In the 1979 election in Canada, Joe Clark and the Progressive Conservatives narrowly beat Pierre Trudeau of the Liberal Party and won a minority government. However it fell soon after after his first budget failed, which many say failed because he attempted to govern as if he had a majority, instead of working to make sure he had the confidence of other parties. In the ensuing election of 1980, Trudeau beat him and won a majority government. Clark then lost the 1983 PC leadership convention to right wing, business orientated candidate Brian Mulroney, who then won a huge majority in the 1984 election, governing for 9 years. Joe Clark was considered a more liberal "Red Tory", and part of his philosophy was about how Canada is "A Community of Communities", how every region in Canada is different and has different interests, and that the provinces should have a bigger share of the power in the federation. This would include accommodating Quebec's and the west's interests, as opposed to Ontario which was a hot topic at the time. This contrasted sharply with Trudeau's vision of "One Canada" where the federal government would have most the power, effectively denying anything "special" that the west or Quebec would want. This showed in Trudeau's governance, he was accused of practically ignoring the west's needs, and refused to give any concessions to Quebec.
The premise of the question is, how would Canada have been different if Joe Clark somehow remained PM? Either he wins more seats in 1979, his government doesn't fall, or he wins 1980, maybe Trudeau doesn't fight it again. I wonder if things would have been better off, because maybe if Canada had a PM that better accommodated the different provinces, there would be less tension in place like Alberta and Quebec through the the last few decades until today.
What do you think?
The premise of the question is, how would Canada have been different if Joe Clark somehow remained PM? Either he wins more seats in 1979, his government doesn't fall, or he wins 1980, maybe Trudeau doesn't fight it again. I wonder if things would have been better off, because maybe if Canada had a PM that better accommodated the different provinces, there would be less tension in place like Alberta and Quebec through the the last few decades until today.
What do you think?