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.

Dan Fumano: Some developers abandon Vancouver’s affordable rental pilot project. Oh hey, wow…pandering to the market with developer incentives isn’t working! Who woulda thought? Oh, literally fucking everyone.

It’s quite simple. We used to have full-fledged government-funded housing programs. They worked. Then the feds heard of this juicy concept they called ‘austerity’, which is basically just a fancy term for class war, and cancelled the whole thing. The province then followed suit. Ever since we’ve been putting bandaids on broken legs.

And now we’re being held hostage by a bunch of rich crybabies. Don’t want the construction of high-end rentals being built next to an end-of-life hospice? “Waah, we’re gonna build a mansion then instead”. Owners of controversial site in Shaughnessy to build single mansion instead of rental townhomes.

Framing a modicum of regulation as a “war on capital” with a straight fucking face:

When #vanre industry treats modest market regulation, which has so far failed to bring affordable rents or housing, as an eventual leap to full communism. https://t.co/O62u7iAvFu

— Paul Finch (@paulgfinch) June 30, 2019

This is a little more nuanced, but it still just relies on the myth of trickle-down economics: High-end rentals could help ease Vancouver’s affordability. Of course government-built rental housing and market-built rental housing aren’t mutually exclusive. But if market solutions are all that has been proposed for the last two decades then your point is moot. Furthermore, the argument that “rich people move into luxury rentals and free up lower end rentals” is forgetting one pretty important little detail: without vacancy control the rent in the old apartment can just be jacked up when these so-called “rich tenants” move out.

Cue the meme:

Meanwhile: Maple Ridge medical marijuana patient fighting her strata’s no-smoking bylaw. I stopped counting how many armchair doctors replied with “why doesn’t she use edibles?” Besides the fact that everyone is different, and the fact that she is using marijuana to ween her body off opiates and maybe doesn’t want to get high as shit – distillates and edibles are still not legal to buy in Canada.

From Not In My Condo (NIMCO) to NIMBY: Powell River opens B.C.’s first overdose prevention site outside of Vancouver. Timothy O Sattler: “So instead of rapid detox and treatment on demand it is more shooting galleries, what else is new, this has been working so well, smh”. Um, one tiny problem there, Timothy. How are you going to treat someone if they are dead?

Important: Overdose prevention workers save thousands of lives, but who’s saving theirs? I have countless friends suffering burnout from this work. We need to do better.

Another great and timely article: Undone: A Newcomer’s Story.

Totally not shady: Gas companies refuse to cough up profit margins to B.C. inquiry. June was the hottest month ever recorded on the planet and these guys are making a killing. Literally.

Then there’s these guys: Nestlé Is Sucking the World’s Aquifers Dry.

‘Who called it the gig economy and not Serfing USA?’ Uber co-founder buys record-breaking LA mansion for $72.5m as drivers fight for wages.

Juicy rumour (is only a rumour) of the day: News: Trump Tower Vancouver to be rebranded as Four Seasons.

Petition of the day: Speed up the revolving restaurant at the top of the Harbour Centre by 500%. I signed it.

“Right now the Revolving Restaurant at the top of the Harbour Centre is rotating far too slow, and I think we should do something about it! My proposal is a modest increase in its rotational speed, a mere 500%. Once the restaurant is spinning faster, everyone will agree it was a good decision.”

Bonus: King of the mountain: For 20 years, a Lil’wat chief keeps a lonely vigil in the B.C. woods.