Waging Peace:  Canada

Building a Model for Campaign Finance Transparency

Breakthrough interactive and Web-based maps detailing media coverage during national elections were unveiled in January 2006 by The Carter Center, the University of Calgary, and the Canadian Foundation for the Americas. Canada is one of 12 countries mapped with the new technology to provide visual context to the lines of influence the media have in shaping the campaign finance environment.

Developed using state-of-the-art geographic information systems (GIS) technology, the maps are designed to increase transparency in campaign finance reform and democracy-building efforts by illustrating where media are located, how far they broadcast, who owns them, and what the demographic profile is of the electoral constituencies they reach.

Throughout the Western Hemisphere, media play an increasingly important role in transmitting information about elections and candidates. The outcomes of electoral races may be altered by financial disparities, especially where media ownership is concentrated and owners offer price discounts to their preferred candidates. Yet there is comparatively little information about the media available to citizens; these new maps are another step to ensuring an informed electorate.