2006 Leeds City Council election
With the council remaining in no overall control, the election result saw the Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition administration continue their control of the council.


2006 Leeds City Council election, Election result
This result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:


2006 Leeds City Council election, Councillors who did not stand for re-election
Incumbent Liberal Democrat councillor, Stewart Golton (Weetwood), was elected to represent a new ward, succeeding Mitchell Galdas in Rothwell.


2006 Leeward Islands Junior Championships in Athletics
The 2006 Leeward Islands Junior Championships in Athletics took place on July 1–2, 2006. The event was held in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda. A detailed report was published.


2006 Leeward Islands Junior Championships in Athletics
A total of 50 events were contested, 25 by boys and 25 by girls.


2006 Leeward Islands Junior Championships in Athletics, Medal summary
Complete results can be found on the Nevis Amateur Athletic Association webpage.


2006 Leeward Islands Junior Championships in Athletics, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 138 athletes from 7 countries participated.


2006 Legends Tour
The 2006 Legends Tour schedule featured four events showcasing professional women golfers aged 45 and older sanctioned by the LPGA Tour. Based in the United States, it is the official senior tour of the LPGA Tour. The tour was founded in 2000 by 25 veteran LPGA Tour players, and is intended to allow women to prolong their competitive golf careers on the model of the successful Champions Tour for men.


2006 Legends Tour, Schedule and results
The Tour consisted of four events in 2006. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Legends Tour events she had won up to and including that tournament.


2006 Legg Mason Tennis Classic
The 2006 Legg Mason Tennis Classic was the 37th edition of this men's tennis tournament and was played on outdoor hard courts. The tournament was part of the International Series of the 2006 ATP Tour. It was held at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Washington, D.C. from July 31 through August 6, 2006.


2006 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, Finals, Doubles
Bob Bryan /  Mike Bryan defeated  Paul Hanley /  Kevin Ullyett, 6–3, 5–7, [10–3]


2006 Legg Mason Tennis Classic – Doubles
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan were the defending champions. They successfully defended their title, defeating Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett 6–3, 5–7, [10–3] in the final.


2006 Legg Mason Tennis Classic – Singles
Andy Roddick was the defending champion, but withdrew due to an Abdominal strain.


2006 Legg Mason Tennis Classic – Singles
Arnaud Clément won in the final 7–6(7–3), 6–2, against Andy Murray.


2006 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team
The 2006 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team was an American football team that represented Lehigh University during the 2006 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Lehigh won the Patriot League co-championship but did not qualify for the national playoffs.


2006 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team
In their first year under head coach Andy Coen, the Mountain Hawks compiled a 6–5 record. Julian Austin, John Reese and Sedale Threatt were the team captains.


2006 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team
The Mountain Hawks outscored opponents 299 to 222. Their 5–1 conference record tied for best in the Patriot League standings. Their season-ending loss to archrival Lafayette resulted in the shared title, and ended Lehigh's postseason hopes, as Lafayette was awarded the Patriot League's only berth in the FCS national playoffs.


2006 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team
Lehigh played its home games at Goodman Stadium on the university's Goodman Campus in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.


2006 Lenox Industrial Tools 300
The 2006 Lenox Industrial Tools 300 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race held on July 16, 2006 at New Hampshire International Speedway, in Loudon, New Hampshire. Contested over 308 laps – extended from 300 laps due to a green-white-checker finish – on the 1.058-mile (1.703 km) speedway, it was the 19th race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season. Kyle Busch of Hendrick Motorsports won the race.


2006 Lenox Industrial Tools 300, Background
New Hampshire International Speedway is a 1.058-mile (1.703 km) oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since the early 1990s, as well as an IndyCar weekend and the oldest motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mile", the speedway is often converted into a 1.6-mile (2.6 km) road course, which includes much of the oval. The track was originally the site of Bryar Motorsports Park before being purchased and redeveloped by Bob Bahre. The track is currently one of eight major NASCAR tracks owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports.


2006 Lewisham London Borough Council election
Elections to Lewisham London Borough Council were held on 4 May 2006. The whole council was up for election for the first time since the 2002 election.


2006 Lewisham London Borough Council election
Lewisham local elections are held every four years, with the next due in 2010.


2006 Lewisham London Borough Council election, Election result
The Green Party won all three seats in the Brockley and Ladywell wards and the Socialist Alternative won two seats in the Telegraph Hill ward.


2006 Lexmark Indy 300
The 2006 Lexmark Indy 300 was the thirteenth and penultimate round of the 2006 Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford season, held on 21 October 2006 on the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Queensland, Australia. The pole was won by native Queenslander Will Power, the first of his Champ Car career. The race was won by Nelson Philippe, the first and only win of his Champ Car career. By virtue of his eighth-place finish, Sébastien Bourdais clinched his third consecutive Champ Car season title, the first man to achieve this feat since Ted Horn won three consecutive National Championships from 1946 through 1948.


2006 Lexmark Indy 300, Qualifying results
* Justin Wilson fractured the scaphoid bone in his wrist in a crash during practice on Friday and took no further part in the event as a result.


2006 Lexus Cup
The 2006 Lexus Cup was a golf event competed by women representing Asia and an International squad representing the rest of the world. Each team was made up of twelve members. The competition took place at the Tanah Merah Country Club in Singapore from 15–17 December 2006. Lexus was the title sponsor while Rolex, DBS, Singapore Airlines and Singapore Sports Council were main sponsors. The Asian team took a dramatic 12½ to 11½ victory in the second annual event, tying the all-time series 1-1.


2006 Lexus Cup, Teams
As in the similar team events of the Ryder Cup (USA vs. Europe men), Presidents Cup (USA vs. "International" men, i.e. rest of the world excluding Europe), and Solheim Cup (USA vs. Europe women), each team consisted of twelve players.


2006 Lexus Cup, Day one
Day one saw six foursome matches where each team put two golfers on the course for each match, with the two playing alternate shots. Asia won two matches, the international team won two with two ending all square, resulting in a three-to-three tie after the first day of play. The comeback of the day was Jee Young Lee and Meena Lee coming back from four behind at the turn to defeat Natalie Gulbis and Paula Creamer 2 up.


2006 Lexus Cup, Day two
The two teams matched up in four ball competition on day two. South Koreans Grace Park and Hee-Won Han won a thrilling match at the last hole against youngsters Morgan Pressel and Julieta Granada of the United States and Paraguay respectively. Candie Kung of Taiwan and Jennifer Rosales of the Philippines cruised to a relatively easy win over Brittany Lincicome of the United States and Nikki Campbell of Australia. Koreans Seon Hwa Lee and Se Ri Pak had an even easier victory over Americans Sherri Steinhauer and Angela Stanford to give the Asians the lead going into Sunday's singles.


2006 Lexus Cup, Day three
Day three went to the very final match as Seon Hwa Lee broke an 11½-all tie on the seventeenth hole against Julieta Granada by halving it to ensure a one-point victory for Team Asia. This happened after two delays due to lightning that cast doubt on whether play would he completed on day three. The International team got off to a good start to the day, resulting in the drama that lasted right until the very end.


2006 Lexus Cup, Day three
The second match between Taiwan's Candie Kung and Paula Creamer from the United States went back and forth all the way with three lead changes, the last occurring on the 18th as Creamer took the point, winning the last hole and bringing the Internationals within reach. However, it was not to be as the Asians held on for a dramatic victory.


2006 Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) leadership election
A leadership election was held in the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan on 20 September 2006 after the incumbent party leader and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced his intention to resign, a year after he led the party to victory in a snap election. Shinzō Abe won the election, (only to resign a year later triggering another leadership election). His chief competitors for the position were Sadakazu Tanigaki and Taro Aso. Yasuo Fukuda was a leading early contender, but ultimately chose not to run. Former Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori, to whose faction both Abe and Fukuda belonged, stated that the faction strongly leant toward Abe. Abe was subsequently elected Prime Minister with 339 of 475 votes in the Diet's lower house and a majority in the upper house.


2006 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election
The 2006 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election began on 2 March 2006, when the sitting Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell, was elected leader of the party. Campbell had been deputy leader since February 2003.


2006 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election
The post was elected by and from the party's 63 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, who voted on 29 March 2006. Vince Cable was elected as deputy leader in the second round. There were three candidates: Vince Cable, David Heath and Matthew Taylor. Three further MPs, Susan Kramer, Phil Willis and Ed Davey, canvassed support from colleagues but did not enter nominations.


