Joe Clark

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.

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 years of continuous 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's Progressive Conservative Party lost the 1980 election and Clark lost 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 in their last stand before the party's eventual dissolution, serving his final term in Parliament from 2000 to 2004. Clark today serves as a university professor and as president of his own consulting firm.

Early years
Charles Joseph Clark was born in High River, Alberta, the son of Grace Roselyn (née Welch) and local newspaper publisher Charles A. Clark.

Prime minister, 1979–80
On June 4, 1979, the day before his 40th birthday, Clark was sworn in as Canada's youngest prime minister, steering the first Tory government since the defeat of John Diefenbaker 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 Tories five seats short of a majority. Clark however decided that he would govern as if he had a majority, and refused to grant the small Socred official party status, 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. 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.