Joe Clark

Joe Clark in 1979

Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian elder statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th Prime Minister of Canada, from June 4, 1979, to March 3, 1980.

Quotes

• We will not take this nation by stealth or by surprise. We will win it by work.
  • February, 1976, regarding his leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party. ([1], "Did You Know?")

• I do more than reflect and respect this country, I fight for it...the question for Canadians is "Can we win?" Yes, we can win except when we are fighting ourselves.
  • 1983 Progressive Conservative Leadership Convention speech, June 10, 1983.

• Mr. Speaker, as I was saying on November 27, 1979, before I was so rudely interrupted...
  • spoken in jest in the House of Commons, March 5, 1984, regarding Pierre Trudeau's resignation as Liberal leader. Clark had delivered a similar salute in 1979, only to have Trudeau remain and defeat him in the 1980 Federal Election. ([2])

• It has been my ironic lot to be seen as both a statesman and a scrapper. The statesman is the more respectable reputation. But the scrapper is what these last four years have required.
  • Upon stepping down as PC leader, 2003 Leadership Convention, May 30, 2003

• You will know that in our most recent skirmishes, I won some debating points and he won another general election.
  • Clark salutes Jean Chrétien in the House of Commons, November 6, 2003. Clark was deemed by most polls to have "won" the Federal leaders' English-language debate in 2000. ([3])

About Joe Clark

• Joe Who?
  • Toronto Star headline, February 23, 1976, upon Clark's winning the PC leadership.

• I told my friends: 'They chose the wrong guy.' I thought that Joe Clark would be a far stronger opponent than Brian Mulroney.
  • Pierre Trudeau, reflecting on Clark's loss of the PC leadership to Mulroney, Memoirs, 1995

• He's been class all the way, a total team player. We couldn't have asked for more.
  • Charles MacMillan, adviser to Mulroney, regarding Clark's handling of his 1983 defeat, reported in The Globe and Mail, October 14, 1983

• The greatest foreign minister in Canadian history except for Lester Pearson...the person who tried first of all to get rid of the deficit...the credit for the fight in trying to get rid of the deficit belongs to Joe Clark and John Crosbie, and yet they are scorned.
  • Brian Mulroney, PC Leadership Convention, May 30, 2003