2006 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election, Result
David Heath was eliminated after the first round, and his second preferences were redistributed.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election
In the 2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Sir Menzies Campbell was elected to succeed Charles Kennedy as Leader of the Liberal Democrats, the third-largest political party in the United Kingdom.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election
On 5 January 2006, following a period of heavy speculation about both his leadership and his personal life, party leader Charles Kennedy called for a leadership contest to allow party members to decide if his leadership should continue. On 7 January 2006, following public pressure from many prominent Liberal Democrats to stand down, including twenty-five Members of Parliament who publicly announced they would refuse to serve on the party's frontbench if he did not stand aside, Kennedy announced that he would not be standing in the leadership election, resigning as party leader with immediate effect.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election
Four candidates declared their intention to stand: Campbell, then interim leader; home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten; the party's President, Simon Hughes; and deputy Treasury spokesman Chris Huhne. Oaten garnered little support from colleagues and withdrew from the contest, confessing two days later to a sexual relationship with a male prostitute. Nominations for the leadership closed on 25 January 2006, and Campbell was announced as the winner on 2 March 2006, having won 45 percent of the first preference votes cast. This rose to 58 percent when votes cast for third-placed Hughes were excluded and his voters' second preferences were counted.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Results
Note: if non-transferable votes are discounted, the percentage of the vote won by Campbell was 57.9% and that won by Huhne was 42.1%. Simon Hughes's second preferences split as follows: Campbell 53.2%, Huhne 40.9%, non-transferable (i.e., no second preference given) 5.9%.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, The downfall of Charles Kennedy
In the wake of the 2005 general election, Kennedy's leadership came under increased criticism from those who felt that the Liberal Democrats could have done even better at a time when, arguably, the Official Opposition, the Conservative Party, were in a relatively weak position and the Labour Government remained unpopular in the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Leadership speculation was renewed in later 2005. Following the election of David Cameron as Leader of the Conservative Party in December 2005, it was widely reported that senior members of the Liberal Democrats had told Kennedy that he must either "raise his game" or resign.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, The downfall of Charles Kennedy
A number of issues led to the pressure on Kennedy. There was concern behind the scenes about his problems with alcohol, how he was addressing them and their effects on his performance. Kennedy's leadership style – more a chairman than a leader – was criticised. Many in the party felt Kennedy had failed to resolve debates within the party about future direction (particularly in the wake of Cameron bringing the Conservatives closer to the centre ground). Many of his critics came from the right wing of the party, who wished the Liberal Democrats to, as they saw it, modernise.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, The downfall of Charles Kennedy, The final few weeks
On 13 December 2005, the BBC's Political Editor, Nick Robinson, claimed that there were briefings against the leader, with members of his party unhappy at what they saw as "lack of leadership" from Kennedy. A "Kennedy Must Go" petition was started by The Liberal magazine, a publication which is not formally affiliated with the Liberal Democrats, but which espouses liberal ideas, has an editor who is a Liberal Democrat activist, and which prints articles by many leading Liberal Democrat MPs.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, The downfall of Charles Kennedy, The final few weeks
This petition was allegedly signed by over 3,300 party members, including 386 local councillors and two MPs by the end of 2005, although these figures were not independently verified. A round robin letter signed by Liberal Democrat MPs rejecting Kennedy's leadership received 23 signatures. In retrospect, much of the expressed unhappiness at Kennedy's performance as leader concerned his problems with alcohol.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, The downfall of Charles Kennedy, The final few weeks
On 5 January 2006, Kennedy was informed that ITN would be reporting that he had received treatment for alcoholism, and called a sudden news conference to make a personal statement confirming the story. He stated clearly that over the past eighteen months he had been coming to terms with a drink problem, but has sought ongoing professional help.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, The downfall of Charles Kennedy, The final few weeks
He told reporters that recent questions among his colleagues about his suitability as leader were partly as a result of the drink problem, but stated that he had been dry for the past two months and would be calling a leadership contest to resolve the issues surrounding his authority once and for all. It was later claimed that the source for ITN's story was his former press secretary turned ITV News correspondent, Daisy McAndrew.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, The downfall of Charles Kennedy, The final few weeks
Responses to Kennedy's statement focused on his previous denials of any problems with alcohol. As recently as 18 December 2005, on ITV1's Jonathan Dimbleby programme, when asked, "Has it been a battle to stay off the booze, have you had to have medical support in any way at all?" Kennedy had replied, "No, no, no, that is not the case, it is a matter on all fronts – if there's something my doctor really wants me to do over this holiday period as a matter of fact, is give up smoking and I think he's right."


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Resignation
Following Kennedy's admission, a letter from twenty-five Liberal Democrat MPs was delivered to him on 6 January. It stated that the signatories would not serve as frontbench speakers under his leadership, and gave a deadline of Monday 9 January for him to make a decision before those on the front bench resigned. Despite a combative interview in The Independent in which Kennedy described a decision to resign as a "dereliction of duty", a large number of senior Liberal Democrats stated on 6 January that his position was untenable.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Resignation
Chris Davies, then leader of Liberal Democrat Members of the European Parliament, described him as "a dead man walking". A survey for the BBC's Newsnight programme found that more than half of Liberal Democrat MPs thought he should resign or that his position was untenable, and only seventeen out of sixty-two MPs positively wanted him to stay, while eleven spokespersons from his twenty-three-strong frontbench wanted him to leave. Among those who thought he should go were Norman Lamb and Andrew George, who had both served as his Parliamentary Private Secretary, and Matthew Taylor, the chairman of his 1999 leadership campaign.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Resignation
On 7 January Kennedy called a press conference for 15:00 GMT at which he announced that he was buoyed by the supportive messages he had received from grassroots members, but felt that he could not continue because of the lack of confidence of his MPs. He said he would not be a candidate in the leadership election, and that he would stand down as leader "with immediate effect", with Deputy Leader Menzies Campbell acting as interim leader until a successor had been elected. Kennedy's leadership had lasted six years. He also confirmed in his resignation speech that he did not have any expectations to remain on the frontbench, pledging his loyalty to a new leader "as a backbench" MP, but saying that he wished to remain active in the party and in politics.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, The rules of the contest
A postal ballot was held of all members of the Liberal Democrats. Voting was limited to those who were current members of the party on 25 January or whose membership subscriptions were due within three months of that date. Voting was conducted under the Alternative Vote system, the single-winner version of the Single transferable vote. MPs wishing to stand required the support of 10% of the Parliamentary Party, i.e. seven MPs in the then House of Commons, plus 200 party members drawn from at least 20 constituency parties. However, MPs could nominate more than one candidate.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, The rules of the contest
Simon Hughes, in his role as party President, said on Channel 4 News shortly after Kennedy's statement that he would, with the Federal Executive, see whether it was possible to postpone the leadership campaign until following the local elections in England in May 2006. Following Kennedy's resignation, he continued to moot the possibility of this arrangement. The party's Federal Executive met on the evening of 9 January 2006 to discuss the leadership election and opted for an early vote.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Opening of the campaign
When Kennedy called the election, no one else declared themselves as candidates, with several possible contenders explicitly saying they would not stand against him. However, within an hour of Kennedy's resignation and withdrawal from the contest, Menzies Campbell declared his intention to stand and rapidly garnered support from party heavyweights. Early speculation surrounded the positions of the two other favourites, Simon Hughes and Mark Oaten, both of whom had initially declined to say whether they would enter the contest. Most of the other candidates given serious consideration by the media said they were not standing. John Hemming, the MP for Birmingham Yardley, said he was contemplating standing to prevent a "coronation", but was considered a rank outsider – he later dropped out and backed Campbell.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Opening of the campaign
Following Kennedy's withdrawal, there was also speculation as to whether the Parliamentary party would seek a single candidate to avoid a contest, an option initially mooted by Mark Oaten, or whether a leadership campaign would be a good thing for the party. Campbell was soon seen as the most likely person to be a unity candidate.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Opening of the campaign
Although Kennedy had decried in his resignation speech the simplification of debates within the party as being solely between left and right, each candidate was seen to draw support from one area of the party. Hughes was identified with the left of the party and was described as being more popular with activists than his fellow MPs. Oaten was seen to be on the right of the party, associated with the Orange Book group.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Opening of the campaign
Campbell was seen as more centrist, but identified by those on the right as being sympathetic to them; he was the bookmakers' favourite on the evening of 7 January and remained in pole position for most of the contest. Being older, Campbell was seen as a possible shorter-term leader who would vacate the post following the next General Election, which would suit the leadership ambitions of some younger and newer members of the Parliamentary party.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Opening of the campaign
The election of David Cameron as leader of the Conservatives focused questions on Campbell's age: old enough to be Cameron's father, was he too old for modern politics or did his seniority give him an advantage, a welcome contrast to Cameron? Another issue early in the campaign was the extent to which the potential candidates had conspired to bring about Kennedy's downfall.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Opening of the campaign
Campbell's backers stressed his authority, his experience and how respected he was even beyond the party. He was described as a unity candidate who could lead the party out of a troubled period. His detractors pointed out that his experience was largely in foreign policy and described him as an unknown when it came to domestic issues. The implication was that he would lead the party in a more market liberal direction, especially given that his support included prominent figures on the right of the party like David Laws and Nick Clegg.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Opening of the campaign
His detractors also questioned whether he was sufficiently supportive of Kennedy prior to the resignation. Hughes's supporters also stressed his Parliamentary experience (he had been an MP longer than Campbell), charisma and his very large majority (over Lembit Öpik) in the poll of party members for the post of President two years previously. In policy terms, Hughes's opposition to any role for the market in health and education was cited. Oaten was also seen to be to the right and talked of modernising the party. He attacked the "nanny state" instincts of the Labour government.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Opening of the campaign
However, the bookmakers favoured Campbell and Hughes over him. Oaten subsequently withdrew having gained minimal support amongst MPs. Chris Huhne, an MP since 2005 but a Member of the European Parliament for six years prior to that, entered the contest last, stressing his green policies. He soon gathered support, overtaking Oaten in the betting markets.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Opening of the campaign
Subsequent to his withdrawal from the contest, it was revealed by a newspaper that Oaten had repeatedly visited a male prostitute. Oaten resigned his frontbench position. Hughes was also forced to admit previously having homosexual relations, after his initial denial of the allegations.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, From close of nominations to end of voting
Three candidates remained at the close of nominations on 25 January 2006: Campbell, Hughes and Huhne.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, From close of nominations to end of voting
At the beginning of the campaign, the expectation had been that the leadership campaign would reflect debates within the party between social liberals (represented by Hughes) and market liberals (represented by Oaten). However, as events unfolded, the campaign became dominated by personal issues. This trend continued when Hughes was pressured into admitting to previously having had homosexual as well as heterosexual relationships, after having previously denied being gay. Hughes also apologised for elements of homophobic campaigning in the 1983 Bermondsey by-election which had brought him into the Commons. His defeated rival then, Peter Tatchell, praised Hughes's apology and recommended that Liberal Democrat party members vote for him. Hughes slipped back in the betting markets.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, From close of nominations to end of voting
Shortly after voting papers were posted to party members, a series of polls and quasi-polls suggested that the campaign was now a close run affair between Campbell and Huhne. With Huhne emerging as the (or a) favourite having been previously little known, media coverage in this period focused on Huhne. The final days before the result was announced then saw a surge for Campbell on the betting markets. The result produced a decisive win for Campbell.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, From close of nominations to end of voting
Campbell's victory automatically resulted in the Deputy Leadership becoming vacant; he was succeeded by Vincent Cable. See : 2006 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Candidates, Standing
At the close of nominations on 25 January 2006, the following had been successfully nominated.


