The Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs is an acclaimed series that offers informed commentary on important national events and thoughtfully considers their significance in local and international contexts. This latest instalment reviews the year 2005, a year in which the first minority parliament since Joe Clark's short-lived government struggled to maintain stability.

It was also in 2005 that the Gomery Commission delivered its initial report on the sponsorship scandal, outlining irregularities surrounding the advertising program of the Liberal government. At a historic First Ministers' meeting in Kelowna, premiers and Aboriginal leaders developed a plan to improve the lives of Indigenous peoples. Canada's involvement in Afghanistan continued (albeit in ever-changing roles), and Justice Dennis O'Connor went forward with his investigation into the torture of Maher Arar. In late November 2005, Opposition leader Stephen Harper tabled a motion of non-confidence, setting the stage for the 2006 election.

David Mutimer is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and deputy director of the Centre for International and Security Studies at York University.

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