Joe Clark for PR?

Well, isn't this an interesting development. Today a research assistant from Joe Clark's office posted a request to the POLCAN list, which includes political scientists from across the country, for information about electoral reform, including the single transferable vote and the mixed-member system. I wrote back and recommended that he start with Nick Loenen's Citizenship and Democracy: The Case for Proportional Representation (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1997). Clark's assistant responded and thanked me for the tip.

Now that Clark is no longer leader of the federal Progressive Conservatives, is he finally getting on the electoral reform bandwagon? Is he considering support for some form of proportional representation? That would be a good thing, but it's too bad he didn't explore this while he was still leader. Of all the federal political parties, the PCs and the NDP would have the most to gain from a move to PR.