Editing Joe Clark (section)

===1983 leadership convention===
In 1983, after declaring that an endorsement by 66.9% of delegates at the party's biennial convention was not enough, Clark called a [[1983 Progressive Conservative leadership election|leadership convention]] to decide the issue. (In December 2007, German-Canadian businessman and lobbyist [[Karlheinz Schreiber]] told the House of Commons Ethics Committee that he and other Germans, including [[Bavaria]]n politician [[Franz Josef Strauss]], and Austrian-Canadian entrepreneur [[Walter Wolf]], had contributed significant funds to finance [[Quebec]] delegates to vote against Clark at Winnipeg, denying him the mandate he sought. A [[public inquiry]] on these matters, and on other business dealings between Mulroney and Schreiber, was called for early 2008 by Prime Minister [[Stephen Harper]]. This led further to the 2009 [[Oliphant Commission]].

[[File:Joe Clark PC LeadershipConvention 1983.jpg|left|thumb|275px|Joe Clark on the floor of the 1983 leadership convention.]]

Clark immediately nominated to keep his leader's post, and retained support from most of the Red Tories and other party members who were opposed to the public attacks on his leadership by others in the party.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} Clark already had most of a campaign team up and running by the time he called the leadership convention, as he had mobilized support to help gain in the convention's leadership review.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} However, Mulroney and [[John Crosbie]] had been laying the groundwork for a campaign for some time, with Crosbie expecting Clark to lose or resign soon, and Mulroney supportive of the anti-Clark movement.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

In a rematch of the 1976 convention, Mulroney emerged as the main challenger, gaining the support of the party's right wing, which viewed Clark as too progressive and opposed his continued leadership.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} Other party members felt that the federal Liberal Party's stranglehold on Quebec seats (they held all but one of the province's 75 seats) could only be broken by a native from that province, which gave Mulroney considerable support. Media coverage emphasized the pro-business and [[neoliberalism|neo-liberal]] bent of most of the candidates as a "Changing of the Guard" within the PC party from their more classical conservative and moderate elements. Clark's campaign countered this by trying to polarize the election between right wingers and a centrist who had been able to win before. The Mulroney campaign responded by continuing their pro-business line.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

Several candidates agreed to an "ABC" (Anybody But Clark) strategy for the convention and when news of that back-room deal broke out, support was expected to rally around the party's embattled leader.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} During delegate voting, Clark won the first ballot, but only won 36.5% of the vote, well short of the 50% required. His support dwindled over the next two ballots. Mulroney, who was endorsed by all but two candidates, defeated Clark on the fourth ballot. Clark urged his supporters to leave the convention united behind Mulroney,{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} and agreed to serve under him.

Many political observers and analysts have questioned Clark's rationale for the decision. One famous incident involved a 1987 official dinner held for [[Charles, Prince of Wales|Prince Charles]] at [[Rideau Hall]]. When the Prince met Clark in the receiving line at the function, he asked to Clark: "why wasn't two thirds enough?"<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1193874--when-the-queen-is-your-boss| last=Delacourt| first=Susan| title=When the Queen is your boss| date=May 25, 2012| newspaper=Toronto Star| access-date=May 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307084753/http://www.thestar.com/news/world/royals/2012/05/25/when_the_queen_is_your_boss.html |archive-date=March 7, 2013}}</ref> Clark's wife, [[Maureen McTeer]], elaborated on Clark's decision in her 2003 autobiography, ''In My Own Name''. McTeer suggested that for her husband, anything less than a 75% endorsement would not have been a clear enough mandate to forge onwards from the party membership. Clark feared that the 34% of PC members who did not support him would become his most vocal critics in the upcoming election campaign, and that his continued leadership would have led to fractures in the party.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} Clark was convinced that he could win another leadership race and gain a clear level of support, once his qualities were compared against the handful of politically inexperienced challengers who coveted his position and who were covertly undermining his leadership.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}