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.

Thousands gather peacefully at Vancouver rally in support of George Floyd protests. To those saying it was foolish for this many people to be gathered together against racism during a pandemic, 99% of people were wearing masks. Volunteers were handing them out. Organizers have also asked attendees to self-quarantine for 14 days and get tested. Breaking social distancing restrictions because you want a haircut and breaking social distance restrictions because you’re tired of systemic racism are two very different things.

To those saying we don’t have police violence here at home, let this be a reminder: B.C. has country’s highest rate of police-involved deaths, groundbreaking CBC data reveals.

In the past week alone, there have been not one but two police-related deaths in Metro Vancouver. Just yesterday, B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office recommended charges against the RCMP in the death of an Indigenous man. And after five fucking years, a B.C. judge has ruled that an RCMP officer ‘falsely arrested, falsely imprisoned, assaulted and battered’ elder with walker.

Between 2000 and 2017, police were involved in at least 460 fatal interactions with civilians across Canada. Of those more than a third were Indigenous.

Over in Toronto, black residents are 20 times more likely to be shot dead by police.

Only just this year did the VPD end their discriminatory street checks. They put a 12-year old Indigenous girl in handcuffs for trying to open a bank account. This is a police force that has failed in their de facto role as frontline mental health workers, repeatedly exhibiting an inability de-escalate tense situations.

This is the same force that is currently under investigation for corruption relating to the case of a local cop sexually exploiting women who were themselves victims of sex crimes; the same force that is facing a public hearing over excessive force; and the same force that killed the unarmed and not intoxicated Myles Gray (and refused to press charges against the gang of officers responsible). And these are just the most recent examples in a long and sordid history of VPD excesses.

Our militarized police force swallows up a fifth of Vancouver’s operating budget, operating $90,000 video trailers for mobile mass surveillance. We can legislate anti-racism by defunding the VPD by more than just a measly 1%. Council will be sending out their budget survey in July where we can write this in, but in the meantime here is a letter/template to send them: 2020 Vancouver Police Department Budget – Call For Action.

With all that being said, simply focusing on police externalizes the problem and absolve us all from the responsibility of addressing our own racist attitudes and dismantling the racist structures that benefit us. Other actions you can take are to donate to Hogan’s Alley Society, Vancouver aboriginal transformative justice services society, and the Black in BC Community Support Fund for COVID-19.

Oh wait…never mind! Karen says racism doesn’t exist in Canada:

Meanwhile: B.C. teacher who told exchange students to ‘go back to working on rice farms’ suspended 3 days. Three fucking days? This guy should be fired and forced to work on rice farms without pay for a year.

Hey, remember when the city bulldozed Oppenheimer because it was a public health concern in the midst of a pandemic? ‘The wrong message’: Vancouver cuts sanitation funding, hires $95K social media staffer. (No offence, Andrew, but I think I’m in the wrong line of work!)

“It’s also not clear why the city’s robust, existing communications department couldn’t handle the work. As of 2017, the city employed 21 full-time communications staff and a dozen part-time staffers.” To be fair, we need that comms staff to field all the complaints about human feces on the sidewalks (because we cut the sanitation budget, duh).

COVID-19 death rate at Metro Vancouver hospital ICUs notably lower than in other countries: study. While I don’t want to shit on our efforts I still think we are under-testing. Ontario is now testing at nearly 100% of their daily lab capacity. Meanwhile, BC is currently testing at less than 27% of our daily capacity. Our testing rate is only 24,409 per million compared to the national rate of 44,996. Henry can reassure teachers all she wants but I still don’t think we should be re-opening our schools.

Even nationally, “our testing is so broken down that it lags behind Rwanda’s and Ethiopia’s”: How Canada has bungled the COVID-19 endgame.

BC’s low testing aside, there’s one reason why our province is doing better than the rest of Canada: Ian Young on How Local Chinese Communities Helped BC’s COVID-19 Fight. “Many East Asian locals had already started physical distancing by January. That’s because many had lived through SARS and had, as Young describes it, a “gut reaction and cultural memory.”

The real looters: Save-on-Foods ends hazard pay for staff, other grocers continue it. This is just a reminder that billionaire Vancouver oligarch Jim Pattison’s personal fortune has increased by countless millions since the beginning of the pandemic shutdown. Tax this windfall and make the fucker bag groceries for a year.

Make labour laws work for workers: Employers, Workers Agree: BC Labour Laws Don’t Work Right Now. This is super important. “It’s not our fault the virus came out, so we should be able to come back to our jobs as we left it.”

Meanwhile: B.C. Liberal and Green parties receives federal wage subsidy. Ah yes, the guy who held a press conference at a yacht club to pan the speculation tax now gleefully takes taxpayer money meant for struggling small businesses.

Douglas Todd: Who will buy Vancouver housing in a time of COVID-19? The answer, Douglas, is Real Estate Investment Trusts. Duh.

Update: All Vancouver councillors except Christine Boyle and Mayor Kennedy Stewart vote to revisit housing strategy numbers. “Nine members of council voted earlier this week for a motion stating that the city’s population growth ‘has generally come through immigration as opposed to domestic migration’. But is that really true?”. Yes, Charlie. It is.

Mysterious surge in ‘bear banger’ noise has Vancouverites losing sleep. What nobody really wants to talk about is that they clearly seem to be working. I haven’t seen any bears around lately, have you?

Support local of the day:

Angelo at the venerable Tosi’s at 624 Main St. in #chinatownyvr naturally has the perfect set up for physical distancing. Ring the bell at the front entrance to be buzzed in, then stock up on delicious Italian goods! ??? #legacybusinesses #supportlocalbusiness #yvreats pic.twitter.com/cpApBzGKP5

— Sarah Ling | ??? (@sarahwyling) May 28, 2020

Oh thank log:

VANCOUVER'S BEACH LOGS HAVE BEEN FREED pic.twitter.com/BFxEQhBqf8

— Justin McElroy (@j_mcelroy) June 1, 2020

RIP: Dermod Travis, BC’s Brilliant Politics Watchdog, Has Died.

Bonus: The Double Standard of the American Riot.