Data has become a critical part of any political campaign. Information about who voted where, what they said on the doorstep, whether they donated to a party, showed up to an event, or liked a post on Facebook are now all being used by political campaigns to better shape messaging,mobilize supporters, and get out the vote on elections day.
The month of November is increasingly associated with exaggerated moustaches thanks to the charitable campaign Movember. The charity was founded in 2004 by a group of men who sought to raise awareness of men's health issues they thought were underfunded. Movember is promoted by men(“Mo-Bros”) who encourage the growth of moustaches to raise money for men's health research and services with a specific emphasis on prostate cancer and mental health. The campaign also promotes the idea that“Mo-sistas” can be active in the campaign by remaining without facial and body hair, and supporting the Mo-bros in their moustache growing efforts through additional fund raising.
The first week of the Liberal government is a classic case in point of the Liberals “talk left, govern right” practice. The Liberals were forced to backtrack and clarify cabinet appointments after they were called out for saying one thing about equality and doing another.
This past week saw the largest union in the country engage in a debateon where to focus the use of union dues, in campaigns or in strikesupport.
CUPE Convention, union dues, Movember's gendered politics, Long-form census back, equality in cabinet, Marijuana, Hydro One IPO, Keystone XL and more. All original articles from across the left this week.
Time and again it has been demonstrated that privatizing public assetsactually costs governments more money. This fact has become more obviousto many in Ontario where the budget watchdog has released a reportshowing that the sale of the province's electricity transmission branch mightprovide some additional revenue this year, but that Ontario's fiscalhealth will become significantly worse in future years as a result ofthe sale.
This past week saw province-wide rotating strikes by Québec's public sector workers. The strikes are part of the popular Common Front movement against the austerity program being rolled out by the provincial Liberals. The government's cut-backs threaten the availability and quality of public services for many of the province's most vulnerable citizens. In total, more than 70,000 teachers,professional caregivers, technicians, support and administrative staff,labourers, and other civil servants walked out.
