A no messing around guide to the coolest things to eat, drink and do in Vancouver and beyond. Community. Not clickbait.

On Playing Games With Fentanyl & Rental Porn On Commercial Drive

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by Sean Orr | Pork Barrels R Us: Bulging with New Cash, BC Liberals Eye Spending Spree into Election. Cut to the part where they claim they were over-confident in the budget and impose another four years of austerity before we fall for it again: “Oh hey, we found a bunch of money right in time for the election.” And then another 4 years of austerity. We can’t possibly be this fucking gullible can we?

What happens when austerity kills? This is more than just not being able to afford a house or having to rent an apartment in Burquitlam (shudder). People are fucking dying — ‘There’s definitely blood on the premier’s hands’: B.C. government fails to deliver fentanyl crisis fix

A statement from B.C.’s Health Ministry says the government is “committed to opening 500 substance use beds and are on track to meet our target in 2017.”

On track?

When did “by 2017” change to “in 2017”?

In a crisis where minutes matter, a delay of up to 12 months will cost lives.

The province has only created 220 new beds.

But it’s who is dying that will ultimately spur action. It’s no longer addicts, just like it’s no longer poor people who can’t afford to live in Vancouver: The new face of fentanyl addiction: Kati’s story. Vice’s Amil Niazi nails it: “Good portrait of fentanyl addiction but dear god I could have done without the reporter’s constant interjections. We get it buddy, you’ve never met someone addicted to drugs before…”

It’s amazing that there is still a prevailing attitude that says, ‘Worried about fentanyl? Then don’t do drugs!” Like it’s that simple. Stop labelling addicts ‘bad people making bad choices,’ says B.C. doctor.

Still, all this focus on the users belies the systemic foundation to drug addiction. You guessed it! Capitalism! Evo Morales Says US Drug War Benefits US Capitalism.

“¡Ay, ay, ay, no me gusta!” Half of working Canadians living paycheque to paycheque: survey. Now behold as I offer this clip of “Bumblebee Man” swinging on a precarious candelabra as a metaphor for everyday working Canadians.

Related: Ketchup sandwiches and other things stupid poor people eat

And yet the answer was so obvious it was staring at us down a clarinet this whole time: Career in Jazz music guarantees young Canadians financial stability.

I can’t wait to AirBnB my family plot. I’m going to make a killing: At $25,000 a plot, you can’t afford to die in Vancouver either. Maybe the idea of being buried in a casket in a cemetery should die along with the idea of owning a single detached family house.

Literally dozens of people showed up: Vancouver rally calls for crackdown on housing crisis, money laundering. Thanks CTV, but there were like 6 other speakers talking about issues ranging from monster homes, preservation of housing stock, mortgage lending, data collection, political donations, the importance of investigative journalism, low property taxes, boosterism, social housing, austerity, Chretien’s cancellation of transfer payments, urban sprawl, the “brain drain”, welfare rates, systemic aboriginal injustice, people with disabilities, single mothers, living wage, rental stock, slumlords, AirBnBs, gender parity, et cetera. But hey, that doesn’t make much of a dog whistle now does it?

Premier Christy Clark’s trade delegation to China included Vancouver real-estate firms with an eye on sales abroad. Remember this any time someone says the solution to the housing crisis is to simply build more supply.

And this: Canadian banks’ mortgage guidelines favour foreign home buyers.

Vancouver Rental Opportunity of the Week: An Actual Crib in Metrotown

I can just picture this person waking up in their crib, calling their mom over a Frosted Flakes breakfast and walking to the mall to work a minimum-wage retail gig. It’ll take a few months, but they’ll probably learn to wash their own dishes and live with the weird irony that the generation that has unwittingly kept them trapped in this state also has a name, and it’s “baby boomers.”

Runner Up: $1500 / 2br – 800ft2 – 2 Bedroom steps from Commercial Drive, Oct 15th, Renovated Heritage

Doesn’t play loud music, doesn’t party, not many friends over, works lots, barley home etc.

Yes I know I’m asking for a lot but what the hey. . .

Opinion: Vancouver’s cycling investments reflect a growing east-west divide. I think they mean ‘highlight the 100+ year old east-west divide’, but yeah…

Maybe they could also get the VPD to do this: Undercover bike cops launch ‘best ever’ cycle safety scheme in Birmingham.

Headline of the day: Jennifer Green-Johnson, Ontario Teacher, Allegedly Told Student To ‘Lick Me Where I Fart’.

RIP of the day: B.C. author W.P. Kinsella ends his own life under assisted-dying legislation.

Bonus: A man studied photography in prison. These are the photos he took when he got out.

On Ken Sim’s So-Called “Swagger” and ABC’S Class War

Sean Orr is back from his hiatus with a rundown of the local headlines that have been running on a ticker tape through his mind over the past six months...

On Post-Election Recuperation, Platform Paradoxes and Refund Communities

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr finds irony in "safety, affordability, and sustainability", and shouts out a bunch of amazing local organizations working on the frontlines.

On Running for City Council, Playing Whack-a-Mole with Homelessness, and the Public Washroom Deficit

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr finds a park ranger with a grudge, a gross misuse of air quotes and Tripadvisor slander.

On Living in a City Preoccupied with Street Cleaning, Chandeliers, and Campaigns Against the Homeless

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr hones in on the recent Langley shootings, and the ongoing criminalizing and dehumanizing of the homeless population.