CP NewsAlert: Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim started false claim councillor gave out drugs

By Canadian Press on February 26, 2026.

VANCOUVER — Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim accused city Coun. Sean Orr of “handing out illegal drugs on Christmas Day” in a briefing for Chinese-speaking reporters earlier this month, in a false assertion that was partially repeated and then retracted with an apology by a Sim ally.

Sim on Tuesday had applauded Coun. Lenny Zhou for “acknowledging his mistake” and retracting elements of the claim that Zhou shared on Chinese-language social media, but Sim did not reveal that it was he who originally made the claim in the Feb. 6 briefing.

Orr denies the allegation and says he wasn’t even in Vancouver on Christmas Day.

More coming.

The Canadian Press