The 2006 federal election was held on January 23rd, as a result of a non-confidence-vote passed earlier in the House of Commons on 28 November 2005. The non-confidence-vote was due to the on-going emergence of more details of the Sponsorship Scandal: a Liberal Government 'sponsorship program' which ran from 1996 to 2004 and aimed to create a better awareness of the Liberal Federal Government's contributions to Quebec, but in which corruption had been found. Despite Paul Martin having been formally cleared of any involvement and wrongdoing by the preliminary report of the Gomery Commission of Inquiry, which was released before the election, the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) suffered the loss of enormous amounts of support, particularly in the Province of Quebec. Paul Martin easily won his riding of LaSalle-Émard for the 6th straight time, winning 48.41% of the vote; however, after four elections and more than twelve consecutive years in power, the LPC lost the 2006 federal election to the Conservative Party.
The sub-series contains very small amounts of textual material concerning the Sponsorship Scandal, other than the occasional very short document outlining appropriate answers and/or summarizing public opinion on the subject.
While the sub-series consists of only 10 files of textual records, it does provide a good overview of the main issues leading up to the 2006 election. Volume 215, file 19 will contain a research report outlining the main National Overview and political perceptions of the Canadian public leading up to the election; volume 217, file 4 will contain a Ministers Meeting Briefing Book which will include individual 'Irritant Lists' for each of the Provinces and Territories; volume 217, file 5 will contain research material concerning the analysis of vote percentages in target ridings; and volume 217, file 7 will contain a discussion-document created in May of 2005 outlining possible campaign strategies and the first twelve day of messages during a campaign.