2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Candidates, Withdrew from the contest
The following Liberal Democrat politicians initially stood but subsequently withdrew from the election:


2006 Liberal Party of Canada election ads
In the 2006 federal election in Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada used attack ads against Conservative Party of Canada leader Stephen Harper. The Liberals, trailing in polls during the last weeks of the campaign, resorted to strong and often questionable negative ads directed towards the Conservative party, by attempting to depict Harper as an extreme right-wing politician. The advertisements were generally seen as excessive, and failed to prevent a Conservative victory.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada election ads, The ads
These 30 second attack ads were produced and aired by the Liberal Party. All featured a close-up picture of Stephen Harper with the sound of war drums beating. The ads focused on some comments from Harper's past and the Conservative platform. Most of these assertions were derided by the Canadian public and media. Several articles, including one by Paul Wells of Maclean's magazine, indicated that the Liberals were grasping at straws, and that not all of the comments could be proven.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada election ads, The ads
The ads ended with a voice stating the Liberal campaign slogan, "Choose Your Canada".


2006 Liberal Party of Canada election ads, The ads, "Soldiers" ad
By far the most controversial ad was the following:"Stephen Harper actually announced he wants to increase military presence in our cities. Canadian cities. Soldiers with guns. In our cities. In Canada. We did not make this up."


2006 Liberal Party of Canada election ads, The ads, "Soldiers" ad
This ad was never aired on television. It appeared on the Liberal Party of Canada's website, before being widely replayed on the news media. This drew widespread criticism from commentators that the Liberals were scaremongering, and seemingly suggesting that the Conservatives wanted to use the military against Canadian civilians. The ad was then pulled from the website.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada election ads, Parodies
Due to the melodramatic nature of the ads, they became ripe for Internet parody and found their way into the satire of popular culture. Some were later reprinted in The Globe and Mail and National Post newspapers. The comedy show This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Royal Canadian Air Farce also created a series of parodies of the attack ads. Even the American comedy The Daily Show ran its own parody of the ads, with anti-Canadian rhetoric.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada election ads, Parodies
Some of the more famous examples that were printed in the National Post were:


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election
The 2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election was prompted by outgoing Prime Minister Paul Martin's announcement that he would not lead the Liberal Party of Canada into another election, following his party's defeat in the 2006 federal election in Canada. The party's biennial convention, already scheduled to occur from November 29 to December 1, 2006 in Montreal's Palais des congrès, was followed by the party's leadership convention at the same venue occurring December 2 to December 3, 2006. As the winner, Stéphane Dion led the Liberal Party into the 2008 federal election.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election
The party constitution set out a process by which the party leader would be chosen by several thousand delegates, who were elected by riding associations, women's associations, and Young Liberal clubs in proportion to the number of votes they received at a delegate selection meeting of the general membership of that association. Hundreds of other ex officio delegates were automatically awarded delegate spots at the convention, including Liberal Members of Parliament, Senators, riding association presidents, past candidates and members of provincial or territorial association executive boards.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election
As stipulated by the party constitution, the selection of delegates for the convention had to occur 35 to 59 days prior to the convention, and only Liberals who had joined the party at least 90 days before the delegate-selection meetings could vote for delegates, although there was no deadline for becoming delegates themselves. As a result, the early months of the leadership race were dominated by competing drives to sign up members who were likely to back the various candidacies.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election
The convention date was approximately three years after the 2003 convention, in which Paul Martin was selected after years of conflict between his faction of the party and that of outgoing Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election
After four ballots, former cabinet minister and dark horse candidate Stéphane Dion won the leadership on December 2, 2006.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election
As of 2021, this remains the only Liberal Party leadership convention since 1958 in which none of the contenders had previously run for the party's leadership. Michael Ignatieff, who finished as runner-up, would later run again for the party's leadership in 2009 and was elected unopposed, while Martha Hall Findlay, who was eliminated in the first round of this election, ran again in 2013, finishing third.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Parliamentary leadership until the convention
On February 1, 2006, outgoing Prime Minister Paul Martin announced that he would like to continue as leader of the Liberal Party until his successor was chosen but that he would not serve as Leader of the Opposition. Later that day, the 103-member Liberal caucus selected Bill Graham, Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and the outgoing Minister of National Defence, as Leader of the Opposition and interim parliamentary leader in the House of Commons. (The caucus was soon reduced to 102 members when David Emerson crossed the floor to join the Conservatives.) Graham named Lucienne Robillard, member for Westmount—Ville-Marie and the outgoing Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, as his deputy leader. Alberta Senator Dan Hays, outgoing speaker of the Senate of Canada, was chosen as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Parliamentary leadership until the convention
Though Martin initially intended to remain the official leader until the party chose his permanent replacement, the former Prime Minister announced on March 16, 2006 that his resignation would take effect the following weekend, once the Liberal Party executive set the date of the convention. According to media reports, Martin made his decision to end speculation that he may lead the Liberals into the next election, should the Harper government fall in the following few months.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Parliamentary leadership until the convention
Bill Graham was given the full-fledged role of interim leader (rather than just interim parliamentary leader) by the National Executive on March 18, 2006. Interim leaders are traditionally expected to be neutral in leadership races and are typically individuals who are not expected to be candidates themselves.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Rules
The date and rules of the convention were decided upon by the Liberal Party National Executive during its meeting on March 18–19, 2006.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Rules
The party constitution required that a convention be held within a year of the leader's resignation and that the party's biennial convention be held by March 2007. The leadership convention also served as the party's regular policy convention, so there was debate and voting on policy resolutions and an election for the party's executive.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Rules
Selection of delegates by riding associations and party clubs occurred on the weekend of September 29 to October 1. Only those who have purchased or renewed their party membership by July 4, 2006 were eligible to vote. Approximately 850 ex officio delegates who automatically gained the right to attend the convention by virtue of being a Liberal Member of Parliament, recent candidate, Senator, etc. The Liberal Aboriginal Peoples' Commission was entitled to send a delegation that is in proportion to the percentage of the Canadian population that is Aboriginal. All delegates, except those with ex officio status and those who won election as independent delegates, were bound to a particular candidate on the first ballot, but all delegates were free to vote as they wished on subsequent ballots.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Rules
Each candidate had to gather the signatures of at least 300 Liberal Party members, including at least 100 in each of three provinces or territories, and pay a $50,000 fee to enter the contest (down from $75,000 at the previous convention). The spending limit for each campaign was set at $3.4 million, down from $4 million. All of the first $500,000 raised by each candidate was kept by the candidate's campaign, and any amount raised above that figure was subject to a 20% levy by the party. In contrast to the previous campaign when the sale of party memberships was severely restricted, the executive decided to allow party membership to be purchased online.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Rules
The Convention Organization Committee and the convention proceedings were co-chaired by Dominic LeBlanc and Tanya Kappo. Steven MacKinnon, the National Director of the party, was the General Secretary of the convention.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Rules
The deadline for candidates to enter the race was September 30.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Rules
The voting was done in two stages on the ballot:


