Majority of York Region voters elect to stay home

This is normal, said Dennis Pilon, professor of political science at York University, but he admitted the numbers are disappointing. “Voting is not like a market, it’s not a consumer item. If I don’t go to Walmart, I hurt Walmart. If I don’t vote, I hurt myself,” he said in the Aurora Banner Oct. 30. “Ifple peo pass up the opportunity to try to influence the process, they are pretty much allowing those who already have superior privilege in our society to just have even more control of power.” Read full story.

The definitive history of sexy Halloween costumes
Before you understand the sexy costume, you have to understand the non-sexy version, reported Time Oct. 30. “There is a long tradition of costuming of sorts that goes back to Hallow Mass when people prayed for the dead,” explains Nicholas Rogers, a history professor at York University who has written about Halloween. “But they also prayed for fertile marriages, and the boy choristers in the churches dressed up as virgins. So there was a certain degree of cross dressing in the actual ceremony of All Hallow’s Eve.” Read full story.

Tory’s focus on housing welcomed by national homelessness advocate
One of the authors of a national report on homelessness is thrilled Toronto Mayor-elect John Tory has indicated action on housing will be a key task for his administration. “It’s absolutely awesome that it’s on the list,” said York University Professor Stephen Gaetz, director of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, in the York Guardian Oct. 30. Read full story.