Joe Clark

:This article is about Joe Clark the Canadian political leader. For other people named Joe Clark please see this page.

Merger of the PC party and the Canadian Alliance

On December 8, 2003, the day that the Progressive Conservatives merged with the Canadian Alliance to incorporate the new Conservative Party of Canada, Clark was one of three MPs — the other two were André Bachand and John Herron — to announce that they would not join the new caucus. MP Scott Brison had already joined the Liberals. The PCs were no more. Red Tories scattered, some joining the new party and others joining the Liberal Party, NDP and Green Party of Canada.

Related Topics:
December 8 - 2003 - Canadian Alliance - Conservative Party of Canada - André Bachand - John Herron - Scott Brison - Green Party of Canada

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Clark announced that he would continue sit for the remainder of the session as a Progressive Conservative MP, and retire from Parliament at the end of the session.

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Later, Clark openly criticized the new Conservative Party in the run-up to the 2004 election. He gave a luke-warm endorsement to the Liberal leader, Paul Martin, saying that Canadians should trust "the devil they know" over Stephen Harper. He endorsed Ed Broadbent, who had led the NDP, and other Liberals and Conservatives as individuals, saying that the most important thing was to have "the strongest possible Canadian House of Commons" since neither large party offered much hope:

Related Topics:
2004 election - Paul Martin - Stephen Harper - Ed Broadbent - Canadian House of Commons

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Clark also criticized the new Conservative Party as an 'Alliance take-over', and that eastern Canada would not accept the new party or its more socially conservative policies against gay marriage and abortion. The Conservatives lost some seats in eastern Canada, winning 6 as opposed to the 10 held by the PCs prior to the merger. The new Conservatives remained largely based in the West (as the Alliance had been), making gains in Ontario and being completely shut out of Quebec in favour of the Liberals and the separatist Bloc Québécois.

Related Topics:
Quebec - Separatist - Bloc Québécois

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