Greg Clark (Canadian politician)

Gregory Jamieson Clark[1] (born March 7, 1971) is a Canadian politician from Alberta. He is the former leader of the Alberta Party,[2] and in the 2015 Alberta general election was elected the party's sole Member of the Legislative Assembly, representing Calgary-Elbow. Clark resigned as leader on November 18, 2017, and served as interim leader until the leadership election when Stephen Mandel was elected the new leader of the party.[3]

This article is about the Canadian politician. For other people, see Gregory Clark.
Greg Clark
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary-Elbow
In office
May 5, 2015 – March 19, 2019
Preceded byGordon Dirks
Succeeded byDoug Schweitzer
Leader of the Alberta Party
In office
September 21, 2013 – February 27, 2018
Preceded byGlenn Taylor
Succeeded byStephen Mandel
Personal details
Born
Gregory Jamieson Clark

(1971-03-07) March 7, 1971
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Political partyAlberta Party
OccupationEntrepreneur

Biography

Clark was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta.[4] He graduated in 1993 from the University of Victoria with a degree in Political Science, minoring in Sociology and holds an MBA from Royal Roads University, graduating in 2005. He returned to Alberta to work for Laurence Decore, who was then leader of the Official Opposition Alberta Liberals.

Deciding to leave politics for a time, Clark earned an MBA and in 2006 co-founded an Information Technology consulting firm C3 Associates. The firm earned a distinction as one of Alberta Venture's 50 fast growth companies in 2011 and 2012. C3 Associates was also named one of Canada's top 250 information technology companies by the Branham Group in 2012 and 2013. In 2015, Mr. Clark was named one Alberta's 50 Most Influential by Alberta Venture Magazine. He has engaged in volunteer work, most notably as Vice Chair of Distress Centre Calgary, and he co-founded the Calgary River Communities Action Group in response to the 2013 Alberta floods.

In 2013, Clark sold his share of C3 to his partners to enter politics full-time.[5]

Political career

Clark was the Alberta Party's election candidate in Calgary-Elbow for the 2012 Alberta general election, placing 5th. Following the resignation of Glenn Taylor, the Alberta Party remained without a leader for some months. On May 29, 2013, the party announced that it would hold a leadership vote to coincide with its Annual General Meeting on September 21, 2013 in Edmonton.[6] Clark won the election, receiving 87% of the 337 votes cast.[7]

He was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary-Elbow on May 5, 2015. He currently serves on the Standing Committee for Resource Stewardship and is a member of the Select Special Ethics and Accountability Committee.[8]

Despite becoming the first Alberta Party candidate to win a seat in the Alberta legislature and growing the caucus to two by attracting an NDP MLA to cross the floor, Clark resigned as leader in November 2017 after being reportedly pressured by the party's board of directors to do so in order to renew the party through a leadership election. His resignation occurred months after the merger of the Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties in to the United Conservative Party which, in turn, resulted in large numbers of disaffected former Progressive Conservatives to join the Alberta Party and, allegedly, try to remould it in their image.[9] Though he initially considered standing in the new leadership election, Clark announced on December 14, 2017, that he would not be a candidate for the leadership though he intends to remain an Alberta Party MLA and run for re-election to the legislature in the 2019 provincial election.[10][11]

Election results
2012 Alberta general election: Calgary-Elbow
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Progressive ConservativeAlison Redford11,19858.09+16.01
WildroseJames Cole5,50928.58+21.97
LiberalBeena Ashar1,0675.53−33.67
New DemocraticCraig Coolahan7613.95+1.96
Alberta PartyGreg Clark5182.69–
EvergreenWilliam Hamilton2251.17−2.44
Total valid votes 19,278100.00–
Total rejected ballots 257––
Turnout 19,53558.44+12.60
Eligible voters 33,430––
Alberta provincial by-election, October 27, 2014: Calgary-Elbow
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Progressive ConservativeGordon Dirks4,20733.21%-24.88
Alberta PartyGreg Clark3,41226.94%+24.25
WildroseJohn Fletcher3,05624.13%-4.45
LiberalSusan Wright1,51911.99%+6.46
New DemocraticStephanie McLean4723.73%-0.22
Total valid votes ––,–––100.00–
Total rejected ballots –––
Turnout ––,–––––.–––
Eligible voters ––,–––––
2015 Alberta general election: Calgary-Elbow
Party Candidate Votes%
Alberta PartyGreg Clark8,70742.20
Progressive ConservativeGordon Dirks6,25430.31
New DemocraticCatherine Welburn3,25615.78
WildroseMegan Brown1,7868.66
LiberalJohn Roggeveen5652.74
Social CreditLarry Heather670.33
Total valid votes 20,635
Rejected, spoiled and declined 101
Turnout 20,73659.8
Eligible voters 34,681
Source: Elections Alberta[12]
2019 Alberta general election: Calgary-Elbow
Party Candidate Votes%±%
United ConservativeDoug Schweitzer10,95144.3+5.33
Alberta PartyGreg Clark7,54230.5-11.7
New DemocraticJanet Eremenko5,79623.5+7.72
LiberalRobin Macintosh2751.1-1.64
GreenQuinn Rupert1320.5
Total valid votes 24,696
Rejected, spoiled and declined 413
Eligible voters 37,337
Turnout 67.1%

References
  1. Greg Clark on Twitter
  2. https://edmontonjournal.com/news/edmonton/Alberta+election+Meet+party+leaders/10952587/story.html
  3. "Braid: The strange resignation of Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark".
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-06-03. Retrieved 2015-06-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "About Greg Clark". AlbertaParty.ca. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  6. "Alberta Party announces Leadership Race". AlbertaParty.ca. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  7. "Alberta Party elects new leader". Global News. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  8. "Legislative Assembly of Alberta". www.assembly.ab.ca. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  9. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-party-greg-clark-leadership-politics-1.4416559
  10. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-party-mla-greg-clark-will-not-seek-party-leadership-1.4448849
  11. Tait, Carrie (November 10, 2017). "Alberta Party leader Greg Clark to step down, opening door for leadership campaign". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  12. "2015 Provincial General Election Results". Elections Alberta. Archived from the original on 2017-07-30. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
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