Question: if you own a $350-night AirBnB on Galiano ... who cleans it? Where the fuck are they supposed to live? https://twitter.com/bychrischeung/status/1332473380017033216

My family was displaced from Mayne Island in 1942. Farm, house, everything taken by the govt. Years later my grandpa saved up to buy a little plot down the bay from where he grew up. Built a cabin we would go to as kids. A few weeks ago I got a call from the owner next door.

He asked if I would help them fight an affordable housing proposal nearby. He was worried it would lower the value of his rental property. Didn't want 12 families around the corner. He bragged to me that his little citizen group had already "chased them out" of two locations.

His major argument was that the sewage from these unwashed peasants would "contaminate the groundwater" downhill. I told him that engineers have figured out amazing ways to keep poop and pee from infiltrating the water supply.

I asked him where the people live who ring up his groceries, pour coffee, do yardwork and renos, pump gas, clean the vacation rentals. He says they live in places owned by him and his friends and they sure like to complain about the rent.

Anyway, I hope the Islands Trust can figure this out. The Gulf Islands are only going to shrink as sea levels rise. Unless the nimbys have a plan to transport service workers in for day shifts, they're going to have to ease up on their war against renters.