Joe Clark - Prime Minister

Prime Minister

On June 4, 1979, the day before his 40th birthday, Clark was sworn in as Canada's youngest prime minister, after defeating the Liberal Party in the May 1979 general election. Clark was the first Progressive Conservative to head Canada's federal government since the defeat of John Diefenbaker's Progressive Conservative government 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 PCs short. Clark however decided that he would govern as if he had a majority, and refused to grant the small Social Credit caucus official party status or 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 and both were Progressive Conservatives. 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.