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Rules
Ex officio delegates could automatically attend and vote at the convention without the requirement of getting elected. Ex officio delegates included MPs, senators, riding association presidents, immediate past candidates, and a certain number of party executive members and members of the executive of various Liberal Party Commissions (such as the national youth commission, national women's commission, national Aboriginal commission, etc.) and provincial sections of the federal party as laid out in Section 16(13) of the party constitution.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Rules
At the convention, the first ballot by elected delegates was preset according by proportional representation according to the amount of support each leadership candidate received at the delegate selection meeting (the "leadership portion" of the ballot cast at riding association or club meetings), even if the delegate has personally expressed support for another candidate. Ex officio and undeclared delegates could vote however they wish, while declared delegates were compelled to vote for their declared candidate, their only other choice being to abstain from voting on the first round. On the second ballot (which occurred because no leadership candidate received over 50% of the vote on the first ballot), all delegates were free to vote according to their personal preference.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Analysis
As the possibility of a 2006 Liberal leadership convention emerged during the midpoint of the election campaign, most media speculation focused on the surfeit of potential candidates poised to replace Martin. Some optimistically billed this convention as being most likely to provide a broad field of skilled contenders not seen since the 1968 convention that included Pierre Trudeau, Robert Winters, Paul Martin, Sr., John Turner, Joe Greene, Mitchell Sharp and Allan MacEachen.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Analysis
Such speculation seemed rooted in the assumption that high-profile members of the Chrétien cabinet that had elected not to challenge the Martin juggernaut in 2003 (most commonly enumerated as John Manley, Allan Rock, Brian Tobin and Martin Cauchon) would return to federal politics, along with 2003 runner-up Sheila Copps and Martin's own presumptive heir Frank McKenna, prompting a balanced matchup between multiple household names.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Analysis
Instead, all of the above-mentioned politicians did not enter the race. Some commentators stated that this was because of a prevailing view that the Liberal Party would spend an extended period in opposition (as opposed to prior conventions where winning the party leadership came with some certainty of becoming Prime Minister). Others suggested reported party debt contributed to decisions to back down. For his part, McKenna cited personal toll of the leadership position as the top reason he did not run. There were conflicting views on whether the widespread reticence signalled that the Liberal leadership is undesirable or that a "wide open" leadership race would free the party from past baggage.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Analysis
In May 2006, The Globe and Mail newspaper reported that the then-eleven candidates were tested for bilingualism certificates by University of Ottawa professor Hélène Knoerr. Seven received passing scores: Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff both received top scores, while Stéphane Dion (who was tested on his English fluency), Joe Volpe, Martha Hall Findlay, Gerard Kennedy and Maurizio Bevilacqua also were graded as bilingual. (Bevilacqua later dropped out of the race.) The remaining candidates all failed the test, whereby each candidate was asked the same four questions and graded based on their syntax, vocabulary, and grammar. Hedy Fry (who also withdrew) did not finish the interview. The newspaper initially errantly reported that Kennedy and Bevilacqua had failed to meet fluency requirements in French, but later retracted this statement.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Analysis
The unofficial Liberal Party tradition was to alternate between francophone and anglophone leaders, a tradition informally known as alternance. This tradition would be broken if any candidate other than Stéphane Dion were to win. However, the alternance principle was not widely cited as a specific campaign issue. In fact, throughout the campaign, Dion was considered an "underdog" candidate among the "top tier" (with Rae & Ignatieff at the very top).


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Analysis
Although polls consistently showed him as a popular second choice of delegates committed to other candidates, Dion's status as a Quebecer was widely considered a handicap, with conventional wisdom suggesting that the party was unlikely to turn to its third consecutive leader from Quebec. However Dion's chances, along with those of Brison, Dryden and Volpe, appeared bolstered by another informal party tradition: Since Mackenzie King succeeded Wilfrid Laurier in 1919, every Liberal leader had served in the previous leader's Cabinet. At that point in time, aside from incumbent Liberal leader Alexander MacKenzie, Edward Blake and Mackenzie King were the only Liberal leaders that had never served in the Cabinet of a previous Liberal leader.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Analysis
Early in the race the field of declared contenders was often described as having a first tier of six potential winners (the "big six") most commonly cited as consisting of Scott Brison, Stéphane Dion, Ken Dryden, Michael Ignatieff, Gerard Kennedy and Bob Rae. By August 2006, most news articles cited the top-tier of consisting of only three, or four potential winners most commonly cited as Dion, Ignatieff and Rae but also occasionally including Kennedy. In October 2006, the Toronto Star reported that Kennedy and Dion's campaigns were holding talks about a potential alliance. The paper speculated (accurately, as it would turn out) that this alliance would be likely to win as their combined delegates would surpass both Ignatieff and Rae.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Analysis, Opinion polls
According to an opinion poll of Liberal party members by The Globe and Mail, conducted from September 12–18, Michael Ignatieff enjoyed a slim lead over the pack with 19% support. The remaining candidates' support was calculated at: 17% for Bob Rae, 13% for Stéphane Dion, 9% for Gerard Kennedy, 9% for Ken Dryden, 3% for Scott Brison, 2% for Joe Volpe, 1% for Martha Hall Findlay, and less than 1% for Hedy Fry. The poll found that 27% of party members did not know or were undecided about their choice.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Analysis, Opinion polls
The poll foretold Ignatieff's potential second-ballot weakness: 12% selected him as their second choice, compared to 23% for Rae and 17% for Dion. However, the poll's accuracy was questioned at the time since it was taken based on membership lists provided by Brison, Dryden and Dion. Still, a poll of Liberal party members in Ontario and Quebec by EKOS Research Associates for the Toronto Star and La Presse, conducted from September 17–24, showed similar results with Rae and Ignatieff supported by 25% each, Dion by 17% and Kennedy by 16%. Rae and Dion again had strong support for second choice at 27% each, compared with 19% for Ignatieff.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Analysis, Opinion polls
Party insiders suggested that Ignatieff would have to secure at least 35% of the delegates elected on "Super Weekend" to avoid being overtaken in subsequent ballots. Although he won the most delegates overall on that weekend, he did not reach the 35% target. An anonymous source speculated to the BBC that Ignatieff's 30-year absence from Canada and his initial support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq played against him in the election.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Analysis, Opinion polls
Patrick Gossage, a Toronto political consultant and Ignatieff supporter, explained his eventual loss this way: "There were people saying, 'Who is this telling us what he's going to do with the party?' Even though he was supported by the party establishment he nevertheless was an outsider, and he never successfully dealt with the labels the media put on him that he'd been away for 30 years."


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Analysis, Opinion polls
Lauren P. S. Epstein, the former prime minister of the Harvard Canadian Club, said: "What it came down to in the final vote was that the Liberal delegates were looking for someone who was more likely to unite the party; Ignatieff had ardent supporters, but at the same time, he had people who would never under any circumstances support him." Running second in many polls but with strong second choice support, Bob Rae looked like the most likely candidate to capitalize on Ignatieff's second ballot weakness. However, critics cited Rae's turbulent tenure as Ontario Premier in the early to mid 1990s, arguing that electoral success in Ontario was essential for forming government.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates
Individuals who gathered the necessary signatures from 300 party members and paid the first $25,000 installment of the entry fee:


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Scott Brison
Scott Brison, 39, was the MP for Kings—Hants and was Minister of Public Works and Government Services under Martin. He had previously been a Progressive Conservative MP (since 1997) and had in fact made a previous attempt at that party's leadership in their 2003 leadership election. Brison crossed the floor later that year to join the Liberals shortly after the creation of the Conservative Party of Canada. An openly gay former investment banker, Brison presented fiscally moderate and socially progressive positions. His PC leadership platform had called for Employment Insurance reform, more private involvement in healthcare, integrated defense strategy with the US, and socially liberal policies. His 2006 Liberal leadership platform emphasised the candidate as a "defender of the environment, business innovation and socially progressive values."


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Scott Brison, High profile supporters
Former New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna, considered the leading contender until he announced he was not running in the race, had donated $3000 to Brison's campaign in August and formally endorsed Brison on November 30.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Dion, 51, had been Intergovernmental Affairs minister (1996-2003) under Chrétien, Environment minister (2004-2006) under Martin. Before entering federal politics by his 1996 appointment to cabinet followed shortly by his election to parliament from Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, Dion was a professor of political science and noted federalist commentator. He was noted for vocally opposing Quebec sovereigntism and supporting for measures such as the Clarity Act. He was considered a Chrétien loyalist who nonetheless worked well with the Martin camp. Dion announced his candidacy on April 7.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Stéphane Dion, High-profile supporters
Former Liberal House Leader Don Boudria served as Dion's Campaign Chair and Paul Martin's BC Lieutenant Mark Marissen was his National Campaign Director. One-time Progressive Conservative leadership aspirant David Orchard also announced his support of Dion.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Stéphane Dion, High-profile supporters
Additional high-profile supporters included then-leader of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party David Karwacki, Jamie Elmhirst, the President of the British Columbia wing of the Party, Adam Campbell, the President of the Alberta wing of the Party, former Green Party of Canada deputy leader Tom Manley, former Prime Minister Paul Martin's Chief of Staff Tim Murphy, Herb Metcalfe, former John Manley Campaign Chair, and Marc-Boris Saint-Maurice the co-founder and former leader of the Marijuana Party of Canada. Former Justice minister Allan Rock endorsed Dion on December 1.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Stéphane Dion, High-profile supporters
At the convention, Dion received endorsements from eighth-place Martha Hall Findlay (eliminated on the first ballot) and – critically – fourth-place Gerard Kennedy, who withdrew after the second ballot. Ken Dryden and Joe Volpe, who both had endorsed Bob Rae after withdrawing, threw their support to Dion before the final ballot as well.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Ken Dryden
Ken Dryden, 59, had been Social Development minister (2004–2006) under Martin. A former star goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens hockey team, Dryden was elected in 2004 as a star candidate for the Liberals. He was instrumental in putting forward a child care strategy during the Martin government. Dryden, who wrote a book about the public education system, stressed the importance of improving the education system in order to keep Canada competitive. "Learning is at the core of our future—for a person, a society, an economy, a country," Dryden said. "Learning is our only real security, our only real opportunity, and this program, years in the hoping, was the first big step towards truly lifelong learning." He also said Canada's unique, multi-ethnic mix needs to be held up as an example to the world.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Martha Hall Findlay
Martha Hall Findlay, 47, was a Toronto lawyer and the first to officially declare her candidacy. She had previously run as a Liberal candidate in the 2004 election, losing to Belinda Stronach in the district of Newmarket—Aurora. When Stronach crossed the floor in 2005, Hall Findlay ceded her Liberal nomination for the riding to Stronach. Fluently bilingual, Hall Findlay worked as the principal of her own management and legal consultancy organization, The General Counsel Group, which works primarily in the high-tech and telecommunications fields in Canada and Europe. On March 17, 2008, Hall Findlay was elected to serve the Toronto constituency of Willowdale as Member of Parliament.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Michael Ignatieff
Michael Ignatieff, 59, was a public intellectual, who had worked as a teacher, writer/journalist and politician. For most of his professional life, Ignatieff lectured and wrote outside Canada: first in the United Kingdom at Cambridge University from 1978 to 1984, then in London as a journalist and writer until 2000 when he was named director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. His 1993 novel, Scar Tissue was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Michael Ignatieff
Upon his return to Canada in 2005, he became a visiting professor at the University of Toronto, and in the 2006 federal election campaign he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as MP for Etobicoke—Lakeshore. Ignatieff was a staunch supporter of interventionism and favoured the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, despite the conflict's relative unpopularity in Canada (and eventually in the United States). However, Ignatieff adopted a centre-left position on most domestic social policies.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Michael Ignatieff, High profile supporters
Ignatieff's campaign was co-chaired by Senator David Smith, a powerful Chrétien organizer and chairman emeritus of Canada's largest "cross-border" law firm, MP Denis Coderre, MP Ruby Dhalla, and was initially headed by Ian Davey (son of Senator Keith Davey), Toronto lawyers Alfred Apps (a party fundraiser and former federal candidate), Daniel Brock (former assistant to John Manley and Irwin Cotler) and Paul Lalonde (son of former minister Marc Lalonde). Davey, Apps and Brock had originally recruited Ignatieff to return to Canada in 2004 to be part of the Liberal party and eventually run for the leadership.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Michael Ignatieff, High profile supporters
David Peterson was Ignatieff's honorary campaign co-chair along with former Trudeau cabinet ministers Marc Lalonde and Donald MacDonald, and former Chrétien Minister Jean Augustine. As the candidate with most caucus support, Ignatieff's regional campaigns were mostly headed by parliamentarians (Ontario - Former Martin ministers Jim Peterson and Aileen Carroll, Atlantic Canada -  MP Rodger Cuzner, Quebec - MP and former president of the Liberal Party's federal Quebec wing Pablo Rodriguez, British Columbia - MP Stephen Owen, Alberta - Senator Grant Mitchell, Manitoba - MP Raymond Simard.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Michael Ignatieff, High profile supporters
In addition to federal caucus support, Ignatieff was also endorsed by numerous provincial ministers in Ontario and New Brunswick (the two provinces with Liberal governments that are affiliated with the federal party). Before the final ballot of the convention, Ignatieff received an endorsement from seventh-place Scott Brison (who had previously withdrew after the first ballot and endorsed Bob Rae).


