Tony Clarke (1944 – 2024)

Social justice crusader, author and mentor, loving family man

Tony Clarke led an impassioned, multi-faceted life, dedicated equally to addressing complex world issues and to relishing the joys of family life. 

Born in Powell River, B.C., Tony grew up in Chilliwack. In both high school and university, Tony was an award-winning sprinter, holding records for the 440-yard and 880-yard races. His love of sprinting, likely a valuable outlet for his unbounded energy, followed him through life, even to the short Jeffrey Avenue block in front of his Manor Park home.

Tony’s true calling was empowering others to see, focus on and address society’s social injustices. A scholar, he completed his undergraduate degree at the University of British Columbia, later winning a Rockefeller Scholarship to attend the University of Chicago where he obtained his Master’s degree and, in 1974, his Ph.D. in Social Ethics.

Tony met his wife Carol at the Sorrento Centre for Human Development in B.C. Married in 1967, Carol and Tony lived in Chicago during his post-graduate studies there, both participating in the protests of the 1960s and in inner-city movements. 

A job offer for the position of researcher in the Social Affairs Department of the Canadian Council of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) brought Tony and Carol to Ottawa. His CCCB tenure influenced his faith, and he became a devout Roman Catholic. Tony and Carol were members of St. Joseph’s parish in Sandy Hill, witnessing, at that time, the good deeds of the Catholic Church, especially in Canada’s northern communities. 

In Ottawa, Tony established himself as a social and environmental advocate. His commitment to fighting wrongdoing, particularly when it involved government or corporations, was unwavering. If Tony was on your side, you could count on him 100 per cent. The reverse was also true. One notable example was during the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Acting on behalf of the Action Canada Network — a group he created to curb corporate power and champion social justice — he publicly admonished then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

A man of many interests

Known by his family as the “Tiger,” Tony applied his determined energy to many interests, with the environment being near and dear. In 1997, he founded the Canadian think-tank the Polaris Institute and, in 2008, the Green Economy Network. He saw climate change and water rights as critically important. A social justice fighter, Tony was ahead of his time in global thinking.

In 2005 Tony was awarded, along with close colleague Maude Barlow, the prestigious Right Livelihood Award (widely known as the alternative Nobel Prize), for his efforts to prevent the privatization of water in the world market. 

A true renaissance man, he wrote 12 books pointing a finger at corporate greed,  several co-authored with Maude Barlow including Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World’s Water and Inside the Bottle. Ever at the forefront of emerging issues, his last book (2018) was Getting to Zero: Canada Confronts Global Warming. His books, compelling and well worth reading, are still relevant today.

Relished time at the cottage

Tony’s talents were not only academic. At home, he constructed a wood-burning, brick fireplace in their living room and helped build a new addition to their family room. At the family cottage, he refinished the interior in knotty pine. With Carol, he relished that Lac Serpent cottage sanctuary near Notre-Dame-du-Laus in Quebec, sitting in the enclosed veranda, sipping wine and listening to loons in the evenings. 

Known for his infectious smile, for his patience and for being a good listener, Tony is remembered for his many facets: a world traveller (his bag was always packed), a lover of music (especially Harry Belafonte), a Brooklyn Dodgers baseball fan, an arm-wrestling enthusiast, and a two-fingered typist.  A lover of a good joke, Tony once donned a head-to-toe elephant costume for a colleague’s surprise birthday greeting. 

Although his work took him around the world, he was very much grounded in the community of Manor Park, where, after leaving Chicago, he and Carol bought their Jeffrey Avenue home in the mid-1970s. He became involved in coaching soccer with Peggy Lister in the ‘Park’ and networking with neighbours in the successful community-wide Mile Circle protest campaign and the early Kettle Island bridge protests. 

Most of all, though, with all of his many accomplishments and unbounded energy, he was a family man through and through. A devoted husband to his wife Carol for 57 years, an involved father to his two children, Tanya and Chris, and an endearing “grandpappy” to his beloved three grandchildren, Silo, Keiran, and Lola.

His legacy — that of passionate movement builder, activist, mentor, innovator and seeker of a better world — lives on today and will continue on into the future. 

With kind appreciation to Carol Clarke.

A Manor Park Notable is a snapshot of an individual (now deceased) who lived in the Manor Park area, and who made a difference either through career or community involvement. Please send your suggestions for candidates or submissions to manorparknotables@gmail.com