Mark Carney speaking after a debate for the federal Liberal leadership race in Montreal in February. Invoices show that as his leadership campaign was winding down, he was getting ready for the next one.ANDREJ IVANOV/AFP/Getty Images
Mark Carney was the front-runner heading into this year’s Liberal leadership contest, but receipts for his $3.8-million campaign give a glimpse of exactly what it took to get across the line.
Invoices submitted to Elections Canada also show that even as his leadership campaign was winding down, he was getting ready for the next one, a general election he’d call only weeks later.
The bills reveal that his campaign spent just over $7,000 to strike an agreement with a company that held a trademark on the words “Canada Strong” and a Maple Leaf graphic on top. The Carney Liberals would use that slogan with a Maple Leaf on the side in the spring federal election.
The campaign’s receipts were reviewed by The Globe and Mail under a section of the Elections Act that makes records associated with certain political campaign filings available to the public.
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They show that his campaign spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on voter ID, polling and focus groups over the nearly eight-week leadership race – but he was at work even before the contest formally began on Jan. 10.
It was triggered by Justin Trudeau announcing on Jan. 6 that he’d step down as Liberal leader and prime minister once a replacement was chosen.
Among Mr. Carney’s invoices is one for a Jan. 8 videoconference call.
The receipts also include a flight for one campaign staffer and then taxi rides and Ubers on Jan. 13 and 14 in and around New York City.
On Jan. 13, Mr. Carney taped an interview with host Jon Stewart of The Daily Show, where he teased a coming announcement about running for the Liberal leadership.
He went on to officially launch his bid on Jan. 16 at an Edmonton event – costs included $730 in flags.
Mark Carney went on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Jan. 13, where he teased a potential run for Liberal leadership.Supplied
The vast majority of Mr. Carney’s campaign expenses went to Canadian companies and suppliers.
But the records also reveal that he hired an American political consultant, too, Patrick Frank of Lepus-Strategies.
Mr. Frank is the former director of outreach for ActBlue, the fundraising platform that’s a pillar of Democratic campaigns in the U.S.
An invoice from him to the campaign describes the work as “fundraising consulting/support” in February and March of this year for $4,000.
Thomas Aust, the financial agent for Mr. Carney’s leadership campaign, said hiring Lepus made sense.
“As with any modern campaign, you’ll find leading vendors, like the ones you’ve referenced, providing specialized services across areas such as advertising, fundraising, event production and legal advisory,” Mr. Aust said in an e-mailed statement.
“One such vendor, Lepus’ Patrick Frank, has consulted for campaigns around the world on small donor digital fundraising strategies.”
Mr. Carney raised just over $5-million in support of his bid from 25,000 donors. The spending limit for the race was $5-million.
The Liberal Party has long maintained connections to the Democrats.
Mr. Frank was a speaker at the party’s 2023 convention that also featured remarks from Hillary Clinton, the former U.S. secretary of state and later Democratic nominee for president.
Lepus-Strategies appears to be the only American contractor paid by Carney’s leadership campaign, though one of the campaign volunteers listed her residence on campaign bills as being in New York.
The campaign records also show an invoice for $4,000 from the firm McCarthy Tétrault LLP with the reference “immigration services for the Mark Carney campaign.”
The party did not respond to an inquiry from The Globe as to what those services were for.
Mr. Carney arrives at the Liberal Party convention in Ottawa in March. His campaign to be the party's leader cost $3.8-million.Spencer Colby/The Globe and Mail
The biggest bottom-line item was more than $1-million listed as “processing fees,” most of it recorded as going to the party itself.
There was also $400,000 in social-media advertising and upward of $200,000 in flights, car rentals and hotels.
Debate prep cost several thousand dollars, including food and beverages for what’s recorded in the invoices as for “the actors,” and Mr. Carney himself.
Meals on the campaign ranged from pricey hotel restaurants to quick meals on the road or at the end of the night.
Pizza night on one evening included two Hawaiian pizzas, among others, and there were numerous receipts for Tim Hortons and salads from Freshii and popular Montreal chain Mandy’s.
Though, when it came to wine for a fundraising event, volunteers opted for cases of New Zealand white and Italian red.
Mr. Carney’s victory party on March 9 included an order of 500 BeaverTails, the popular fried-dough pastry, and hundreds of hamburgers from an Ottawa restaurant. The campaign rented furniture for that event too – but the supplier threw in free hangers.
Volunteers also held their own karaoke party the night of the win.
While no song list was included in the receipts, the Carney campaign did pay Quebec-based performer Coeur de pirate for the use of its song Crier tout bas.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to Coeur de pirate as a band. It is the stage name of performer Béatrice Martin.