Our Times Tally, Volume 36 – December 2016

● Number of times the U.S. Republican presidential candidate has won the popular vote during the last 25 years: 1
● Percentage of eligible voters in the United States who voted for Donald Trump: 25
● Percentage of eligible voters in Canada who voted for the Liberal Party in the last federal election: 27
● Percentage of Canadians who are “very” or “somewhat” upset by Donald Trump’s election victory: 62
● Percentage of self-identified Conservative voters in Canada who are: 36
● Chance that a Canadian says they would consider voting for a candidate with “Trump-like policies”: 3 in 4
● Number of public sector workers in Turkey who have been dismissed by President Erdogan in the last four months: 100,000
● Ratio of annual gains in labour productivity to that of median hourly wages in Canada from 1976 to 2014: 12 to 1
● Labour wage share as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product in the United States in 1970: 54
● Percentage today: 44
● Of the 20 largest economies worldwide, number whose labour share as a percentage of GDP has declined since 1980: 20
● Percentage increase in the risk of early death caused by loneliness: 26
● Number of children in the United Kingdom currently receiving mental health or psychiatric services: 1.25 million
● Chance that a British woman between the ages of 16 and 24 suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder: 1 in 8
● Percentage of Canadian workers who are “interested” or “very interested” in a significant career change: 63
● Percentage who believe that “pay and benefits” is the most important factor in work satisfaction: 54
● Added cost of all public-private partnerships to taxpayers in Ontario during the past nine years: $8 billion
● Of this total, amount that comes from higher borrowing costs: $6.5 billion
● Amount the federal government is currently planning to invest in public-private partnerships for infrastructure: $35 billion
● Number of years after Confederation that postal banking existed in Canada: 100
● Percentage of actively publishing climate scientists who believe that climate change is real and caused by human activity: 95
● Percentage of Americans who do: 50
● Percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by all road, rail and marine transportation: 13
● Percentage caused by livestock production and its by-products: 51
● Number of gallons of water needed to produce one pound of beef: 2,500
● Number of firearm deaths last year in the United States: 13,386
● Estimated number of people who die each year in the United States from air pollution: 200,000
● Cost of lawsuit by the Canadian Pacific Rim Mining Co. against El Salvador for rejecting its mining license: $301 million
● Amount that the government of El Salvador spent on its legal defense for the lawsuit: $12 million
● Amount of foreign aid provided by Canada to El Salvador in 2015: $3.1 million
● Total foreign aid as a percentage of gross national income in Sweden: 1.4
● Percentage in Canada: 0.28
● Percentage of people in Canada who believe they “don’t have enough for basic essentials”: 9
● Percentage of people in India who believe this: 8
● Number of Americans currently working in the coal industry: 65,970
● Number currently working in the solar power industry: 209,000
● Percentage of Canada Pension Plan (CPP) domestic investments going to fossil fuel production and pipeline companies: 22
● Estimated number of public sector workers in India who went on strike in September: 180 million
● Total populations of Canada, France and the United Kingdom combined: 165 million
● Percentage of people in a modern society who must be politically active in order to mount a successful revolution: 3

Our Times Tally is written by union communications and media consultant Sean Cain (www.labourmedia.org).

SOURCES: 1, 25 – Associated Press; 27 – Elections Canada; 62, 36 – Angus Reid Poll (Nov 11, 2016); 3 in 4 – Ipsos Reid Poll (Nov 7, 2016); 100,000 – International Trade Union Confederation; 12 to 1 – Canadian Centre for the Study of Living Standards (Nov 2016); 54, 44 – U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor; 20 – International Labor Organization; 26 – Perspectives on Psychological Science (March 2015); 1.25 million – The Guardian (Oct 3, 2016); 1 in 8 – UK National Health Service (September 29, 2016); 63, 54 – Angus Reid Poll (Oct 27, 2016); $8 billion, $6.5 billion – Annual Report (Auditor General of Ontario, Dec 2014); $35 billion – Globe and Mail (Nov 13, 2016); 100 – Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives; 95 – U.S. National Academy of Sciences; 50 – Pew Research Center (Oct 2014); 13 – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; 51 – Worldwatch Institute; 2,500 – Michigan State University (Impacts on Demand for and Quality of Land and Water); 13,386 – Federal Bureau of Investigation; 200,000 – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Aug 29, 2013); $301 million, $12 million – The Guardian (Oct 14, 2016); $3.1 million – Canadian International Development Platform; 1.4, 0.28 – Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (April 13, 2016); 9, 8 – International Trade Union Confederation Poll; 65,970 – U.S. Energy Information Administration; 209,000 – Solar Foundation (National Solar Jobs Census, 2015); 22 – Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (Nov 2015); 180 million – Al Jazeera (Sept 2016); 165 million – CIA World Factbook; 3 – Chris Hedges (The Myth of Human Progress and the Collapse of Complex Societies, 2013).