Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said he was misled by a picture he had seen, reportedly showing councillor Sean Orr distributing drugs on Christmas Day.
He then told a group of Chinese business leaders that Orr was handing out illegal drugs, audio of which was shared with Global News by The Canadian Press.
“I referenced a picture that had been shown to me, regarding councillor Orr distributing drugs,” Sim said at a press conference on Tuesday.
“I didn’t verify what I thought I saw and frankly, I should have never repeated it to begin with.”
Sim said that his comments were wrong and he accepted full responsibility for his mistake, apologizing to Vancouverites.
Orr said Sim’s apology on Tuesday did not go far enough.
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“This does not address the harm and reputational damage done to my character and it doesn’t address the harms done to the Chinese community,” he said.
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“To me, this shows incompetent leadership that you would not fact-check this photo before going to the media and trying to destroy the reputation of one of your colleagues.”
Orr said he is still considering his “options.”
Last week, Sim said he called Orr to apologize after the false assertion was partially repeated and then retracted by Sim ally, Coun. Lenny Zhou.
The audio revealed that Sim first made the comments about Orr on Feb. 6.
“I spoke with councillor Orr yesterday (Thursday) and I apologize for my comments,” Sim said on Friday, responding to every question with some variation of this statement about eight more times.
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The controversy came to light earlier this week when Zhou posted a video to WeChat, showing him speaking in Mandarin about supportive housing, referring to it as “drug houses,” and alleging that four non-ABC councillors are drug users and distribute drugs.
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All four denied those claims in a press conference on Feb. 24.
In a statement to Global News on Feb. 24, Zhou said that he posted the video to outline his opposition to a motion on supportive housing.
“My comments were based on incorrect information, and for that I unequivocally apologize,” he said. “I am retracting my statement, and I’ve taken down the video.”
Sim also released a statement last Tuesday, saying he wanted to thank Zhou for acknowledging his mistake and taking responsibility.
“Councillor Zhou has always been a passionate advocate for Vancouver’s Chinese community,” Sim said.
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