From social media’s impact on gang violence to families in polyamorous relationships, we’ve selected the best long reads of the week from across the Star’s newsrooms.

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1. How the internet era made Toronto street gangs more reckless and dangerous

Police in 2019 are dealing with a new kind of gangster who inhabits both the street and the internet, where online feuds can escalate quickly, fuelling real life violence.

2. Still pushing for personhood: 90 years after Canada recognized the rights of (some) women, what the fight looks like now

In 1929, a group of women referred to as the Famous Five won a historic legal challenge that saw women designated legal “persons.” The ruling meant that women could be appointed to the Senate and paved the way for women to participate more fully in politics. On the 90th anniversary of “Persons Day” how far is there still to go before women can participate equally, in politics and beyond?

3. How a TTC driver quietly bought up a corner of the city

Manny Gomes was a Portuguese immigrant who came to Canada in 1965. He landed a job as a TTC driver and began buying real estate. By his death this year at age 82, he left behind a collection of nine properties including subdivided single-family homes, storefronts with rental units on top, and a Portuguese restaurant that served “churrasco-style” chicken.

4. For these families a love triangle is not an obstacle. Polyamorous parents chart their own course

“(My kids) understand there are more socially accepted relationship structures out there. They know what that looks like, but they also know that their mom does things a little bit differently,” says Michelle DesRosiers, who has charted a modern family of sorts by juggling parenting her two kids with maintaining four “connections,” a word the self-proclaimed “relationship anarchist” prefers to describe partners.

5. Snakes, rats, bedbugs, abuse. Complaints filed by Mexican migrant workers expose underside of Canada’s seasonal agriculture program

At a farm near London that has been the subject of multiple complaints in recent years, the Star saw bunk beds for 50 workers in an unfinished basement. Many of the bottom bunks were curtained off with cardboard or garbage bags for privacy. There was no bathroom or kitchen. Migrants had to bathe, cook and use portable bathrooms outside.

6. Inside Huawei’s shifting public relations strategy

Black velvet stilettos. Sparkling cocktail dresses, designer handbags and purple skirts — all paired with a black ankle monitor. Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou’s outfits during recent public appearances are a far cry from the sweatpants and hoodies she used to wear, and the change in attire seems to mirror a recent shift in her company’s public relations strategy.

7. Rosie DiManno: Thoughtful debate has been smothered by bilious rage in this election campaign

Just days from the federal election and this campaign has indisputably jumped the shark. There’s a stench of desperation and frenzy in the air as both Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer — and their spin-masters — double down on efforts to demonize each other, their parties, their political agendas in the sprint to the finish line, writes Rosie Dimanno.

8. One person, one vote? In Canada, it’s not even close

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This election, some votes are going to be substantially more powerful than others, especially those cast in the most remote rural ridings. And if you live in a city — especially one growing as rapidly as Greater Toronto — your vote is more likely to register as less than equal.

9. How Alberta emerged as Canada’s unexpected pot capital, one year post-legalization

No other province comes anywhere close to the 306 cannabis stores that have been given the green light in the province since legalization day on Oct. 17, 2018. British Columbia has 85, according to the province’s licensing website, and Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, still has fewer than 30 stores.