Dave Clarke (politician)

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Dave Clarke (born 1960) is a municipal politician in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He served on the Kingston City Council from 1994 to 2000, and was a candidate for the Reform Party in the 1997 federal election.

Clarke was born in Brockville, Ontario, and was raised in Woodstock. He became active in radio broadcasting when still in high school, and worked in radio and television for sixteen years after his graduation. He was a news anchor for CKWS Television from 1987 to 1993, when he switched to sales at CIZ radio (KWS, 10 May 1997).

He first ran for public office in the 1994 Kingston municipal election, seeking a council seat in the St. Lawrence Ward. Clarke ran on a pro-business platform, claiming that the previous council had alienated city business interests (Kingston Whig-Standard, 12 October 1994). He also supported regional amalgamation. He was narrowly elected, defeating rival candidate Mike Murphy by twenty votes (KWS, 15 November 1994). In 1997, he was one of only three council members to vote against a bill extending employee benefits for same-six couples (KWS, 19 June 1997).

In January 1997, Clarke defeated Grey Kennedy to win the Reform Party nomination for Kingston and the Islands (KWS, 15 January 1997). He had previously been approached to run for the Progressive Conservative Party (KWS, 10 May 1997). In the general election, he finished third against Liberal incumbent Peter Milliken.

Shortly before the 1997 municipal election, the provincial government of Mike Harris amalgamated the city of Kingston with a number of surrounding municipalities. Clarke was re-elected to council by winning a seat on the newly-created Board of Control, a powerful four-member board elected by the region at large. In early 1998, he was appointed to the Kingston police services board.

Following an extended period of tension between the Board of Control and the rest of city council, the council voted 15-1 to abolish the board in September 1999. Clarke was the only member to vote for retention (KWS, 8 September 1999). He spoke out against council spending on a homeless shelter later in the year, arguing that Kingston did not have a homeless program and that many of those using the shelter were youths who did not need it (KWS, 10 December 1999). In 2000, he supported the creation of the Canadian Alliance (KWS, 28 March 2000).

He campaigned for re-election in the 2000 municipal election in Council Ward Five (Portsmouth), but lost to Beth Pater. He sought re-election in 2003, and lost to Pater a second time.