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Kennedy, 46, was Minister of Education in the Ontario provincial government of Dalton McGuinty from 2003 until 2006 when he resigned to enter the federal Liberal leadership campaign. Kennedy was a key player in rebuilding the Ontario Liberal Party and bringing it to government in the 2003 provincial election. As Education Minister, he was widely viewed as having restored faith in the public education system after years of growing support for private schools. He resigned from cabinet on April 5 in order to enter the race. He was the runner-up in the 1996 Ontario Liberal leadership election, having finished in first place on the first four ballots, he was defeated by McGuinty on the fifth and final ballot. He was viewed by many journalists as being on the left wing of the party.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Gerard Kennedy, High profile supporters
Kennedy was backed by Senator Terry Mercer, former national director of the federal Liberal Party. He also enjoyed the support of former Premier of Prince Edward Island Keith Milligan and former Premier of New Brunswick Ray Frenette. While former cabinet minister Joe Fontana continued to support Kennedy, he resigned his seat in the House of Commons during the leadership campaign to run for Mayor of London. On November 25, The Globe and Mail reported that Justin Trudeau (who would win the 2013 convention and become Prime Minister in 2015) declared support for Kennedy's leadership bid.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Bob Rae
Bob Rae, 58, was the Ontario New Democratic Party Premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995 and was a federal NDP MP for Broadview—Greenwood in the House of Commons from 1978 to 1982. Since leaving electoral politics, Rae worked on a number of contentious issues for the federal government, most notably the Air India disaster; worked in international relations advising on constitutional issues and conducted a study for the Ontario government on post-secondary education. Rae joined the Liberal Party in April 2006 (he had previously been a Liberal in the 1960s) before launching a centrist campaign that month.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Bob Rae
In a speech to the Canadian Club of Winnipeg on March 13, 2006, Rae expressed his interest in uniting the 'progressive' forces of Canada in order to regain a majority government in the Canadian House of Commons. "There's a progressive record that's shared by a majority of Canadians, but so far, we have not succeeded in becoming a majority in the House of Commons, so we must think a bit about how that can happen."


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Bob Rae, High profile supporters
Rae was supported by former senior Chrétien aides, such as his older brother John Rae and Eddie Goldenberg, plus senior Ontario provincial Liberals such as provincial finance minister Greg Sorbara and provincial health minister and Deputy Premier George Smitherman. On May 12, Rae was endorsed by longtime Trudeau cabinet stalwart Allan MacEachen. Former leadership contenders Maurizio Bevilacqua, Carolyn Bennett and Hedy Fry withdrew from the campaign to throw their support to Rae, with Bevilacqua becoming National Co-Chair for the campaign and Chief Advisor on Economic Policy. Susan Kadis, the former Toronto co-chair of Ignatieff's campaign, endorsed Rae on October 27. Former Finance Minister Ralph Goodale endorsed Rae on November 28.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Bob Rae, High profile supporters
At the convention, Rae received the most endorsements from defeated candidates prior to the third ballot: Scott Brison and Joe Volpe withdrew after the first ballot to support him, as did Ken Dryden after being knocked off on the second ballot. However, Rae was knocked off the third ballot, and encouraged his delegates to choose the candidate that best suits their personal beliefs. He never disclosed who he voted for on the fourth ballot.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Joe Volpe
Joe Volpe, 59, was Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development (2003–2005) and Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (2005–2006) under Martin. He announced his candidacy on April 21, 2006. A former schoolteacher, he was elected to the House of Commons in 1988 for the Toronto riding of Eglinton—Lawrence. His top priorities were reinvigorating the party to get it back "on a professional keel." He promised to "make it a good corporate institution that it's been and the nation-building institution that it has always proved to be."


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Joe Volpe
Volpe ran into trouble on June 2 when it was revealed that his campaign had received $5,400 in donations from each of three children under the age of 15 (all were children of executives of the pharmaceutical company Apotex). The donations were later returned but the situation was spoofed by the satirical Web site Youth for Volpe. Sukh Dhaliwal and Yasmin Ratansi subsequently left the Volpe campaign to support Michael Ignatieff.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Registered candidates, Joe Volpe
The Liberal Party of Canada announced a $20,000 fine against Mr. Volpe because his campaign allowed membership forms to be distributed to cultural associations in Quebec without ensuring that new members would pay their own membership fee. Volpe was subsequently exonerated, and the fine was withdrawn.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Withdrawn candidates, Carolyn Bennett
Carolyn Bennett announced her entry into the race on April 24, 2006 and withdrew from the race on September 15 to endorse Bob Rae.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Withdrawn candidates, Maurizio Bevilacqua
Maurizio Bevilacqua formally declared his candidacy on April 19 and withdrew from the race on August 14 to endorse Bob Rae.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Withdrawn candidates, Hedy Fry
Hedy Fry entered the race on May 4 and withdrew on September 25 to endorse Bob Rae.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Withdrawn candidates, John Godfrey
John Godfrey announced his entry into the race on March 19, 2006 and withdrew from the race on April 12, before becoming an official candidate, citing health reasons. On October 20, he endorsed Bob Rae.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Unaffiliated caucus members
9 MPs and 6 Senators declared themselves neutral in the race, while 1 of 102 MPs and 10 of 63 Senators have not made their affiliations known or remain undecided.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Party biennial
The first three days of the Convention, November 29 to December 1, constituted the biennial convention of the Liberal Party of Canada. As such, delegates cast their ballot for party executive positions as well as the new leader. They also engaged in plenary workshops and other meetings associated with biennial conventions.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Party biennial
The keynote speech at the opening was delivered by Howard Dean, chairman of the U.S. Democratic National Committee, on the topic of party renewal.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Party biennial
A number of new party executives were elected at the convention. Notably, Senator Marie Poulin was elected President defeating Bobbi Ethier and former MP Tony Ianno. Executive members elected at the Convention serve until the next biennial convention.


2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Results, Pre-convention estimated delegate totals
* Undeclared and neutral ex officio delegates might choose not to attend convention and therefore might not vote.


2006 Liberal leadership bid by Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Dion won the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada on December 2, 2006.


2006 Liberal leadership bid by Stéphane Dion
With the defeat of the Liberal Party in the 2006 federal election, Dion was suggested as a potential leadership candidate for the party. On April 7, 2006, he announced his candidacy at the Montreal Convention Centre at 7:30 am, the day of the official beginning of the race and the candidacy announcement by Michael Ignatieff.


2006 Liberal leadership bid by Stéphane Dion
Dion's leadership campaign was referred to as the three-pillar approach. This approach focused on social justice, economic prosperity, and environmental sustainability, and a claim that a combination of these pillars would bring Canada into the 21st century. He said that his campaign would focus on sustainable development of the economy and creating a "hyper-educated" Canadian workforce in order to compete with China. Dion has been able to draw from three factions of the party to date, with Chrétien Cabinet member Don Boudria, former Martin BC Campaign Chair Mark Marissen and former John Manley Campaign Chair Herb Metcalfe agreeing to sign on to his campaign.


