Vancouver mayor says false claims didn’t harm councillor, who ‘supported drug use’

VANCOUVER — Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says his false claim that Coun. Sean Orr distributed illegal drugs didn’t damage his reputation, because Orr’s own previous statements showed he “supported drug use.”

Sim’s response this week to a defamation suit by Orr says the mayor didn’t act “deliberately, maliciously or in bad faith” when he told Chinese-language reporters in February that Orr had handed out drugs on Christmas Day.

The response, filed with the B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday, says Sim’s comments wouldn’t lower Orr’s reputation in the community, given the councillor’s “words, actions and statements regarding the use and supply of drugs” both before and since his election to Vancouver’s council.

“The plaintiff’s reputation, through statements he published on social media, including before his election as a COPE councillor, in the fall of 2025, was that he supported drug use and he supported safe supply of drugs,” the response said.

The Office of the Mayor said in an email that Sim would not have any further comments at this time due to the matter being before the courts, while Orr did not respond to calls requesting an interview.

The mayor’s legal response asks the court to dismiss the defamation lawsuit or that it “attract nominal damages,” with costs awarded to Sim.

Orr launched the lawsuit in March after learning about Sim’s false comments that he made during a media roundtable with Chinese-language reporters at City Hall on Feb. 6.

The self-described socialist councillor was the top vote getter in Vancouver’s 2025 council byelection and has been a staunch opponent of Sim’s ABC party, which holds a majority in council.

ABC Coun. Lenny Zhou partially repeated the false claim in a video posted on Chinese social media platform WeChat around Feb. 19.

Zhou later issued a statement where he “unequivocally apologized” for the video, which had gathered about 1,700 shares before it was taken down.

Sim praised Zhou for the apology at the time, but it was only later revealed that Sim had made the initial false claim.

Orr said during his announcement of the lawsuit that the comments caused serious harm to his reputation, damaging his ability to serve his constituents.

“Because of Ken Sim’s words, people have lost trust in me through no fault of my own, forming a dark cloud over this election and in my life beyond,” Orr said at the time.

Orr called Sim’s behaviour “flippant and reckless.”

The mayor apologized for his comments, saying he made the claim after being shown an unverified photo by a member of the public, but Orr said Sim “failed to provide any reasonable explanation” for lying publicly.

In the legal response, Sim denies that his comments were malicious, saying they were made referring to “the opioid drug epidemic and the deaths that Vancouver was experiencing, including through distribution of illegal narcotics, which was a matter of public interest.”

Sim also denied repeatedly targeting Orr with “other untrue allegations” as claimed in the lawsuit, adding that “any such alleged statements made in Vancouver council meetings, or otherwise publicly, constitute fair political statement.”

The response accuses Orr of attempting to “use the circumstances of (Sim’s) statements and subsequent apologies” as a political campaign against the mayor, referring to the lawsuit announcement in March as “a staged presentation” and citing a GoFundMe fundraiser supporting the lawsuit.

It had raised more than $48,000 as of Thursday, from 957 donors.

“Each dollar you give is a message to Ken and all his friends that taking advantage of Vancouver will lead to consequences,” Orr says in a message on the fundraiser’s website. “Costly ones.”

Municipal elections will be held in British Columbia in October.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April, 9, 2026.

Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press