Calling all candidates! Need your life story (and phone number, e-mail, etc.)

So you're planning on being a candidate in Canada's 41st general election, are you? Congratulations! Like tens of thousands of would-be MPs before you, you're going to have the time of your life. Really!

Over here in this corner of the vast conspiracy known as the National Media, I'd like to be your new best friend (at least for the next 6-10 weeks) and, to that, end, I'm putting out the call today to all those on the blue team, red team, orange team, green team — even the light blue team who doesn't want to play on Canada's team — to send along a few lines to tell me (left, freezing my butt off during a campaign stop in 2008 in Iqaluit, Nunavut) about yourself.

I want this information because I'm a political reporter and this information is very likely to be useful stuff as we prepare to write about the 41st general election, otherwise known as The Election Nobody Wanted.

And, while you're sending me that stuff, tell me how I can reach you if I need to talk to you. And your campaign office number is not good enough (though you should send that to me too). There's a good chance I'll likely be on a leaders' bus or plane and, when we touch down in your town or city at 10 p.m. the night before a campaign rally, that's when we're going to want to talk to you. So we need your personal cell phone number and your personal e-mail – the co-ordinates that will help us find you after-hours and on weekends. If you're on Twitter, let us know your Twittername. If you're on Facebook, let us be your friend. Any other ways to reach you — we want to know about him.

And on the other side of the ledger, feel free to contact me any time of the day or night at any of the numbers/co-ordinates listed at my home page. And, despite what the communications people will tell you at your provincial or national campaign offices, it's always OK to call me up or send an e-mails with whatever is on your mind. Take their advice with a grain of salt. Do what your gut tells you to do, not your head. Reach out and touch me! A caution before you do that: If you're sending something to me, I will assume I can attribute the information to you and can quote from it. If you are seeking to pass along some information on a confidential basis, contact me before you send it so we're both clear on the ground rules for the use of this information. We'll both be better off for being clear about that.

Well that's about it. To summarize: Send me your contact info as soon as possible. Tell me a bit about yourself. Stay in touch — I have never and will never complain about getting too many e-mail messages. And good luck!