Tea & Two Slices is a long-running news round-up by NEEDS frontman and veteran restaurant dishwasher Sean Orr, who lives and works in Gastown. He is very aware of his privilege, so there’s really no need to remind him of it.

Back from tour what did I miss? Vancouver sees lower voter turnout than 2014 municipal election. Is it really that shocking? Precarity makes it next to impossible to find time to vote, multiplied by the confusing ballot and long lines, quadrupled by the fact ours is a Hedge City and multiplied by one million that capitalist democracy much prefers a distracted and apathetic populace.

I’m just waiting for someone to blame it on millennials… In Vancouver’s tight 2018 election, a few thousand left-leaning young people could have made big differences. Remember people, property owners who don’t live in Vancouver can vote in Vancouver, but let’s blame the kiddies.

Charlie Smith blames millennials too: Mea culpa: I thought progressive candidates would fare far better than they did in Vancouver election. So even though the NPA’s support plummeted, they won 5 seats? In short, progressives were much more split than the centre-right.

Don’t forget the plumping too:

1/ Fellow #vanpoli nerds! As you read the election 2018 tea leaves, here’s a simple primer on ballot math. The average votes per ballot has trended down for 8 cycles, at all 3 levels. In 2018, the average voter cast 7.9 votes for Council. pic.twitter.com/MREsxNFMOR

— Gavin Dew (@gavindew) October 21, 2018

Here is Travis Lupick’s take on the whole thing:

#vanelxn18 #vanpoli thoughts:
1) Greens cld be problem for density.
2) Young people paying $2000 /month rent & still not voting.
3) NPA’s success surprised me. I need to get out of my bubble.
4) Nobody cares about drug users.
5) New council is too f*cking white (cuss necessary).

— Travis Lupick (@tlupick) October 22, 2018

Agreed. Blame the VDLC for not endorsing Diana Day and a racist backlash against people with a Chinese surname. Sarah Blyth did remarkably well for an independent and Pete Fry finally won something. Also it’s probably time for a ranked ballot for mayor.

I also feel pretty bad for Heather Deal. She was a consistently good councillor and got unfairly targeted in the Vision backlash. But at least people saw through Bremner’s blatant developer shtick as paid for by Peter Wall and at least Chip Wilson failed to outright buy our city government. Now we get to see if Kennedy is truly the progressive he says he is or just Gregor 2.0 (who has already walked back on his promise of 85,000 homes…)

Sort of. He was really clear about it on my radio show. He was also pretty up front about being a supplyist. Renters’ advocate and tripling of the empty homes tax aside, I just really hope he changes the definition of affordable housing so that it actually fucking means something again.

Dude, you lost: Ken Sim not conceding Vancouver mayoral election, amid talk of recount. I guess the plus side is you get to watch him lose all over again. Update: he finally concedes.

Some other silver linings around the province: Conrad Peach and Arvel Turnip, members of far right neckbeards Soldiers of Odin came 38th and 39th out 40 in Nanaimo. Compost those rotten fruits and vegetables!

Victoria also rejected populism and voted in a lefty/socialist council to hold a centre left mayor to account. The ghost of John A MacDonald be damned!

Corrigan’s defeat at the hands of independent lefty Mike Hurley shows you can’t rest on laurels and ignore mass renovictions. Chilliwack elected some progressives amid the anti-sogi bigots. Ex-BCGEU president Darryl Walker won the conservative bastion of White Rock, and labor-supported candidates won in both Port Moody and Port Coquitlam. In Surrey however, Doug McCallum’s populist position of scrapping the LRT line and building a SkyTrain extension won out. Not sure where he thinks he’s going to get the money for that.

Meanwhile, the NDP shows itself to be beholden to upper middle class land owners over the will of the people once again: B.C. NDP retreats again on empty-home tax for urban areas.

Just another neoliberal, third way, Blairite, triangulating, corporate party: Dangerous precedent: Petronas subsidiary gets free pass after building unlicensed fracking dams. WTF are they thinking? “In a decision without precedent in its 25 years of existence, British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) has told Progress Energy that two massive unauthorized dams that it built will not have to undergo environmental assessments.”

But we can’t fund a program that saves lives and improves community: Downtown Eastside alcohol-replacement program faces closure. Hey, all breweries in Vancouver: step up.

But but but my Instagram! This Vancouver eatery just implemented a strict no cell phone policy. Some choice comments: “I’m going to make it my mission to get kicked out of here and not pay my bill”. “The fucking place with the ‘Miso Horny’ underwear for sale and plastered all over the place? Yeah, god forbid anyone spoil the mature ambiance in there”. “Also: Port Town? GTFOH”

Meme of the day:

Yeah, that’s great and all, but are we ready to end the safe third country act and accept transgender refugees en masse in lieu of Trump’s Terrifying New Policy to Eliminate Transgender Rights? Here are some ways to help.

Bonus: See how grotesque Jeff Bezos’ fortune is in this choose-your-own-adventure game.