The Right Honourable Joe Clark

I was honoured to be included among the guests for the unveiling of the official portrait of our 16th Prime Minister yesterday on Parliament Hill. It was a packed room, with former Prime Minister Paul Martin in attendance, as well as current leaders, Liberal Stephane Dion and Bloc Quebecois Gilles Duceppe. Mr. Clark did the Green Party the honour of acknowledging my presence in the same breath as the other leaders. (no sign of Jack Layton, and as Mr. Clark quipped, he did not believe “Stephen Harper has gone to Paris to miss my hanging.”). What was remarkable was the civility and dignity and warmth of the event – qualities now rare on Parliament Hill. Joe Clark is such an inherently decent human being. He spoke of his gratitude to the Canadian civil service, a clear effort to counter the way Harper abuses the bureaucracy. And he recalled a time when government had a more progressive and respectful tone. It was when the Government Leader in the Senate, Marjorie LeBreton was speaking about his accomplishments that another contrast became apparent. Joe Clark had held the same portfolio under Mulroney from which Maxime Bernier just resigned. Senator LeBreton mentioned Clark’s statesmanship, his work against apartheid, his trips to Ethiopia to work to end the famine. Joe Clark was unfairly ridiculed for lost luggage. But he never left a classified briefing book at a girlfriend’s. Which brings me to Maureen McTeer. Joe Clark spoke so movingly of his wife and partner. He said there was never a better role model. To which I agree. She has always been stalwart in her belief, her pursuit for equal rights for women. She has tackled some of the toughest and thorniest issues of reproductive rights. She has never wavered. Joe Clark says he is homeless politically. He has never joined the new Harper version of the Conservative Party. He is too good for them. I wish it was possible to give an honourary Green membership to our former Prime Minister.