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

On Being Out of Touch With the Common Voter and a Bad Look for the Transit Police

Tea & Two Slices is a long-running local news round-up by NEEDS frontman and veteran dishwasher Sean Orr, who lives and works in Gastown, deeply aware of his privilege.

BC Liberal strategists: ‘Alright, people think that we’re totally out of touch with the common voter, so don’t say anything that furthers that perception of us.’ B.C. Liberal MLA defends remarks calling parents staying at home with kids ‘universal child care’. Oops.

Hold my beer: B.C. Liberal MLA Rich Coleman apologizes for comparing farm bill to the Holocaust. Maybe the genocide he was actually referring to was the Holodomor. Get it right, commies!

Quick. Let’s put up signs using taxpayer money blaming the government for something we actually implemented. What could possibly go wrong? B.C. Liberals’ taxpayer-funded Blame Horgan ads should be banned: Greens. Is that really all you got?

Here, Andy Henderson fixed it for you:

This was written before we bought the pipeline, but it bears repeating because we’re going to have to raise the tolls to pay for the damn thing: Trans Mountain’s expansion will raise pump prices. Robyn Allan also wrote this letter to the Burnaby Now that reiterates how Trans Mountain lost $58-million during the first four months that Ottawa owned it.

Meanwhile: Salal plant dying across Vancouver Island. The plants are trying to tell us something.

Related: Humans Are Speeding Extinction and Altering the Natural World at an ‘Unprecedented’ Pace.

Trudeau, Singh both have reason to worry about Green by-election breakthrough. Indeed. Here’s Ammario Reza’s cogent analysis:

The Green Party win in the now-formerly federal NDP riding of Nanaimo Ladysmith, along with the complete collapse of the Liberal vote took place against the backdrop of a Green candidate who was purged by Tom Mulcair from the NDP in 2014 for his support of Palestinian rights, and sure that may have factored into a few votes, here and there. However, the NDP should not kid itself. That stuff is mostly ancient history.

The real context here, and one that I kept hearing over and over again from actual voters and even NDP volunteers who were canvassing voters on the ground in Nanaimo is that voters sent the NDP a message: being wishy-washy on the environment, seeming to to support fracking, and just being milquetoast in general will not be tolerated, as these voters have demonstrated that they will place their X next to a party that they feel speaks more to these issues.

I wonder if this means that the following is off the table: A Green-NDP merger? It could be a big hit.

What a load of crap: Metro Vancouver’s mascots are urine and feces. I mean, it’s an important issue for sure and it’s not like we’re going to make an empty condo and a fentanyl pill our mascots, but Jesus Christ we look like amateurs.

I’m not saying Transit Police are the worst but…Transit Police are the worst: Transit police won’t cancel Calgary man’s fine for following friend through Compass gates after card failed.

The NIMBY is strong with this one:

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.