Condo King | Nickname | In Vancouver, condos are king, and the king of condos is real estate marketer, art collector, political glad-hander, racism-expert, and serial parking ticket fetishist Bob Rennie, who in 2014 made the notion that Vancouver’s main civic parties were somehow free from the influence of property developers utterly laughable when he hosted a $25,000 dollar fundraising lunch for Mayor Moonbeam‘s Vision Vancouver.

A neon art piece spells out “Everything Is Going To Be Alright” in all caps above Rennie’s Chinatown office. The work – by British artist Martin Creed – is said to celebrate “optimism amidst the pervasive – and often exaggerated – negativity found within many of the messages we routinely encounter”, but is instead seen by residents of the neighbourhood (and the wider Downtown Eastside) as an Orwellian piece of boosterist propaganda. “So what if you can’t afford to live here anymore? Everything is going to be alright!”

Usage: “The CBC should make a Portlandia-like show about Vancouver with Rick Moranis playing the central role of the Condo King. Instead of “Put a bird on it”, its catchphrase could be “Put a Starbucks in it.”