Bruce Anderson is the chairman of polling firm Abacus Data, a regular member of CBC The National's "At Issue" panel and a founding partner of i2 Ideas and Issues Advertising. He has done polls for Liberal and Conservative politicians in the past, but no longer does any partisan work. Other members of his family have worked for Conservative and Liberal politicians, and a daughter currently works for Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau. He writes a weekly digital column for The Globe and Mail.

One of ancient Rome's most gifted politicians, Marcus Tullius Cicero, said "The face is a picture of the mind with the eyes as its interpreter". This being an election year, voters will be flooded with pictures of candidates, each campaign hoping we see what we're looking for in their faces, expressions and movements.

For weeks leaders will tour the country, in search of the perfect shot. For those who plan the speeches and tours there are lots of details to think about, but at the top of their list will be making sure they know what idea they want to convey through the photographs that will be taken each day.

We'll see lots of shots taken by photojournalists working for news organizations. But chances are, more of the photos that find their way to our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram accounts will be shots taken by the party campaigns themselves. The following photos are all taken from the respective political parties.

Social media didn't exist only a few elections ago, but plays a greater role in our politics with each passing month. And sharing images is a huge part of that trend. Every day, according to Instagram, 70 million photos and videos are shared. That's almost three million an hour.

Most roundups of the big social media events in U.S. politics last year mention Barack Obama's decision to wear a tan suit to a White House media briefing. What the President said about Russia and Ukraine that day seemed lost in the discussion about the colour of his suit.

All three of Canada's major party leaders get this.