Vancouver (Rajeev Sharma) — Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has officially apologized to City Councillor Sean Orr for making unsubstantiated and “defamatory” claims that the opposition councillor was distributing illegal drugs. The apology, delivered via a phone call on Thursday and confirmed by the Mayor in a media scrum on Friday, February 27, 2026, follows a week of political turmoil at City Hall after video evidence surfaced of the Mayor initiating the false rumours.
The controversy stems from a February 6, 2026, media briefing intended for Chinese-speaking reporters. During the session, Mayor Sim was recorded claiming that Orr, a COPE party councillor, was “handing out illegal drugs on Christmas Day to people on the streets.” Sim used the anecdote to contrast his ABC Party’s stance against “free illegal drugs.” However, the allegations were proven to be entirely false; Orr confirmed he was not even in Vancouver on Christmas Day and has never distributed drugs.
The situation was further complicated by the actions of ABC Councillor Lenny Zhou, who echoed these claims on the social media platform WeChat. Earlier this week, Sim had publicly praised Zhou for “acknowledging his mistake” and retracting the comments, notably failing to mention at the time that he was the original source of the misinformation. Councillor Orr expressed shock and disappointment upon learning the Mayor was behind the slur, describing the tactic as “blatant disinformation” intended to mislead a vulnerable community.
While Mayor Sim stated on Friday that he has apologized “as a leader,” Councillor Orr has reportedly rejected the apology. Orr asserted that the “damage has already been done,” particularly within the Chinese-speaking community where the false claims were widely circulated. Other members of council, including Green Party Councillor Pete Fry, have condemned the Mayor’s actions as “unconscionable” and a betrayal of the code of conduct, calling for greater accountability and transparency within the city’s leadership.
