Political memory lane, volume two: the 38th Parliament

Culturally, it was a time of icons. In 2004 Runaway a book of short stories by Alice Munro was awarded that year's Giller Prize and on CBC The Rick Mercer Report was launched.

In 2005, Madonna released her tenth studio album (Confessions on a Dance Floor) and Comedy Central launched The Colbert Report, starring long-time Daily Show correspondent Stephen Colbert. Here in Canada, Peter C. Newman published his controversial book, The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister.

In terms of parliamentary legislation and Canadian issues, some of the topics that we were thinking and talking about as a nation were:

• Accountability: Calls came for greater accountability in the wake of the 2004 sponsorship scandal, where questionable funds were distributed to Quebec Liberals from a fund created after the 1995 referendum;

• The Environment: From November 28 - December 9, 2005 Montreal hosted the UN's Climate Change Conference where representatives from 189 governments met for international climate change negotiations;

• Public Safety: In November 2005, The Canadian Border Services Agency was created to address border security; and

• Marriage: On July 20, 2005, The Civil Marriage Act received Royal Assent, legalizing same sex marriage throughout Canada.

In many respects, this look back kinda leaves one wondering how much has really changed!