The 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership convention was held on June 11, 1983 in Ottawa, Ontario to elect a leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. The convention became necessary when Joe Clark, who had been leader of the party since the party's 1976 leadership convention, resigned in the face of widespread opposition within the party to his continued leadership. {{Canadian City/Disable Field={{{Disable Motto Link}}}}} Motto: Advance Ottawa/Ottawa en avant City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Location. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Area 1,076,395 km² (4th)  - Land 917,741 km²  - Water 158,654 km² (14. ... The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC) was a Canadian centre-right conservative political party that existed from 1867 to 2003. ... The Right Honourable Charles Joseph Clark, PC,CC (born June 5, 1939) was the sixteenth prime minister of Canada from June 4, 1979, to March 2, 1980, and a prominent Canadian politician until his retirement in 2004. ... The 1976 leadership convention of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was held in Ottawa on February 22, 1976, to elect a leader to replace Robert Stanfield, who had resigned after losing the 1968, 1972, and 1974 elections. ...

At a national convention of the party in Winnipeg in January 1983, 66.9% of the delegates voted against a review of his leadership. Clark stated that the fact that 33.1% supported a review indicated that he did not have sufficient support within the party, and would seek a renewed mandate from the membership through a leadership convention. Many delegates believed that Clark, who had been prime minister of a minority government from June 1979 to February 1980, but who had lost the 1980 election, would be unable to lead the party to victory again. {{Canadian City/Disable Field={{{Disable Motto Link}}}}} Motto: Unum Cum Virtute Multorum (One With the Strength of Many) City of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Location. ... For minority régime, see Apartheid. ... The House of Commons after the 1980 election The 1980 Canadian federal election was called when the minority Progressive Conservative government led by Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. ...

At the party's 1981 convention, 33.5% of delegated supported a leadership review. The fact that Clark had been able to increase his support among party members by only 0.5% was likely a contirbuting factor to his decision to resign as leader.

• For detailed results, see Progressive Conservative leadership conventions

The first Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership convention was held in 1927, when the party was called the Conservative Party. ...

Candidates

Joe Clark was supported largely by Red Tories and other party members who were opposed to the public attacks on the party leader by others in the party. The Right Honourable Charles Joseph Clark, PC,CC (born June 5, 1939) was the sixteenth prime minister of Canada from June 4, 1979, to March 2, 1980, and a prominent Canadian politician until his retirement in 2004. ... Red Tory is a nickname given to a political tradition in Canadas conservative political parties. ...

Brian Mulroney, who had lost to Clark at the 1976 leadership convention, was the early front-runner to replace Clark. As a businessperson, Mulroney attracted much of the party's right wing who were opposed to the continued leadership of Clark They considered Clark to be too much of a Red Tory (i.e., a progressive). Mulroney also attracted party members who believed that the fluently bilingual Quebecer would enable the party to break the Liberal Party's stranglehold on Quebec seats in the House of Commons. Mulroney won the leadership, and the 1984 election, sweeping all provinces including Quebec. He later alienated the party's right wing by leading a relatively moderate government, and alienated the Quebec nationalists he had brought into the party by failing to amend the Canadian constitution to address Quebec's concerns. The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney, PC,CC (born March 20, 1939), was the eighteenth Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993. ... Red Tory is a nickname given to a political tradition in Canadas conservative political parties. ... The Canadian federal election of 1984 was called on July 4, 1984, and held on September 4 of that year. ...

John Crosbie, who had been Clark's Minister of Finance in 1979, was also an attractive candidate for the party's right wing, and attempted to distinguish himself by adopting what he called a continentalist platform, i.e., free trade with the United States of America. Crosbie, an accomplished debater, and known for his sense of humour, ran a strong campaign, but was hobbled by his inability to speak French, and by his small political base in Newfoundland and Labrador. Crosbie would later be Minister of Trade in Mulroney's government, and play an important role in the signing of a free trade agreement with the US. John Carnell Crosbie, PC, OC, born January 30, 1931 in St. ... Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. ... Motto: Quaerite Primum Regnum Dei (Seek ye first the kingdom of God) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital St. ...

Michael Wilson, who was a well-respected Bay Street banker and had been Minister of State for International Trade in Clark's government, attacted modest support within his home province of Ontario, and a smattering of support from other provinces. While Tories respected his financial acumen, he was an uninspiring speaker who struggled in French. He later became Mulroney's Minister of Finance. Michael Holcombe Wilson, PC,OC (born November 4, 1937) is a Canadian politician and business leader. ... Bay Street is a street in downtown Toronto, Ontario Canada. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Area 1,076,395 km² (4th)  - Land 917,741 km²  - Water 158,654 km² (14. ...

David Crombie, the former mayor of Toronto, and another minister in Clark's cabinet, attracted Red Tories who opposed Clark's leadership, but was unable to build significantly on his Toronto base of support. David Edward Crombie (born 1936) is a Canadian politician and professor and consultant. ... }|135px|City of Toronto, Ontario Official Flag]]|Coat Image=[[Image:{{{Coat Image}}}|135px|City of Toronto, Ontario Coat of Arms]]}} {{Canadian City/Disable Field={{{Disable Motto Link}}}}} Motto: Diversity Our Strength {{Canadian City/Location Image is:{{{Location Image Type}}}|[[Image:{{{Location Image}}}|thumbnail|250px|City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada Location. ...

