Vancouver council approves respectful discourse pledge as mayor faces defamation suit

Vancouver's council chamber is seen in this photo from the city's website. (Credit: vancouver.ca)

A Vancouver city councillor who is suing the mayor for defamation wiped away tears at a Wednesday meeting when describing the toll threats and personal attacks have had on him since he was elected.

COPE Coun. Sean Orr tabled a motion asking his colleagues to endorse a pledge to do their part to combat an increasingly toxic and hostile political environment, particularly in the lead-up to the municipal election in October.

“Recent tensions have put a spotlight on why this motion matters right now,” Orr said.

“I hope colleagues will see that this is not a political exercise, but a constructive step, a step towards reinforcing the integrity of our processes and toward rebuilding and maintaining the public trust that all of us, regardless of affiliation, rely on.”

Orr did not mention his defamation lawsuit against Mayor Ken Sim, which was launched after video surfaced where the mayor said Orr handed out illicit drugs on the street last Christmas. That video came to light after Coun. Lenny Zhou, who is part of the mayor’s ABC majority party published a video on WeChat accusing the non-ABC councillors of using and distributing drugs.

ABC Coun. Mike Klassen, responding to the motion, asked Orr a series of questions about his experience since being elected in a byelection last year—including whether Orr felt welcome, whether his experience has been positive, and if he agreed there had been collaboration across party lines.

“I just don’t want anybody outside of the chamber to get the impression that sort of level of toxicity that is really the target of this is actually something that goes on on political lines in any way,” Klassen said.

Coun. Pete Fry’s comments followed, in which he alluded to the matter currently before the courts and referenced a news conference held in the days following Orr’s election in which the mayor, his ABC colleagues, and the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver accused Orr of making hateful and antisemitic comments, and demanded an investigation into social media posts from 2021.

“I have a different recollection of when Coun. Orr or first got elected,” Fry said.

That news conference, according to Orr, prompted a backlash that included death threats, making him fearful to come to work before he had even been sworn in.

Returning to council after spring break this week was also difficult, Orr said.

“I almost couldn’t come back in because of that wave of anxiety that rushed over me stepping in this room, I almost couldn’t do it,” he said, visibly emotional. “Nobody should have gone through what I went through.”

But Orr also said his motion was not motivated by his experience alone, saying threats, abuse and harassment have a disproportionate impact on women, Indigenous people and marginalized candidates or politicians.

“This dissuades people from ever wanting to sign up,” he said. “We can all do better across the country.”

ABC Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung said she has also been the target of hateful comments and threats, having been advised to change her routine for her own safety, and having to take precautions to hide her address and phone number.

“I appreciate this conversation. It’s an important one,” she said, before describing being the target of emails accusing her of racism, while also attacking and using slurs against her husband—who is a Chinese-Canadian former police officer.

“I have lived it,” Kirby-Yung said. “I’m happily will support the pledge. I’ve experienced it as a woman. I don’t need to share all the different examples.”

The Elect Respect pledge, Orr explained, began in Ontario’s Halton Region, and asks elected officials to commit to standards of behaviour aimed at combatting and eliminating harassment and abuse from political discourse—both on and offline.

The motion to endorse the pledge passed unanimously.