City Coun. Sean Orr has filed a civil lawsuit against Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim over false allegations that the councillor had handed out illegal drugs.
The controversy began late last month, after a video circulated showing Coun. Lenny Zhou, making accusations that “some non-ABC councillors are drug users themselves.” He added, “On Christmas Eve, they openly distributed drugs.”
Zhou apologized for the comments, and Sim was quick to forgive, adding that Zhou had taken “responsibility for sharing information that was not accurate.”
But another video revealed that Sim himself had been the source of that information.
“We have a councillor, Sean Orr. Just this Christmas, he was handing out illegal drugs on Christmas Day to people on the streets,” said Sim — who was sitting directly next to Coun. Zhou — at a briefing in front of Chinese-language media on Feb. 6.
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Sim has been resolute in his regretting the comments, and apologized publicly and to Orr.
Orr says he doesn’t accept Sim’s apology.
In the civil claim filed March 10, the councillor says the mayor’s comments were “false and harmful to Orr’s reputation,” and Sim “acted deliberately, maliciously, and in bad faith.”
Orr is seeking general, aggravated, and punitive damages against Sim.
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