Mercurial and controversial Alberta businessperson Peter Pocklington ran a campaign based on strict adherence to the principles of free enterprise, and attracted party members with a more libertarian bent. Motto: Fortis et Liber (Strong and free) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Edmonton Largest city Calgary Lieutenant Governor Norman Kwong Premier Ralph Klein (PC) Area 661,848 km² (6th)  - Land 642,317 km²  - Water 19,531 km² (2. ... Peter Pocklington (b. ... Capitalism generally refers to in philosophy and politics, a social system based on the principle of individual rights, including property rights. ... This article deals with the libertarianism as defined in America and several other nations. ...

John Gamble, the Member of Parliament for York North, a riding north of Toronto managed to attract a small band of supporters with a hard-line right-wing platform. Gamble had been an out-spoken critic of Clark, and had hoped to parlay his role in Clark's downfall into a strong showing at the convention and a role in a future Conservative cabinet. Gamble's poor showing, and his later controverisal comments, led Tories in his riding to join forces with Liberals to support popular municipal councillor Tony Roman as an independent 'Coalition candidate'. Gamble received little support from the PC Party in the 1984 election, and lost to Roman. Gamble was later affiliated with groups suspected of having white supremacist tendancies. John Albert Gamble (born 1939) is a far right Canadian politician. ... This page refers to a Riding as a unit in local government. ... }|135px|City of Toronto, Ontario Official Flag]]|Coat Image=[[Image:{{{Coat Image}}}|135px|City of Toronto, Ontario Coat of Arms]]}} {{Canadian City/Disable Field={{{Disable Motto Link}}}}} Motto: Diversity Our Strength {{Canadian City/Location Image is:{{{Location Image Type}}}|[[Image:{{{Location Image}}}|thumbnail|250px|City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada Location. ... The Canadian federal election of 1984 was called on July 4, 1984, and held on September 4 of that year. ... White supremacy is the variety of white nationalism that believes the white race should rule over other races. ...

Neil Fraser managed to get himself and four supporters delegateships to the convention to continue his campaign against the implementation of the metric system in Canada. Fraser's anti-metric campaign was based on the slogan, 'Your freedom to measure is a measure of your freedom'. Neil Fraser was a former Canadian civil servant who came to prominence for his crusade against the Metric system of weights and measures in the early 1980s. ... The International System of Units (symbol: SI) (for the French phrase Syst me International dUnit s) is the most widely used system of units. ...

Montreal lawyer and former party president Peter Blaikie had also announced his intention to seek the leadership, but withdrew before the race got underway. Some of his Quebec supporters declared their support for Michael Wilson. Blaikie had also launched a campaign for the leadership in 1976 convention and withdrawn. {{Canadian City/Disable Field={{{Disable Motto Link}}}}} Motto: Concordia Salus (Salvation through harmony) Ville de Montréal, Québec, Canada Location. ... The first Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership convention was held in 1927, when the party was called the Conservative Party. ...

Toronto party member Jim Wilson placed full page colour advertisements in the Globe and Mail newspaper announcing his candidacy, but failed to secure enough signatures of party members on his registration papers to be a candidate at the convention. }|135px|City of Toronto, Ontario Official Flag]]|Coat Image=[[Image:{{{Coat Image}}}|135px|City of Toronto, Ontario Coat of Arms]]}} {{Canadian City/Disable Field={{{Disable Motto Link}}}}} Motto: Diversity Our Strength {{Canadian City/Location Image is:{{{Location Image Type}}}|[[Image:{{{Location Image}}}|thumbnail|250px|City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada Location. ... The Globe and Mail is a large Canadian English language national newspaper based in Toronto. ...

The convention and aftermath

Delegates selected for the convention were generally believed to be either supporters of Joe Clark, or 'ABCs', i.e., they would support 'Anybody But Clark'. For this reason, it was believed that Clark would have to score very close to 50% on the first ballot in order to regain the leadership. His first ballot vote fell considerably short of that mark, and most believed that the writing was on the wall for Clark at that point.

As more and more candidates withdrew and declared their support for Mulroney, a Mulroney victory appeared to be inevitable. Some Clark supporters considered moving to Crosbie in order to prevent a Mulroney victory, but in the end, most appeared to remain loyal to Clark. Crosbie was not an appealing candidate for most Clark supporters because of his right-wing policy positions and his lack of ability in French.

The two party conventions in 1983 were very divisive for the PC Party as they set those loyal to the party's leader against those who believed that change was necessary for the party to win. While these divisions were pushed aside by the euphoria over Mulroney's massive victory in the 1984 election, the divisions lingered for many years. The Canadian federal election of 1984 was called on July 4, 1984, and held on September 4 of that year. ...

See also

Progressive Conservative leadership conventions The first Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership convention was held in 1927, when the party was called the Conservative Party. ...