Editing Rick Mercer (section)

===''The Rick Mercer Report''===
{{main|Rick Mercer Report}}
In 2003, ''Made in Canada'' ended its run, and Mercer began to work on a new CBC series, ''[[Rick Mercer Report|Rick Mercer's Monday Report]]''. Similar in format to ''22 Minutes'' and ''[[The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]]'', the show debuted in January 2004. Also in 2003, Mercer went to [[Afghanistan]] to visit the [[Operation Athena|Canadian troops stationed there]], resulting in the television special ''[[Christmas in Kabul]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/programguide/personality/rick_mercer|title=Rick Mercer|publisher=CBC|accessdate=2022-04-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thenextchapter/full-episode-dec-18-2021-1.6286603/rick-mercer-s-new-memoir-talking-to-canadians-reflects-on-a-life-building-rapport-with-others-1.6286671|title=Rick Mercer's new memoir Talking to Canadians reflects on a life building rapport with others|publisher=CBC|date=2021-12-17|accessdate=2022-04-21}}</ref>

Despite reports of a long-standing feud Mercer invited Walsh to appear on ''Monday Report'' as a special guest to promote her own series ''[[Hatching, Matching and Dispatching]]''.

At the end of its second season, ''Monday Report'' was the highest rated arts and entertainment show on the CBC. Former Prime Minister [[Paul Martin]] gave him a private tour of [[24 Sussex Drive]] and former [[New Democratic Party of Canada|New Democratic Party]] leader [[Ed Broadbent]] made snow angels with Mercer on [[Parliament Hill]]. Other prominent guests were [[New Democratic Party of Canada|NDP]] leader [[Jack Layton]] (who was Mercer's own MP); [[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative Party]] leader [[Stephen Harper]] (former Prime Minister); [[Green Party of Canada|Green Party]] leader [[Elizabeth May]]; then-Conservative MP [[Belinda Stronach]]; Conservative MP [[Peter MacKay]]; former Newfoundland and Labrador Premier [[Danny Williams (Canadian politician)|Danny Williams]]; Olympic gold medallist [[Kyle Shewfelt]]; author [[Pierre Berton]]; recording artists [[Jann Arden]], [[Bif Naked]], [[Rush (band)|Rush]], [[bassist]] [[Geddy Lee]], [[drummer]] and [[lyricist]] [[Neil Peart]], and [[Sarah McLachlan]]; publishing mogul [[Conrad Black]]; and former [[prime minister]] [[Jean Chrétien]]. When Mercer hosted a relief [[benefit concert]] for the victims of the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake|2004 Indian Ocean tsunami]] at the [[Pengrowth Saddledome]] in [[Calgary, Alberta|Calgary]], musical guests [[Barenaked Ladies]] appeared in a segment Mercer shot backstage completely naked.

In 2005, the CBC moved ''Monday Report'' to Tuesday nights, which caused the show's name to be changed to ''The Rick Mercer Report''. On his blog, Mercer wrote of the time slot shift that "we ended the season as the highest rated comedy show on the network. Clearly some drastic changes were needed."

In 2017, it was announced that the ''Rick Mercer Report'' would end production after its 15th season; the last episode aired on April 10, 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mediaincanada.com/2018/05/01/mercers-final-rant-gets-big-ratings/|title=Mercer's final rant gets big ratings|website=[[Media of Canada]]}}</ref>