I don't know a whole lot about Joe Clark. I know he was the prime minister for nine months between Pierre Trudeau's two reigns, and that people make fun of him for letting his minority government fall on a budget vote when he should've known what the outcome would be. I also know he was the Progressive Conservative leader during part of the right-wing split that let the Liberals easily stay in power for as long as they did under Jean Chretien.
Other than that superficial stuff, don't know much at all. It was with interest, then, that I saw our 18th Prime Minister in the newspaper for two different stories this week. Both make you feel terrible for the man once called "Joe Who?" by the media.
The first story was about Joe Clark being punched in the face by a stranger. It happened in November, but the story just got out last week.
"He may well have been aiming to break either my glasses or nose but he did neither," Clark told the media. "My nose sort of bloodied briefly, internally, but nothing serious. I was stunned. It hasn't happened to me before."
Then, the second Joe Clark news item. It was confirmed at the Ethics Committee hearing into the Airbus-Mulroney-Schreiber fandango that foreign interests had, as had been suspected, helped Brian Mulroney beat Joe Clark for the leadership of the PCs after Clark let his government fall.
As reported in the Globe and Mail story: “The money came from myself, and from the Strauss family, and probably from the [Christian] Social Union,” said Schreiber, adding the amount he contributed was about $25,000.
Gracefully (in my opinion), Clark has refused to comment on the matter.
So, it has been a bad week for one of our old prime ministers. I feel bad for the guy, and think I might send him an Xmas card.