2006 Liberal leadership bid by Stéphane Dion
Dion was a lower-key figure in the leadership race, with much of the media and political attention being centered on the race's two most high-profile candidates, Michael Ignatieff and former  Ontario New Democratic Party premier Bob Rae. Federal NDP leader Jack Layton described Dion as "A man of principle and conviction and therefore almost certain not to be elected leader of the Liberal party." For much of the campaign, front-runner Ignatieff had the strongest support in Dion's home province of Quebec. Dion's level of support was similar to that of former Ontario cabinet minister Gerard Kennedy, both candidates being in a distant third/fourth place, though still significantly higher than the other four leadership contestants.


2006 Liberal leadership bid by Stéphane Dion
Nevertheless, some analysts argued that Dion had several advantages over other candidates. Dion was able to draw support from the two factions of the party. The Chrétien wing of the party was represented by Chrétien-era Cabinet member Don Boudria, while former John Manley Campaign Chair Herb Metcalfe also signed on to Dion's campaign. The Martin wing of the party was represented by former Martin BC Campaign Chair Mark Marissen and two-time losing Liberal candidate in Burnaby—Douglas, Bill Cunningham.


2006 Liberal leadership bid by Stéphane Dion
Others predicted that Dion had an edge as the only French Canadian in the race, as the Liberal Party has a famous tradition of rotating its leadership between francophones and anglophones, and it was arguably a francophone's "turn." Some analysts also felt Dion had an advantage because, unlike Ignatieff and Rae, he had served in Martin's Cabinet. Since 1948, every Liberal leader has been a minister under his predecessor.


2006 Liberal leadership bid by Stéphane Dion
As of October 1, 2006, Dion had captured approximately 17% of the delegate spots available for the December leadership convention in Montreal. This resulted in his entering the convention in fourth place behind Ignatieff, Rae and former Ontario Education Minister Gerard Kennedy.


2006 Liberal leadership bid by Stéphane Dion
On December 2, 2006 at the Liberal Party leadership convention, he nevertheless managed to leapfrog Kennedy to finish third after the first ballot by two votes, garnering 17.8% compared to 17.7% for Kennedy. On the second ballot he took a 90-vote lead over Kennedy, after which Kennedy withdrew, throwing his support behind Dion.


2006 Liberal leadership bid by Stéphane Dion
On the third ballot he was in first place with 37%, followed by Michael Ignatieff with 34.5%. Rae, with 28.5%—thus eliminated—freed his delegates to vote as they wished. Many threw their support behind Dion, as did former leadership candidates Ken Dryden and Joe Volpe.


2006 Liberal leadership bid by Stéphane Dion
On the fourth ballot, Dion captured roughly 54.7% and was declared the new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.


2006 Liberian Premier League, Overview
It was contested by 9 teams, and Mighty Barrolle won the championship.


2006 Liberty Bowl
The 2006 Liberty Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game played on December 29, 2006, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The 48th edition of the Liberty Bowl pitted the Houston Cougars against the South Carolina Gamecocks. With sponsorship from AutoZone, the game was officially the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. South Carolina won the game by a score of 44–36.


2006 Libyan Super Cup
The 2006 Libyan SuperCup took place between 2005-06 Libyan Premier League champions Al Ittihad and 2005-06 Libyan Cup winners Al Ahly Tripoli. This was the 10th edition of the competition, and it resulted in Al Ittihad's 5th consecutive victory, after they won 1-0 over their arch rivals.


2006 Liechtenstein dogs referendum
A referendum on a new law on dogs was held in Liechtenstein on 5 November 2006. The proposal was approved by 62.7% of voters.


2006 Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito season
Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito's 2006 season was the club's 76th year of existence, the 53rd year in professional football, and the 45th in the top level of professional football in Ecuador.


2006 Liga Indonesia Premier Division
The 2006 Liga Indonesia Premier Division (also known as the Liga Djarum Indonesia for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th season of the Liga Indonesia Premier Division, the top Indonesian professional league for association football clubs.


2006 Liga Indonesia Premier Division, Awards, Top scorers
This is a list of the top scorers from the 2006 season.


2006 Liga Indonesia Premier Division Final
The 2006 Liga Indonesia Premier Division Final was a football match which was played on 30 July 2006 at Manahan Stadium in Solo. It was contested by Persik and PSIS to determine the winner of the 2006 Liga Indonesia Premier Division. Persik won the match 1–0 after 120 minutes with Cristian Gonzáles scoring the winning goal for their second Premier Division title.


2006 Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano season
The 2006 Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano or 2006 Segundo Torneo was a professional football tournament in Bolivia that was played to revert the adjustment to the European calendar caused by the 2005 Torneo Adecuación. This tournament was played at the end of the 2005–06 season.


2006 Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano season, Group stage
Top 3 of each group qualify for final group stage


2006 Limerick Senior Hurling Championship
The Limerick Senior Hurling Championship is an annual club competition between the top hurling clubs in Limerick. The winners of the Limerick Championship qualify to represent their county in the Munster Club Championship, the winners of which go on to the All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship.


2006 Limerick Senior Hurling Championship
The winners of the 2006 championship were Bruree who defeated firm favourites, Patrickswell in the final on a scoreline of 1-16 to 1-15.


2006 Limerick Senior Hurling Championship, Overview
Sixteen teams contest the Limerick County Championship. These teams are:


2006 Limerick Senior Hurling Championship, Relegation Playoffs
The Losers of these matches will play Intermediate Hurling in 2007. There will be 15 teams playing senior hurling in 2007 plus a divisional team. The Knockainey - Dromin Athlacca match may be called off for some time due to the shock death of the Knockainey full back William O'Brien to Sudden Adult Death Syndrome the night before the proposed meeting of the two clubs.


2006 Lithuanian Athletics Championships
The 83rd 2006 Lithuanian Athletics Championships were held in S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium, Kaunas on 21–22 July 2006.


2006 Little League World Series
The 2006 Little League World Series, held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, took place between August 18 and August 28, one day later than originally scheduled. Inclement weather forced the cancellation of the third-place game on August 27 and the postponement of the championship game also scheduled for that date. The Northern Little League of Columbus, Georgia, defeated Kawaguchi City Little League of Kawaguchi, Japan, in the championship game of the 60th Little League World Series.


2006 Little League World Series
The event was broadcast in the United States on ABC Sports, ESPN and ESPN2 in both analog and high-definition. The U.S. Championship game was the last ABC Sports telecast. Games were held in the two stadiums located at Little League headquarters in South Williamsport:


2006 Little League World Series, Teams
Between five and twelve teams take part in 16 regional qualification tournaments, which vary in format depending on region. In the United States, the qualification tournaments are in the same format as the Little League World Series itself: a round-robin tournament followed by an elimination round to determine the regional champion.


2006 Little League World Series, Results, Pool play
The top two teams in each pool moved on to their respective semifinals. The winners of each met on August 27 to play for the Little League World Championship. Teams marked in green qualified to the knockout stage. Ties are broken based on records in head-to-head competition among tied teams. If a clear winner cannot be determined from head-to-head results, the tie is broken by calculating the ratio of runs allowed to defensive innings played for all teams involved in the tie. The team with the lowest runs-per-defensive-inning ratio advances.


2006 Little League World Series, Results, Elimination round
The consolation game between Matamoros, Mexico and Beaverton, Oregon, scheduled for August 27 at Volunteer Stadium, was cancelled due to rain, and both teams share third place. The championship game was originally scheduled for 3:30 pm US EDT on August 27, but was postponed due to rain. The game was originally rescheduled for 8:00 pm on August 28, but changed because of weather concerns.


2006 Little League World Series, Champion's path
The Columbus Northern LL went undefeated on their road to the LLWS, winning all eleven of their matches. Their total record was 16–1, their only loss coming against Lemont LL (from Illinois).


2006 Little League World Series, Mid-Island incident
Television coverage aired throughout the United States on ABC Sports and ESPN. At first, there was no delay on its broadcasts, despite the fact that all managers and coaches were equipped with miniature microphones.


2006 Little League World Series, Mid-Island incident
That changed after two incidents; one in a preliminary game where an unidentified California pitcher told his coach that "[the umpire] ain't giving me shit" in reference to a tight strike zone, but the other, more important incident took place late in a preliminary-round game in which a player for Mid-Island Little League of Staten Island, New York, who was not publicly identified, told his teammates to just score "one fucking run" that was broadcast live on ESPN. In response, the team's manager, Nick Doscher, slapped the player, a violation of a Little League policy against physical contact targeting players. Both the player and manager were reprimanded, and ESPN and ABC imposed a five-second delay on future telecasts. The incident was part of the continuing legacy of the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy.


2006 Little League World Series qualification
Qualification for the 2006 Little League World Series took place in sixteen different parts of the world during July and August 2006, with formats and number of teams varying by region.


2006 Live
2006 Live is a live album by the Danish progressive metal band Royal Hunt, released on CD and DVD by Frontiers Records in 2006. It is the only official live recording with singer John West.


2006 Liverpool City Council election
Elections to Liverpool City Council were held on 4 May 2006. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrat party kept overall control of the council. Overall turnout was 25%.


2006 Liège–Bastogne–Liège
The 92nd edition of the Liège–Bastogne–Liège cycling classic was held on April 23, and stretched 262 km. The race was won by Spanish all-rounder Alejandro Valverde of the Illes Balears cycling team.


2006 London Marathon
The 2006 London Marathon was the 26th running of the annual marathon race in London, United Kingdom, which took place on Sunday, 23 April. The elite men's race was won by Kenya's Felix Limo in a time of 2:06:39 hours and the women's race was won by Deena Kastor of the United States in 2:19:36.


2006 London Marathon
In the wheelchair races, Britain's David Weir (1:29:48) and Italy's Francesca Porcellato (1:59:57) won the men's and women's divisions, respectively. Weir was the first person to complete the course in under one and a half hours.


