Joe Clark joined 18 fellow prime ministers on the walls of Parliament as his official portrait was unveiled Tuesday.
"Portraits invite nostalgia, and if your eye moves from this portrait to this podium you are reminded of how much has changed in 30 years,'' said Clark, Conservative prime minister from 1979 to 1980.
The ceremony drew more than 100 of Clark's friends, family and fellow politicians, past and present, including Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe, former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin and a group of well wishers from Pembroke, Ontario.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, currently on an official visit to Europe, did not attend. Clark dismissed suggestions he'd been snubbed, saying he respects Harper's decision to tend to international matters. "It was unfortunate that the timing of the Prime Minister's trip took him away from this important event" said Marty Squidman, one of the Pembroke well wishers.
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
3 comments:
Gotta love the valley folk for coming out to honour Joe. (Yay Pembroke!!) (Even I, a die-hard Liberal, have to admit that, for a Tory, Clark wasn't bad at all)! Historically, Pembroke is big time Conservative territory, esp. federally.
It is remarkable how often a small(ish) town like Pembroke seems to make the news.
Correction, London Liberal, you should have written "a small(ish) city like Pembroke". Yes, Pembroke is a city. I believe it's actually the smallest city in Canada (in terms of population). The population has been declining slowly since the mid-'80s.
It's proximity to both Ottawa and CFB Petawawa might account for its newsworthiness... or perhaps the blogger has some connection to Pembroke/the Valley?
Post a Comment