Fu Manchu? Horseshoe? Handlebar? It's now a question for another year.

As Movember 2012 comes to a close, the Star thought it would be fitting to sit down with participating MLAs to talk moustaches and the cause they've come to represent.

This Mo-season, Premier Darrell Pasloski, Environment Minister Currie Dixon and interim Liberal leader Sandy Silver all set down their razors to raise awareness and funds for men's health initiatives, particularly around prostate cancer.

I spoke with Silver Wednesday morning at his office in the government's main administrative building, and asked him how he felt about his moustache.

He wasn't shy with his response.

"I wake up every morning and I look at myself in the mirror and I think, ‘yeah, this is just ridiculous.'”

But, "it's a brilliant campaign,” he added.

"It does make people talk, and if you're smart enough as an individual Mo-stache guy, you can take that attention and direct it towards the issue of prostate cancer.”

Silver normally sports a beard, but the moustache, he said, "is a whole different ball game.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to it.

"It was fun shaving it, trying to find out where it lives,” he said.

"You start with the big Fu Manchu and then you slowly try to bring it up a bit and hope you don't go too far. Last year, I went too far and I cut off parts of it ... so I was very careful this year.”

After my interview with Silver, I headed up the stairs to chat with Pasloski and Dixon in the cabinet offices.

This is the premier's first year participating in Movember, and luckily, he has his wife's full support.

"It's fun,” he said. "As intended, it becomes a bit of a conversation piece. People will notice it, so it is a chance to really take that opportunity to raise awareness.”

Dixon, meanwhile, has participated on and off since university.

"I can proudly say my moustache has developed over time,” he said, thinking back.

"When I first started, I gave up after a few weeks, actually, because I was so disheartened.

"But now I'm pretty happy with my ability to grow a moustache. I think with practice comes perfection, so I'm working towards that,” he joked.

He's still not quite used to it, though.

"I don't think you ever quite get used to it. Every week is a new itch or a new place it pokes you. Early on, it's just sort of itchy, and later on, it starts poking inside your nose.”

It hasn't won him any points with his partner either, Dixon said, laughing, even though she endorses the cause.

"Guys love 'staches, and when you see someone with a moustache, especially in this month, you can kind of give them a wink and a nod and a ‘nice 'stache,' you know.

"But ladies, I think, appreciate the cause and what it's all about, but don't tend to like it as a look,” he said.

They're looking forward to Dec. 1, Pasloski added.

Silver put it a little more bluntly when I asked if his Movember style has secured him any extra attention.

"Nope. Absolutely not. I've been given more walkway on the sidewalk,” he joked.

All three men have their own personal reasons for growing their Movember moustache.

Pasloski lost an uncle to an aggressive form of prostate cancer a few years back, and his father-in-law has been diagnosed with the illness. Dixon's uncle has also been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

For Silver, it was a close friend and the leader of his Movember fund-raising team who lost a loved one.

"Age has something to do with it too,” said Silver.

"I'm 43 years old, and this year was the first year that I went for an actual prostate exam,” he said, adding it was a bit early.

"I consider myself an educated person, and I found out I knew nothing about prostate health and when you should go and these types of things.”

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer affecting men but, according to the Canadian Cancer Society, it "usually grows slowly and can often be cured or managed successfully.”

The society recommends visiting your doctor to discuss early testing for prostate cancer if you are nearing your fifties, if you may be at higher risk because of family history, or if you're showing any of the symptoms of the disease.

Symptoms can include: "the need to urinate often, especially at night, difficulty starting or stopping the urine flow, inability to urinate, weak, decreased or interrupted urine stream, a sense of incompletely emptying the bladder, burning or pain during urination, blood in the urine or semen, painful ejaculation.”

"Men, I think, have a bit of an aversion to those regular checkups,” said Dixon.

"But it's important, and I think campaigns like this, that associate a little bit of levity and some fun into the discussion, make it a whole lot more palatable for people to get involved with and to start thinking about.”

In addition to raising awareness by sporting their classic-style moustaches, Silver and Pasloski have set up accounts at ca.movember.com.

As of this morning, Pasloski had raised $825, while Silver had generated $630. Silver's team, the Moe-Staches, had raised $5,819 and was ranked 696 out of 23,358 teams in Canada.

As for Dixon, he's been directing donations to Pasloski's account, joking that he feared repercussions if he were to out-do his boss.

Before the interviews wrapped up, I had just a few more questions to ask about moustaches….

"Do you shampoo?”

Silver: "No, should I? I never thought about that.”

Dixon: "Every morning.”

Pasloski: "It's good hygiene.”

I also wondered how they reacted after hearing a CBC radio report earlier this month about bacteria-ridden mustaches.

Silver: "I'm going to go over to the nursing station in Dawson before I shave it off and get them to blue light my face.”

Admitting he's not a germaphobe – "I'm a teacher before this, so I basically licked doorknobs for a living.”

Dixon: "It definitely prompted a little more care and attention.”

Pasloski: "That was following the CBC report; we heard about (germ-infested) hotels as well, one on top of the other, and I was very aware of the moustache hygiene.”

And finally – their advice for first-time Mo Bros.

Silver: "Own it. You just got to own it.”

Dixon: "Don't lose heart. I would say the first week is the toughest because you've got barely more than a shadow, and then you're kind of just uncomfortable with it, but you've got to power through, and once you get to the later stages, it's very rewarding.”

Pasloski: "I think Currie said it, practice makes perfect.”

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