Descrease article font size
Increase article font size
Vancouver city councillor Sean Orr is suing Mayor Ken Sim for defamation over comments in which he accused Orr of distributing illegal drugs.
Sim said at a press conference last week that he was misled by a picture he had seen, reportedly showing Orr distributing drugs on Christmas Day.
“When Ken Sim and his ABC councillor Kenny Zhou sat down with Chinese language media and told them I handed out illegal drugs on Christmas Day, he accused me of trafficking illegal drugs,” Orr said on Tuesday.
“He accused me of being a criminal without checking the veracity of these claims before sharing them.”
Get daily National news
Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.
Sim 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.
Story continues below advertisement
“I referenced a picture that had been shown to me, regarding Coun. Orr distributing drugs,” Sim said at a press conference on March 3.
“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.
More on Politics
More videos
Orr previously said Sim’s apology did not go far enough.
“We still have not had a full explanation about why he did what he did without bothering to verify the information and what he’s going to do differently in the future to make sure he doesn’t make such an egregious error again,” Stewart Prest, a UBC political scientist, said.
Sim’s office told Global News that the mayor is aware of Orr’s legal action, but because it is now before the courts, he will not be making any further comments on the matter.
–with files from The Canadian Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.