Paul Martin in the context of "2004 Canadian federal election"

The 38th Canadian Parliament was in session from October 4, 2004, until November 29, 2005. The membership was set by the 2004 federal election on June 28, 2004, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections, but due to the seat distribution, those few changes significantly affected the distribution of power. It was dissolved prior to the 2006 election.

It was controlled by a Liberal Party minority under Prime Minister Paul Martin and the 27th Canadian Ministry. The Official Opposition was the Conservative Party, led by Stephen Harper.

Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, being the party's co-founder and serving as its first leader from 2004 to 2015. Since 2018, he has also been the chairman of the International Democracy Union.

Harper studied economics, earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1985 and 1991, respectively, from the University of Calgary. He was one of the founders of the Reform Party of Canada and was first elected to Parliament in the 1993 federal election in the riding of Calgary West. He did not seek re-election in 1997, and instead joined and later led the National Citizens Coalition, a conservative lobbyist group. In 2002, he succeeded Stockwell Day as leader of the Canadian Alliance, the successor to the Reform Party, and returned to Parliament as leader of the Official Opposition. In 2003, Harper and Peter MacKay negotiated the merger of the Canadian Alliance with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to form the Conservative Party of Canada. Harper was elected as the party's first leader in 2004. In the 2004 federal election, the Conservative Party lost to the Liberal Party led by Paul Martin. Following the defeat of Martin's government in a motion of no confidence, Harper led the Conservatives to a minority government in the 2006 federal election.

The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 39th Parliament of Canada.

New details of the sponsorship scandal were released through the Gomery Commission, and the three opposition parties aimed to bring down Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority government, contending that it was corrupt. On November 28, 2005, Martin's government was defeated on a motion of non-confidence. A day later, Martin met with Governor General Michaëlle Jean to dissolve parliament, triggering an unusual winter election.

The Twenty-Seventh Canadian Ministry was the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Paul Martin. It governed Canada from 12 December 2003 to 6 February 2006, including the last five months of the 37th Canadian Parliament and all of the 38th. The government was formed by the Liberal Party of Canada.