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.

This is huge — bigger than a single pipeline. More than 60 shipping vessels stalled off B.C. coast due to rail blockades. People shouldn’t be surprised at the culmination of decades of ignoring indigenous issues and movements that have arose to resist them (eg. Oka Crisis Siege of Kanehsatà:ke; No Olympics on Stolen Native Land; Idle No More; Standing Rock, etc.). It also highlights the absurdity of our economy. We ship raw materials all over the world then import them back in the form of finished goods. I’m pretty sure I learned this was a bad idea in Grade 6.

It’s also showing us that the majority of Canadians don’t understand what a protest is. Or what solidarity is. Or our entire racist colonial history. Nor do they understand what they mean when they cite the Rule of Law. It’s exposing seemingly progressive members of the NDP like Morgane Oger, who shared this dumpster fire of a National Post article. Of course, every NDP member voted for LNG incentives, and they only have themselves to blame for the rebellion that’s followed.

I mean, you expect it from the likes of Andrew Scheer:

BREAKING: Career politician who lives in taxpayer-funded house and whose party paid for his kid’s private school says Indigenous people blocking rail lines need to check their privilege pic.twitter.com/OIOkpu4QvZ

— Walking Eagle News (@TheEagleist) February 14, 2020

Remember, this is the same company that went ahead and started clearing unceded land before even bothering to do archaeological assessments.

Don’t believe the hype: CN Rail lays off staff as pipeline protests limit deliveries to Maritimes. Friendly reminder: CN made $4.2 billion in profits last year.

Another friendly reminder, the history of the railway is soaked in blood: The ‘iron road’ that brought ruin and death.

Dewdney punished the reserves that he thought were disloyal, denying them food, taking away their horses and guns. Many people starved to death, and when the Crown had the upper hand, they imposed a pass system, which meant many people had no choice but to stay on their reserves and watch their children starve.

Yikes. So I guess we need to rename the town of Dewdney now.

Irony of the day:

Is it fascism yet? A Canadian Energy Company Bought an Oregon Sheriff’s Unit.

“It’s become very normal for private corporations to be on the same team as law enforcement entities and feeding information, but in this case, the private entity is actually the one coordinating the fusion of different law enforcement entities. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Meanwhile, apparently it’s very easy to come to an agreement over a pipeline route when it’s two massive corporations giving each other handjobs in a backroom somewhere: Nestlé and Kinder Morgan come to agreement over Trans Mountain pipeline route

Here’s a map of Wet’suwet’en Solidarity Actions.

Satire of the day: Tax-cheating drunk driver furious about protesters not respecting the rule of law.

I think the most terrifying thing about the NDP being so badly on the wrong side of history is that this fucking creep is going to be our next premier: Wilkinson under fire for characterizing domestic violence as ‘a tough marriage’.

Never mind the fact that his party reigned over what David Ley called an ‘incestuous’ growth coalition: Inside the ‘Growth Machine’ that Made Vancouver World Class Unaffordable. (Nothing new here if you’ve been reading my column for the last decade, but a good summary nonetheless.)

B.C.’s rent law enforcers investigate nightmare landlords and tenants. I mean, it’s not the guillotine I’ve been calling for, and neither does it really mean anything without rent control and renoviction protection, but I guess it’s a start.

‘Don’t tell people to do this’: YVR apologizes for encouraging travellers to hit on their seatmates. Did we learn nothing from that Gillette commercial?

Music of the day:

Throwback of the day: Thomas King asks: What do whites want?

Bonus: The True Meaning of Family Day is Cocaine.