October 30, 2019
Canadians went to the polls on October 21st and in what was a surprisingly close election, chose a Liberal government to continue their mandate.
During this time, our federal election campaign #VoteTypeNone gave candidates of all political stripes an opportunity to express their support for Canadians affected by type 1 diabetes on social media.
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to advocate for more T1D support this election.
Our Nova Scotia dream team, Mikaila Stoddart, Kathy White and Amanda Williams spent five weeks during September and October travelling to candidates’ offices, phoning campaign managers to educate them about #VoteTypeNone, encouraging candidates to hear their stories and post a photo of support on social media. They were incredibly effective and managed to hit 100% of the ridings in their province.
campaign to advocate for T1D this election
#VoteTypeNone campaign this election
A one-man show in PEI, Brooks Roche also managed to hit 100% of his targets. Brooks, who is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Youth Council, persevered by attending several all-candidate debates and snapping group photos of candidates coming together to support the T1D community.
Nationally, the #VoteTypeNone campaign saw great success:
- JDRF advocates mobilized to take part, speak to their local candidates and have their voices heard during a significant election. Our volunteers who participated are the backbone of this campaign’s success!
- We raised awareness and educated candidates around the challenges that come with type 1 diabetes. Over 100 candidates across the country demonstrated their support by holding up a sign that read “I ❤ Canadians touched by type 1 diabetes” including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and the federal leader of the NDP, Jagmeet Singh.
- We identified 40 key champions that have now been elected into the House of Commons to be instrumental in moving the T1D community’s advocacy priorities forward.
Thank you to all of the #VoteTypeNone advocates and candidates who participated and congratulations to the incoming Members of Parliament. We look forward to working with the elected officials from all parties to raise the profile of the many issues that the type 1 community faces.
