by Sean Orr |  In the wake of the Brexit, people are calling those who voted to leave “stupid” but, given a referendum, would Canadians vote to increase free trade? It’s doubtful (and really, we’re just bummed because the loonie is taking a beating — thanks globalization!).

These votes – as we know from our own transit plebiscite – can get hijacked along the way. British progressives were basically faced with a choice between fascists and austerity loving neo-liberals. Hardly fair.

As Noam Chomsky says, ‘austerity’ is just a fancy word for ‘class war’. It’s what we’ve been dealing with for over a decade in BC, which is why Clark relies on the province’s hinterlands, or basically the same small towns that voted to leave Britain.

So what are the lessons for Canadian progressives? In B.C., the NDP needs to listen to the hoi polloi, not berate them. We need to take that populist rage and convince them that the elites, not immigrants or burger flippers demanding $15/hour, are the cause of their unhappiness, lest Trumpism sweep them up. Because, as Sarah Beuhler writes, “when there is no grand articulated vision, or even contextualized information, any old hate-filled garbage will do.”

Now there’s at least one person hoping to jump on a trending bandwagon: Former MP Robin Richardson fighting for Vancouver Island’s separation. Let’s call it #vixit, shall we?

Panic mode: Christy Clark on housing affordability: ‘It’s time for bold action’. Or, as Brady Cranfield puts it:
“It’s time for bold action by our PR team because we realize that this is even worse than all the other garbage bullshit we’ve done before.”

She may as well have announced she was building a time machine: Vancouver’s Home Price Nightmare Was Long Foretold.

The die was cast 30 years ago, when a hot housing market fuelled in good measure by foreign buyers left some residents burned, their dreams of owning a home scorched. Then, as now, it was clear that building Vancouver’s brand as safe, beautiful and open for global business had a rough downside. Then, as now, regulating real estate ownership was widely debated. Then, as now, the conversation was threatened by those who would scaremonger and appeal to crude racial prejudices.

I’m starting to notice a theme developing here…

‘There I fixed it’ of the day:

#GuruRennie‘s #housingaffordability #25KLunch #VanRE #bcpoli #vanpoli pic.twitter.com/6OjV3ZNomk

— mtnbvan™ (@mtnbvan) June 26, 2016

Dear Mr. Rennie, if the city can’t even take back a tiny strip of its own land, how are they going to densify? Point Grey Road residents irked by Vancouver council plan to claim back land. Won’t someone consider the plight of these poor beleaguered millionaire West Siders! They stole the land fair and square!

I can’t tell if this comment is a parody or not: “I’m a resident of Point Grey Road and I can’t believe I’m being bullied by the City of Vancouver like this. I paid a lot of money for my house and now I have people from poorer neighbourhoods pouring onto my street to get access to the beach. This is disgusting”.

New name for Point Grey Rd once the sidewalks are widened

— YVR Housing Analyst* (@YVRHousing) June 26, 2016

You know how I make fun of Alberta all the time? I should stop: Alberta passes bill banning political donations from corporations and unions.

Then again…. Calgary MP Jason Kenney called out on Twitter for poorly worded Aboriginal Day message.

Vancouver driver of the day: Lines? What lines?

DIY space of the day: Studio Vostok.