Government squeaks by

The week's news at a glance.

Toronto

The government of Prime Minister Paul Martin barely survived a confidence vote in Canada’s Parliament last week. Martin’s Liberal Party has been accused of taking kickbacks from an advertising firm hired under Martin’s predecessor, Jean Chrétien, from 1995 to 2002. The House of Commons had been paralyzed for weeks as Conservatives demanded that Martin resign and call a general election. But lawmakers split evenly, 152-152, and the Parliament’s speaker gave Martin a victory with a tie-breaking vote. Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper said he was “embarrassed” that Parliament could back a “corrupt party”; Martin said it was time to put the scandal in the past “in the spirit of cooperation.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us