinz Schreiber testified that he had ( including the Bavarian Prime Minister Franz Josef Strauss and the Austrian entrepreneur Walter Wolf) delegates from Québec financially solid support together with other donors, so they voted against Clark.

Minister Mulroney's government (1984-1993)

The Progressive Conservatives won the general election in 1984 with more than half of all votes cast. The new Prime Minister Mulroney appointed Clark on September 17, 1984 Foreign Minister, despite continuing forms of personal differences.

Clark pursued a very active foreign policy. In 1984, he was the first foreign minister of a western state, which then traveled to the politically isolated, Marxist ruled Ethiopia and media attention drew attention to the disastrous famine. He fought against the apartheid regime in South Africa and advocated economic sanctions a - at a time when the rest of the G7 countries rejected such an approach. Clark turned decidedly against American intervention in Nicaragua and let absorb refugees from the countries ruled by warlords Guatemala and El Salvador. In 1988 he completed the negotiations on the Canadian- American Free Trade Agreement, the precursor of NAFTA, from.

On April 21, 1991 Clark was appointed Minister of Constitutional Affairs and President of the Privy Council. His task was to negotiate after the failure of the Meech Lake Accord with the provinces a new agreement on a comprehensive constitutional reform. After a negotiated agreement in July 1992, was thrust into Quebec with little enthusiasm, it came in August 1992 to further negotiations. The resulting Charlottetown Accord was rejected in October 1992 in a nationwide referendum with 54 % of votes.

Clark retired on 24 June 1993 from federal politics back and gave his mandate to the House. Thus he escaped the crushing defeat of the now led by Kim Campbell Progressive Conservative at the General Election 1993. He then founded a consulting firm and took a seat on the boards of several Canadian companies. From 1993 to 1996 he was Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Cyprus.

Again, Party Chairman (1998-2003)

In the meantime, Jean Charest led the party, but she could no longer lead back to the old size. After his resignation in April 1998, there was no one who suggested itself as the successor. So Clark decided to return to politics and applied again to the party chairmanship. In a teleconference on 14 November 1998 he received the most votes. On 11 September 2000, he won in the province of New Brunswick a by-election in the constituency of Kings - Hants, after Scott Brison had given up his seat. In the general election, 2000, two months later held Clark Brisons returned seat and was elected in the constituency of Calgary instead Centre in the province of Alberta. His party reached the minimum number required to form a group with twelve seats.

Clark initially resisted the pressure of Stockwell Day and later to merge by Stephen Harper, the Progressive Conservative Party with the populist Canadian Alliance, and thus to overcome the fragmentation of the right political spectrum. Financial problems of the party and a sharp decline in membership, however, led him to cede to Peter MacKay the office of party chairman on 31 May 2003. MacKay then led negotiations with Harper, which eventually led to the merger of the two parties on 8 December 2003. The newly formed Conservative Party was positioned from Clarks view to the right, which is why he and three other member of Parliament, did not join her.

Retirement from politics

On 23 May 2004, Clark he finally retired from politics. He was a lecturer at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and at the American University in Washington, DC In addition, he has written numerous articles for various Canadian newspapers. In October 2006, the McGill University in Montreal, he was named Professor of Public Private Partnership. He is a member of the Global Leadership Foundation and the Centre for International Governance Innovation.