2006 London Marathon
Around 119,000 people applied to enter the race: 47,020 had their applications accepted and 33,578 started the race. A total of 32,924 runners, 22849 men and 10,075 women, finished the race.


2006 London Senior Football Championship
Following are the results of the 2006 London Senior Football Championship, won by St. Brendan's.


2006 London Senior Football Championship
The London Senior Football Championship is a GAA cup competition between the top Gaelic football clubs in London, England. The London Football championship first began in 1897 with Ireland United claiming the inaugural title.


2006 London Senior Football Championship, Qualifier round
The winners of each of these brackets go onto take up a place in the championship semi-final.


2006 London Senior Football Championship, Final stages, Relegation, A
Match 22-Round Towers 1–16 -V- 2–6 St Clarets   08-Oct Match 23-Garryowen 1–6 -V- 3–15 Neasden Gaels	 14-Oct


2006 London Senior Football Championship, Final stages, Relegation, B
Match 24- St Clarets -V-Shalloe Pearse – 22-Oct Match 25 – Garryowen -V- Harlesden Harps – 22-Oct


2006 London local elections
Local government elections took place in London, and some other parts of the United Kingdom on Thursday 4 May 2006. Polling stations were open between 7am and 10pm.


2006 London local elections
All London borough council seats were up for election. Mayoral contests were held in the London Boroughs of Hackney, Lewisham, and Newham.


2006 London local elections
The London Conservatives slightly increased their vote share, made 131 council seat gains and won control of 6 new councils, while London Labour saw its vote share decline by 6% and lost 8 councils and 182 seats. The 2006 result was one of Labour's worst local election results in London, with its share of the vote (27.9%), its number of council seats (684) and number of councils (7) all at their lowest levels since 1968. Conversely, the Conservatives won the most seats, the most councils and the most votes in London for the first time since 1982.


2006 London local elections
The Labour decline was also accompanied by a rise in the number of minor party councillors, mostly concentrated in specific local authorities. Respect won 15 council seats, the British National Party won 14 and the London Green Party won 12. The Christian Peoples Alliance and the Socialist Party also won two seats each. In total, the election saw 76 minor party or independent councillors elected in London, a figure which remains the highest on record.


2006 London local elections
Altogether, minor parties and independents won 17% of the vote, the highest ever vote share for 'other' parties until the local elections of 2014.


2006 London local elections, Overall councillor numbers
The largest party in terms of councils and councillors became the Conservative Party after this election, with losses by the Labour Party and a small increase in share of the vote to the Liberal Democrats. Smaller national parties made significant gains, with the British National Party and Respect having the second-largest number of councillors in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and Tower Hamlets (respectively). The Green Party also saw its gains concentrated on one area to achieve the third most councillors in the London Borough of Lewisham. Scattered across boroughs, unaffiliated residents groups won 24 council seats.


2006 London local elections, Mayoral results
In three London boroughs the executive function of the council is a directly elected mayor. The mayoral elections take place at the same time as councillor elections in those boroughs.


2006 London tornado
The 2006 London tornado was a significant United Kingdom tornado spawned from a squall line moving over the city on 7 December 2006 at approximately 11:02 GMT. Its intensity is estimated to have been T4 on the TORRO scale, equating to F2 on the Fujita scale.


2006 London tornado, Meteorological synopsis
On the morning of 7 December, the UK was under the influence of a strong Atlantic Ocean low pressure system, which was named Ulrike, bringing unstable weather conditions to much of the UK, and the south in particular. At approximately 07:30 GMT, a small band of thunderstorms initialised over Cornwall moving east-northeast across the country. By approximately 10:00 am, the squall line had reached Salisbury, where a drop in humidity was recorded, which may have resulted in an increase of atmospheric pressure behind the squall, causing it to accelerate forward. This increased motion in combination with a change in wind direction ahead of the storm may have initialised the rotation of the mesocyclone in one of the now strong storm cells, resulting in the touchdown of the T4 tornado in Kensal Rise, London, at 11 am.


2006 London tornado, Aftermath
The London Fire Brigade and structural surveyors assessed the damage and structural safety of affected properties. In the meantime, several hundred people were displaced from their homes until they had been declared safe for their occupants to return. Brent London Borough Council, speaking to a national newspaper, announced that none of the affected properties are likely to be demolished, though a total of 29 homes have been declared as unfit for habitation due to the damage caused by the tornado.


2006 Lone Star Grand Prix
The 2006 Lone Star Grand Prix was the second race for the 2006 American Le Mans Series season at a temporary street course built around Reliant Park, Houston. It took place on May 12, 2006.


2006 Lone Star Grand Prix, Official results
Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).


2006 Long Beach, California mayoral election
The 2006 Long Beach, California mayoral election was held on April 11, 2006 and June 6, 2006 to elect the mayor of Long Beach, California. It saw the election of Bob Foster.


2006 Lord Speaker election
The first election for Lord Speaker was held on 28 June 2006 after the House of Lords had determined the title, powers and responsibilities of the office following removal of the speakership from the Lord Chancellor by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.


2006 Lord Speaker election, Candidates
A list of nine candidates for election as the first Lord Speaker was announced on 6 June 2006:


2006 Lord Speaker election, Result
The result of the election was announced on 4 July 2006, and Baroness Hayman immediately replaced the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, on the Woolsack. The Lord Chamberlain, Lord Luce, was on hand to confirm the assent of the Queen to the election.


2006 Los Angeles Angels season
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2006 season started with the team trying to win their 3rd consecutive AL West title. However, they came short, finishing in second place with a record of 89–73. But the biggest story of the year was longtime Angels mainstay Tim Salmon playing his final season. Towards the end of the season, not only were the fans excited with trying to get into the playoffs in the final month of the season, but they were excited about Salmon trying to hit his 300th home run. Eventually, he ended with 299, one short of the milestone.


2006 Los Angeles Angels season, Regular season, Player stats, Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


2006 Los Angeles Angels season, Regular season, Player stats, Pitching
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


2006 Los Angeles Angels season, Regular season, Player stats, Pitching
Note: G = Games pitched; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


2006 Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors election
The 2006 Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors elections were held on June 6, 2006, coinciding with the California gubernatorial election, 2006. Two of the five seats (for the First and Third Districts) of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors were contested in this election. None of the incumbents were termed out.


2006 Los Angeles Dodgers season
In 2006, the Los Angeles Dodgers looked to improve their record from 2005. The team switched General Managers from Paul DePodesta to Ned Colletti, and hired Grady Little as the new manager. The Dodgers were able to win 88 games. In the National League Western Division, the Dodgers won the wild card, but in the first round of the playoffs lost in three straight games against the New York Mets. This is also their first season to be broadcast on KCAL-TV (9).


2006 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Game log, Season summary
After a season battling injuries to team leaders Jeff Kent and all-star Nomar Garciaparra, the Dodgers were able to produce with several young rookies such as Russell Martin, Andre Ethier, James Loney, Chad Billingsley, and Jonathan Broxton. Key reliever Yhency Brazobán was sidelined with Tommy John surgery, and closer Éric Gagné was sidelined with a back injury. However, rookie pitcher Takashi Saito took over the closing role and instantly became one of the game's best closers, ending the season with 24 saves in just half of the season.


2006 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Game log, Season summary
Los Angeles had a very streaky season in 2006. After they started just 12–17, the Dodgers went on to win 15 of their next 18 games to improve to 27-20. They were 46-42 at the all-star break, two games back of the San Diego Padres in a tough division (all five teams in the N.L. West were .500 or better at the all-star break). Two Dodger players, Nomar Garciaparra, and Brad Penny, were selected to play in the All-Star Game.


2006 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Game log, Season summary
After the all-star break, the Dodgers lost 13 of their first 14 games. As a result, their record dropped to 47–55, and they were in last place in the N.L. West, 7½ games out of first place. Los Angeles would bounce back from this losing streak to win 17 out of their next 18 games, the first time the Dodgers did so since 1899. At the end of this winning stretch, Los Angeles was in first place with a record of 64–56.


2006 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Game log, Season summary
During this stretch, the Dodgers acquired Wilson Betemit from the Atlanta Braves, Julio Lugo from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and pitcher Greg Maddux from the Chicago Cubs. Maddux proved to be the biggest transition for the Dodgers, as he provided the Dodgers' starting rotation with a veteran arm and pitching depth.


2006 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Game log, Season summary
The highlight of the 2006 season for Los Angeles was on September 18, against the San Diego Padres. Coming into the four-game series, Los Angeles held a half game lead in the N.L. West over San Diego with two and a half weeks left in the season. Los Angeles won the first game of the series 3–1 after a strong pitching performance by Maddux, extending the Dodgers' lead to a 1½ games over San Diego. The second game of the series was an 11–2 rout in favor of San Diego, trimming the Dodgers lead back to a half game.


2006 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Game log, Season summary
The third game of the series was a pitchers' duel between San Diego's Chris Young and the Dodgers Derek Lowe. San Diego scored first after Russell Branyan hit a solo home run to make it 1-0. Russell Martin tied the game at 1-1 with a solo home run of his own in the 7th. But San Diego won the game 2-1 when Khalil Greene scored on Terrmel Sledge's single. San Diego's victory gave them a half game lead over the Dodgers in the N.L. West.


2006 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Game log, Season summary
The last game of the series on September 18 was a rocky start for the Dodgers. Brad Penny gave up four runs in the first inning, giving San Diego a 4-0 lead. Los Angeles slowly climbed back into the game, and tied the score 4-4 in the third inning. Neither team scored again until San Diego scored two in the top of the 8th to take a 6-4 lead. The Dodgers would cut San Diego's lead to one run after Wilson Betemit drove in Marlon Anderson with an RBI single.


