Editing Joe Clark (section)

==Progressive Conservative–Canadian Alliance merger==
On December 8, 2003, the day that the PC Party and the [[Canadian Alliance]] were dissolved and the new [[Conservative Party of Canada]] registered, Clark was one of three MPs—the other two were [[André Bachand (Progressive Conservative MP)|André Bachand]] and [[John Herron (New Brunswick politician)|John Herron]]—to announce that they would not join the new caucus. MP [[Scott Brison]] had already joined the Liberals.

Clark announced that he would continue to sit for the remainder of the session as an independent Progressive Conservative MP,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/People/Profile?personId=6804|title=The Right Hon. Charles Joseph Clark, P.C., M.P.|work=Parlinfo |publisher=Library of Parliament |location=Canada}}</ref> and retired from [[Parliament of Canada|Parliament]] at the end of the session.

Later, Clark openly criticized the new Conservative Party in the run-up to the [[2004 Canadian federal election|2004 election]]. He gave a tepid endorsement to the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] in the [[2004 Canadian federal election|2004 election]], calling [[Paul Martin]] "the devil we know".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1082910779022_14/?hub=QPeriod |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040603171425/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1082910779022_14/?hub=QPeriod |archive-date=June 3, 2004 |title=Joe Clark says he'd choose Martin over Harper |publisher=[[CTV News]] |date=April 26, 2004 }}</ref> He criticized the new Conservative Party as an "Alliance take-over", and speculated that eastern Canada would not accept the new party or its more socially conservative policies against gay marriage and abortion. Clark endorsed former NDP leader [[Ed Broadbent]] and other Liberals and Conservatives as individuals, saying that the most important thing was to have "the strongest possible [[House of Commons of Canada]]" since neither large party offered much hope. Clark was criticized by some for dismissing the new Conservative Party outright rather than helping to steer it towards a moderate path.