humiliating and damaging to his previous attempts to recruit Quebec voters to the party. Third and Fourth Ballots Crosbie finished last on the third ballot and, while he preferred Mulroney, he declined to endorse a candidate out of deference to Clark, who had appointed him Finance Minister four years before. When Clark advisor Finlay MacDonald spoke to Crosbie and his campaign team and began with "For the sake of the party," Jean Pigott, a noted moderate, bluntly told him that she couldn't support Clark after what he had put the party through, silencing the room and prompting MacDonald's exit. The conventional wisdom was that his delegates would break at least 2:1 in favour of Mulroney over Clark. The conventional wisdom played out, and Mulroney was elected on the fourth ballot and declared the winner. A poll of delegates on the final ballot showed that Mulroney had won a bare majority of Clark's home province of Alberta, and that Clark had won a bare majority in Mulroney's home province of Quebec. Mulroney's strong showing amongst Ontario delegates (65% to 34%) seemed to account for most of his margin of victory. Political commentators have said that of the other possible two-man ballots among the frontrunners, Clark would probably have had the advantage over Crosbie (because Crosbie could not speak French), while Crosbie could possibly have defeated Mulroney (due to the general "Anyone but Mulroney" sentiment of the Clark delegates). Percentages are rounded, so they may not equal 100%. Aftermath The two party conventions in 1983 were a divisive experience for the PC Party as they set those loyal to the party's leader against those who believed that change was necessary for the party to win, a struggle the party had been infamous for since the era of John Diefenbaker in the 1960s. The general consensus was that Mulroney had become the choice of delegates due to his perceived ability to return the party to government, rather than the ideological or personal attachments that Clark and Crosbie's candidacies inspired. Mulroney won a massive victory in the 1984 election. Crosbie, Clark, Wilson, and Crombie gained prominent cabinet positions in Mulroney's government, which adopted Crosbie's continentalist platform (resulting in the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement) and many of Clark's overtures to Quebec, parts of which were included in the Meech Lake Accord. Pocklington also briefly acted as an economic advisor to Mulroney's government, though soon withdrew