I'm not disagreeing with your example on Joe Clark (met this guy a couple of times just walking around Toronto really nice guy) however elections simply didn't cost or have the funding nastiness back then. I think the better example is Stephen Harper 2006-2008 and 2008 - 2011. In both cases we see the LPC/NDP effectively forced to do exactly what I described.
I'm not disagreeing with your example on Joe Clark (met this guy a couple of times just walking around Toronto really nice guy) however elections simply didn't cost or have the funding nastiness back then. I think the better example is Stephen Harper 2006-2008 and 2008 - 2011. In both cases we see the LPC/NDP effectively forced to do exactly what I described.