2006 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Game log, Season summary
San Diego scored three runs in the top of the 9th and appeared to have broken the game wide open with a 9-5 lead. With a four-run lead, San Diego elected to bring in Jon Adkins to pitch the 9th instead of closer Trevor Hoffman, who at the time was just three saves shy of tying the all-time record. Jeff Kent and J. D. Drew hit back-to-back home runs off of Adkins to close the lead to 9–7 with nobody out. San Diego then elected to bring Hoffman in to finish the game.


2006 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Game log, Season summary
Hoffman however, gave up back-to-back home runs to Martin and Anderson on the first two pitches Hoffman threw, tying the score at 9–9. It was only the fourth time a team hit four consecutive home runs in an inning, and the first time since the Minnesota Twins did so in 1964. San Diego scored a run in the top of the 10th on Josh Bard's RBI single to take a 10-9 lead. But after Kenny Lofton walked, Nomar Garciaparra hit the game-winning two-run walk off home run. The Dodgers' 11–10 victory gave them a half game lead over San Diego with just two weeks left in the season.


2006 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Game log, Season summary
San Diego and Los Angeles finished the season tied for first place in the N.L. West at 88–74. San Diego however, was awarded the division title because they had won 13 of 18 games from Los Angeles during the regular season, giving the Dodgers the wild card spot.


2006 Los Angeles Dodgers season, 2006 National League Division Series
Upon entering the playoffs, they were swept at Shea Stadium. Reliever Joe Beimel cut his hand on glass at a bar while drinking. Beimel told his teammates, he did it in his hotel room but then later revealed the truth. Beimel was sidelined during all of the Division Series.


2006 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Major League Baseball Draft
The Dodgers selected 50 players in this draft. Of those, seven of them would eventually play Major League baseball. The Dodgers gained an extra first round pick and a supplemental first round pick as a result of losing pitcher Jeff Weaver to the Angels. They also lost their second and third round picks as a result of their signing free agents Rafael Furcal and Bill Mueller.


2006 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Major League Baseball Draft
The top draft pick was left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw from Highland Park High School in University Park, Texas. Kershaw would win the 2014 NL MVP Award as well as multiple Cy Young Awards. He also pitched a no-hitter and led the league in ERA for four straight seasons.


2006 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Major League Baseball Draft
The other first round picks were right-handed pitcher Bryan Morris from Motlow State Community College and shortstop Preston Mattingly from Central High School. Morris was part of the Dodgers 2008 trade for Manny Ramirez and eventually made it to the Majors. Mattingly, the son of All-Star first baseman and later Dodgers manager Don Mattingly never panned out. He hit just .232 in 463 minor league games over six seasons before he was eventually released.


2006 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
The 32nd Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, given by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), honored the best in film for 2006.


2006 Los Angeles Sparks season
The 2006 WNBA season was the tenth season for the Los Angeles Sparks. The team went for the best record in the West, but were still unable to return to the WNBA Finals, losing in the conference finals to the Sacramento Monarchs, 2 games to 0.


2006 Los Angeles Sparks season, Offseason, Expansion Draft
Laura Macchi was selected by the Chicago Sky in the Expansion Draft.


2006 Losail Superbike World Championship round
The 2006 Losail Superbike World Championship round was the first round of the 2006 Superbike World Championship season. It took place on the weekend of February 23–25, 2006 at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar.


2006 Lotto–Belisol Ladiesteam season
The 2006 women's road cycling season was the first for the Lotto-Belisol Ladiesteam cycling team.


2006 Lotto–Belisol Ladiesteam season, UCI World Ranking
The team finished 17th in the UCI ranking for teams.


2006 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team
The 2006 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team represented Louisiana Tech University as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by eighth-year head coach Jack Bicknell Jr., the Bulldogs played their home games at Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech finished the season with a record of 3–10 overall and a mark of 1–7 in conference play, tying for eighth place in the WAC.


2006 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns football team
The 2006 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns football team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Ragin' Cajuns were led by fifth-year head coach Rickey Bustle and played their home games at Cajun Field. The Ragin' Cajuns finished the season with a record of 6–6 overall and 3–4 in Sun Belt Conference play.


2006 Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football team
The 2006 Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football team represented the University of Louisiana at Monroe in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Warhawks offense scored 262 points while the defense allowed 267 points.


2006 Louisville Cardinals football team
The 2006 Louisville Cardinals football team represented the University of Louisville in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team, led by Bobby Petrino in his fourth year at the school, played their home games in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Playing in their second year in the Big East Conference, the team finished the regular season with eleven wins and one loss and were conference champions. They represented the Big East in the 2007 Orange Bowl and with the win ended the season with a 12–1 record. The team ended the season ranked sixth in the nation.


2006 Louisville Cardinals football team, Pre-season
The Cardinals finished the 2005 season with a 9–3 record, including a loss in the Gator Bowl. After the loss, they were ranked 19th in the nation. Returning eight starters from their 2005 offense, including Brian Brohm and Michael Bush and nine starters on a defense that allowed 320 yards a game the team was picked, by the Big East media, to finish second in the conference.


2006 Louisville Cardinals football team, Pre-season, Coaching changes
After assistant coach Tony Levine left the Cardinals for a job in the NFL, he was replaced as special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach by Tom McMahon. McMahon had eight years of assistant coaching experience at Utah State. Also added to the staff as a new assistant strength coach was Bryan Dermody.


2006 Louisville Cardinals football team, Pre-season, Roster changes
Although returning 17 starters from 2005, the team lost other key players to the 2006 NFL Draft. Four players were taken in the draft, three of which were defensive starters. From the offense, offensive guard Jason Spitz was taken in the third round by Green Bay. From the defense, end Elvis Dumervil was taken by Denver, linebacker Brandon Johnson by Arizona and tackle Montavious Stanley by Dallas.


2006 Louisville Cardinals football team, Pre-season, Recruiting
The Cardinals signed 25 recruits for the new class. Included in the top-40 class were three four-star recruits on offense, a five-star recruit on defense, and another four four-star recruits on defense.


2006 Louisville Cardinals football team, Pre-season, Pre-season honors
Five Cardinals' players were honored as part of pre-season watchlists for national awards.


2006 Louisville Cardinals football team, Season, Coaching staff
The Cardinal team was coached by Bobby Petrino and his staff, most of whom were in their fourth year together. Tom McMahon was brought in this year to coach special teams and the outside linebackers.


2006 Louisville Cardinals football team, Season, Game summaries, Kentucky
The Cardinals opened their season against in-state rivals the Kentucky Wildcats, playing for the Governor's Cup. Kentucky, led by fourth year coach Rich Brooks and quarterback Andre' Woodson, came into the game not having beaten the Cardinals in four years. Louisville took an early lead with three Michael Bush touchdown runs in the first half, added to a touchdown pass by Brian Brohm and a field goal by Art Carmody. Woodson threw a pair of touchdown passes at the end of the half to bring the teams into halftime with the Cardinals leading 31-14.


2006 Louisville Cardinals football team, Season, Game summaries, Kentucky
On their first possession of the second half, Michael Bush, already having 124 yards rushing, was injured. It was eventually revealed that he had broken his leg and would be out for the rest of the season. Despite the loss of Bush, the Cardinals still managed to score four more touchdowns in the game, including two by his replacement, George Stripling. With another long touchdown pass by Woodson and a kickoff return for a touchdown by Keenan Burton, the game ended with the Cardinals winning 59-28. With the win, the Cardinals moved up a spot to 12th in the nation.


2006 Louisville Cardinals football team, Season, Game summaries, Temple
The Cardinals next went on the road to face the Temple Owls led by second-year head coach Al Golden and quarterback Adam Dimichele. The Cardinals scored early and often with 5 rushing touchdowns in the first half added to a 57-yard passing touchdown by Brohm to give them a 42-0 lead at halftime. The second half wasn't better for the Owls, still failing to score and giving up two more rushing touchdowns and a pair of field goals by Art Carmody. When the game was over the Cardinals won 62-0 and had amassed 671 total yards of offense. After the game, Louisville kept their number 12 ranking.


2006 Louisville Cardinals football team, Season, Game summaries, Miami
The Cardinals first big test of the year came against the 15th ranked Miami Hurricanes, led by sixth year head coach Larry Coker and quarterback Kyle Wright. Louisville had never beaten the Hurricanes before in 10 previous meetings. Prior to the game, Hurricane players came to midfield to stomp on the Cardinals logo, causing a small altercation. Early, Louisville's strong offense struggled against the powerful Miami defense, a defense that had only given up 200 yards a game. Miami scored first on a rushing touchdown, but would be unable to score again.


2006 Louisville Cardinals football team, Season, Game summaries, Miami
The Cardinals, led by Brohm, scored on a field goal and a long touchdown pass to take a 10-7 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, Brohm injured his thumb and would be taken out of the game. It was later reported that he would be out for four to six weeks. His loss didn't stop the Cardinals offense though, with running back Kolby Smith scoring two rushing touchdowns in the third quarter, and Brohm's replacement, Hunter Cantwell, throwing another touchdown in the fourth to bring the final score to 31-7 in favor of the Cardinals. Although they had been averaging over 600 yards per game, the Cardinals were held to 382, but it was enough to defeat the Hurricanes. After the game the Cardinals moved to 9th in the nation, while the Hurricanes dropped out of the polls for the first time since 1999.