Editing Joe Clark (section)

===1980 federal election===
When a new election was called, Clark expected his party would be able to defeat the demoralized and leaderless Liberals easily, since Trudeau had announced his intention to step aside and the Liberals had yet to hold a leadership convention. However, the Progressive Conservatives had misjudged the electorate, since they had not commissioned any polls since August. A November Gallup poll published eight days before the December 11 budget reported that their popularity was down from 36% during the summer to 28%, with the party 19 points behind the Liberals, giving the latter the popular support to initiate the non-confidence motion.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://issuu.com/theindependentdotca/docs/2006-06-11 |title=Terrorism and Multiculturalism in the West |author=Crosbie, John | page=12 |date=June 11, 2006 |work=The Independent |location=Newfoundland and Labrador}}<!-- old link → http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Crosbie_John/2006/02/05/1426394.html --></ref> After the government fell, Clark's party was caught off guard when Pierre Trudeau quickly rescinded his resignation from the Liberal leadership to lead his party into the subsequent election.

Clark's Tories campaigned under the slogan, "Real change deserves a fair chance."<ref>{{Cite news |title=It's still uphill for Joe Clark -- even after 'Canadian caper' |work=Christian Science Monitor |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0206/020644.html |access-date=2023-03-03 |issn=0882-7729}}</ref> Trudeau swept the Liberals back into power in the February [[1980 Canadian federal election|1980 election]] with 147 seats, against 103 for the Progressive Conservatives. Davis' criticism of the gas tax was used in the Liberals' [[Ontario]] television ads.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} The Tories lost 19 seats in that province, which ultimately proved to be decisive in the campaign.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

Clark's government would last a total of nine months less a day.  As Clark's Finance Minister, John Crosbie, famously described it in his own inimitable way: "Long enough to conceive, just not long enough to deliver."<ref>{{cite news | date=2020-01-10 |title=Outspoken former federal cabinet minister John Crosbie dead at 88 |url=https://www.cp24.com/news/outspoken-former-federal-cabinet-minister-john-crosbie-dead-at-88-1.4761458 |work=CP24 |access-date=2022-03-04}}</ref>