Promotional and Other Spending by Party Candidates in the 2006 Canadian Federal Election Campaign

This article describes the types of goods and services purchased by Bloc Québécois, Conservative, Green, Liberal and NDP candidates in the 2006 Canadian federal election campaign. Observations are made on thousands of spending declarations included in election returns filed with Elections Canada, such as newspaper advertising, signs, telemarketing, and even windshield repair. Particular attention is paid to types of communications suppliers, party centralization, and winter electioneering while trends are identified in media, technology, labour, professionalization, and political finance. The result is a descriptive summary of a wide variety of promotional and administrative functions which can supplement other studies of constituency campaigning