Canada's Worst Driver 7


Canada's Worst Driver 7 was the seventh season of the Canadian reality TV show Canada's Worst Driver, which aired on the Discovery Channel. As with previous years, eight people, nominated by their family or friends, enter the Driver Rehabilitation Centre to improve their driving skills. This season makes a particular emphasis on the uniquely Canadian nature of driving, rather than having any driving-related motifs as in past years. This year, the Driver Rehabilitation Centre is located at the Dunnville Airport in Dunnville, Ontario for the second straight season. The initial drive started in St. Catharines, Ontario and the final road test occurred in Hamilton, Ontario. This season is the first to be broadcast in high definition, owing to the launch of the high-definition simulcast of Discovery Channel. As part of the promotion for this season, a special Monday edition of The Alan Nursall Experience, a segment on Daily Planet, takes a behind-the-scenes look at the Driver Rehabilitation Centre.

Experts

Three experts return from Canada's Worst Driver 6, though Dr. Lauren Kennedy-Smith, psychologist from the past season, is not among them.

Episode 1: Take Off, Eh!

When the experts interview the contestants, the experts question Tab on her nerves, Ben on his relationship, Jon on humility and Shirley on confidence. Lauri, who has seen past seasons on the show, is quietly confident; while Sly admits to confidence issues. Afiya is ignorant as to why she was nominated, while Aaron breaks down when talking to the experts. He admits that maybe if he can share his pain to the world, he will be able to recover. As usual, no one graduates this episode, as it serves merely as a skills evaluation.

Episode 2: Use Your Mirrors, Eh?

In deliberation, Ben admits he will not be the first to graduate, while Shirley and Tab both admit to needing more improvement. Philippe believes that the root of Tab's problems is that she is looking not far enough ahead. Afiya admits to wanting to go home, with learning as an afterthought. Lauri believes that she should be first to graduate, but she also wants to stay longer to learn more. She breaks down when they discuss how in keeping her pets in the car may injure them without proper safety precautions, from which Cam suggests that she disable the passenger-side airbag and get specialized safety gear if she wants to continue riding with her pets. Jon wants to graduate, after a long talk with Aaron's life story earlier in the day in the confessional. Aaron, in return, is grateful for the news. The experts are divided on Jon and Lauri on being the first graduate; Cam and Philippe wants Jon to graduate based on his dealings with Aaron, while Andrew and Shyamala both want Lauri to go home because Lauri did better in all the challenges. In the end, the experts agree to honour Lauri's request to stick around and Jon becomes the first graduate.

Episode 3: Dangerous Driving

In deliberation, Aaron doesn't want to graduate, if only to further make an impact on the other contestants. Afiya in particular is moved by Aaron. Tab, Lauri and Ben all feel that because of Aaron, they feel ready to graduate. Sly and Shirley are also moved by Aaron, but also vowed to stay. The experts make their deliberation short, by granting Lauri, who only narrowly missed out on graduating in the previous episode on the grounds that she wanted to stay in rehab to learn more, the unanimous decision for graduation this episode.

Episode 4: Buckle Up

In deliberation, Tab wants to stay to aid in her emotions, while Aaron does not feel that he warrants graduation. Afiya, Sly and Shirley also do not want to graduate. Ben, however, wants to graduate, having learned many things about his original licensing process, which included settling on the cheapest driving school available and being a class clown rather than focusing on fundamentals. Because only one contestant wanted to graduate, the experts debate whether they should graduate Ben: Cam and Shyamala feel that he should stay, while Philippe and Peter feel that he should graduate, leaving Andrew to cast the deciding vote and ultimately, in a 3-2 split decision, Ben's vow to replace his stick-shift car with an automatic turns the tide in his favour and he becomes the next graduate, once again ensuring that there will not be three men in the finale.

Episode 5: Park and Slide

In deliberation, Afiya apologizes to Andrew for cursing at him after failing the Trough. Cam lashes out at Sly for "gunning it" during the Trough, while Shirley is confident that she deserves to graduate. Tab also feels confident in graduating even though she went over-speed in the icy corner. Aaron, the consensus best performer in the episode, believes that he also deserves to graduate based on his performance, but he would rather stay put, as he believes his moment has not arrived. Shirley and Tab are shortlisted by the experts, but Andrew is not confident in graduating either of them. As a result, no one graduates this episode.

Episode 6: Hard!

At the start of the episode, Andrew recalls an incident where a contestant on Canada's Worst Drivers Dutch counterpart, De Allerslechtste Chauffeur van Nederland, injured host Ruben Nicolai and a cameraman during its shoulder check challenge and how it has put him on edge. The episode also opens with Tab and Afiya seeking help from Shyamala between episodes to address Tab driving anxiety and Afiya's lack of taking on responsibility.
The experts commend Tab and Shirley on their improved behaviour and both claim that they deserve to graduate. However, Afiya admits to being overconfident when she entered rehab and the realization of the true nature of her driving skills means that she is not ready to graduate. As for Aaron, he feels that his moment has still not arrived. Sly admits to not making any ground so far through rehabilitation. Cam believes that Tab should be the graduate while Philippe still has an issue with Tab driving too fast, so he endorses Shirley. For the second time in three episodes, Andrew is left with the deciding vote and, in another 3-2 split decision, Tab becomes the next graduate, as Shirley's driving was still too inconsistent for the experts' tastes.

Episode 7: Glazed Over

At the start of the show, Andrew comments on the destruction of 14 cameras of various qualities from challenges over the previous six episodes.
Through some of the challenges, Fred had been contemplating whether Sly would have been better off quitting driving altogether, a sentiment also echoed by Andrew after the beer truck challenge. Sly cannot defend his performance in any of the challenges and admits that he is bound for the final three. Shirley also admits being bound for the final three as well. Aaron also wants to be in the final three, if only to prove himself on the only test that matters to him—the final drive in Hamilton. Afiya admits to progress during this episode and it is enough for the experts to unanimously agree to graduate her. Andrew is still unconvinced, as he believes that she is still a pathological liar who tells the experts what they want to hear and believes that this year's final challenges should have four contestants instead of the usual three, something none of the other experts agree with him on. Nevertheless, Andrew gives in to peer pressure from the experts and assents to graduating Afiya, who becomes the season's penultimate graduate, sending Aaron into the finale with Shirley and Sly.

Episode 8: Oh Canada

After the nominators and contestants give a somber farewell to the Challenger, the experts give their final opinion of the contestants. Sly admits that the road test was more comfortable than any of the challenges, but he was ultimately on edge through the test. The opposite happened for Shirley-- good challenge performances but horrible road test. Aaron admits that after the road test, he finally got everything and more out of rehab. Philippe and Peter believe Sly is Canada's Worst Driver due to his performance in the challenges, but Cam and Andrew believe that Shirley's performance in the road test makes her Canada's Worst Driver, leaving Shyamala with the deciding vote. As none of the experts believe Aaron is Canada's Worst Driver, Aaron is named this season's final graduate. Ultimately, despite avoiding being named the worst, Sly is considered to be able to drive away on his own, while Shirley wasn't. Despite the decision, which swings in Sly's favour, Andrew tells Sly that he has absolutely nothing to be proud about and Fred agrees with Andrew, saying that Sly simply got lucky that Shirley just happened to perform so ghastly on the Road Test. Despite ultimately being named the worst, Shirley still leaves with parting words of encouragement from Andrew, who implores her to continue driving and, as a special mark of respect for her doing so well, allows Janis to drive Shirley home instead of the usual final humiliation of being forced to catch a plane or limousine home while her car is towed all the way back to her hometown.