Progressive Conservatives from across Canada gathered in Toronto Thursday to say good-bye to outgoing leader Joe Clark, part of a three-day convention that will see the Tories choose a new leader.

Prominent Conservatives feted Clark in speeches and a video tribute filled with clips of his distinguished career in politics extolled the former prime minister's contributions to Canada.

"There's a sports adage that it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game," Clark said this week. "That's only partly true.

"Winning and losing makes a great deal of difference. I would have preferred to have come out more often on the winning side,'' he added.

It's Clark's second -- and presumably last -- retirement from politics.

Clark, who at 39 became the youngest prime minister in Canadian history, has cited his 1979 win over Pierre Trudeau's Liberals as "a pinnacle" in his career. But it ended nine months later, when Clark's minority government lost a confidence vote on its first budget.

It was a vote Clark concedes his inexperienced government could have avoided. The Tories were defeated by Trudeau in the ensuing election.

He then lost his party's leadership to Brian Mulroney in 1983 but stayed on to eventually become a respected foreign affairs minister and constitutional affairs minister under a two-term Mulroney government.

Clark retired from politics just before the 1993 election that wiped the governing Conservatives from the electoral map, but returned to lead a broken party in 1998.

Clark's first retirement saw him establish an international business consulting company, something he has said he'd like to do again. He has also talked with "two or three" universities about teaching positions.

Choosing a new leader

The Tory leadership convention kicked off Thursday with delegates cheering the five contenders as they arrived for the opening ceremonies.

"History shows that this party -- the only party that has ever beaten the Liberals -- has won elections when we have formed large big-tent coalitions representing the diversity of Canadians from across the country," said party president Bruck Easton.

The Conservatives are hoping the leadership convention will invigorate a party whose roots extend back to 1854.

Once the only viable conservative choice on the Canadian political scene, the Tories now contend with the Canadian Alliance for right-leaning voters.

Buoyed by a May 12 by-election victory in Ontario, the Tories are considering five candidates -- one of whom they hope will revitalize a party that sits fourth in the Commons with 15 seats.

Nova Scotia MPs Peter MacKay and Scott Brison are vying for the top job, along with Calgary lawyer Jim Prentice, businessman Craig Chandler and anti-free trade activist David Orchard.

MacKay is considered the frontrunner, but even some of his supporters doubt he'll be able to win on the first ballot.

He says he feels his campaign has done what it had to do to win this weekend.

The big question is how many delegates actually show up to vote for the candidates. The race has received little media attention, partly due to the SARS crisis and the war in Iraq.

Mulroney will address the more than 2,600 Tories Friday. The candidates will then make their final pitches to the delegates before Saturday's vote. A result should be known later that day.

With a report from Canadian Press