Clem was born and raised in Eastern Ontario and educated at the Universities of Ottawa (BA) and Toronto (M.A in Economics). He served in the Ontario Public Service at senior executive level. Clem began meditating at a Zen Centre in 1979 after having discovered the practice during a trip to South Korea. He first came across Christian meditation in 1982 but did not become engaged until 1984. He spearheaded the organization of the John Main Seminar 1993 in Toronto, which featured William Johnston, S.J., as speaker. He has been variously involved in this annual event since then. He has been a member of the WCCM Guiding Board since 1994 and a WCCM Trustee for the past 8 years. He also served as Administrator of the WCCM International Centre in London (1997-98). Clem is very involved in WCCM affairs and projects regionally, nationally and internationally.