Editing Paul Martin (section)

====2004 federal election====
{{Main|2004 Canadian federal election}}

The Liberals were facing a new united [[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative Party]] led by [[Stephen Harper]], while the [[Bloc Québécois]] and NDP were also buoyed by the Sponsorship Scandal. Martin advised Governor General [[Adrienne Clarkson]] to call an [[2004 Canadian federal election|election]] for June 28, 2004.

The Liberals were also hampered by their inability to raise campaign money competitively after Chrétien passed a bill in 2003 that banned corporate donations, even though the Liberals had enjoyed by far the lion's share of this funding due to the then-divided opposition parties. It has been suggested that Chrétien, who had done nothing about election financing for his 10 years in office, could be seen as the idealist as he retired, while his rival and successor Martin would have the burden of having to fight an election under the strict new rules.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/realitycheck/gray/20060613.html |work=CBC News |title=Reality Check|first=John|last=Grey|date=June 13, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114092059/http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/realitycheck/gray/20060613.html|archive-date=November 14, 2006|access-date=February 11, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://nationalpost.com/features/the-liberal-resurrection|title=The liberal resurrection|first=Richard|last=Warnica|newspaper=[[National Post]]|date=April 17, 2013|access-date= February 11, 2020}}</ref>

An unpopular provincial budget by Liberal Premier [[Dalton McGuinty]], who broke a pledge not to raise taxes, hurt the federal party's numbers in Ontario,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://usa.mediamonitors.net/headlines/why_stephen_harper_lost |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040805200120/http://usa.mediamonitors.net/headlines/why_stephen_harper_lost |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 5, 2004 |title=Why Stephen Harper Lost (by John Chuckman)&nbsp;– Media Monitors Network (MMN) |publisher=Usa.mediamonitors.net |author=(Friday, July 2, 2004) |access-date=October 24, 2008 }}</ref> as did a weak performance from Martin in the leaders' debates. The Conservatives soon took the lead, prompting some predictions of an imminent Harper government. The Liberals managed to narrow the gap and eventually regain momentum.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/tories-fail-to-make-breakthrough-in-ontario-1.508424 |title=Tories fail to make breakthrough in Ontario |publisher=CBC |author=CBC News |date= June 29, 2004|access-date=April 26, 2014}}</ref> Martin was successful in winning a plurality of seats to continue as the government, though they were now in a minority situation, the first since [[Joe Clark]]'s tenure in 1979–80.