Vancouver’s Chinese community says mayor’s apology isn’t good enough

Mayor Ken Sim’s apology for false allegations about a colleague has some questioning if enough has been done to correct the record with the Chinese community.

Some members of Vancouver’s Chinese community say they’re not satisfied with Mayor Ken Sim’s apology following his false claims that a city councillor distributed drugs on Christmas Day.

Sim made the remarks about COPE Coun. Sean Orr at a briefing with Chinese-language media on Feb. 6th.

On Tuesday, Sim said the comments stemmed from a photo he did not verify, adding he would be issuing an apology through a statement to the media organizations’ that attended the event.

The following day, the mayor’s team confirmed the statements were sent Tuesday evening.

CTV News reached out to the media that were present, including Singtao, OMNI, and Fairchild TV News.

Singtao did not respond before deadline, but OMNI and Fairchild TV News confirmed they did not receive the statement.

“Fairchild TV News has not received any statement in Cantonese and/or Mandarin from Mayor Ken Sim, despite Sim stating he would do so yesterday,” said Albert Tsui, with Fairchild TV News.

In a follow-up call Wednesday evening, the mayor’s office confirmed it sent the statement to the same list of media organizations that were invited to the initial roundtable.

In an email Thursday to CTV News, Fairchild TV News clarified that the mayor’s statement didn’t come through their assignment desk, but instead was sent to a former member of their news team who works on the management side of their station.

Scrutiny around accountability

Andy Yan, a Chinese-Canadian researcher said he questions why it’s taken so long for Sim and his ABC party to respond to this controversy.

“I think that ultimately it goes into the question of, why don’t they want to be accountable?.” he said.

Sim’s claims were also repeated on WeChat by Coun. Lenny Zhou who said all of the non -ABC councillors used and distributed drugs.

Zhou has since apologized and taken the video down, but Yan wants to see him address his comments on the platform.

“It isn’t sufficient to actually remedy the situation, which requires an apology and a withdrawal in Mandarin on WeChat,” Yan said.

The only silver lining in this Yan said, is that Sim and Zhou were caught spreading misinformation.

“You had one political leader try to get away—or seemingly try to get away—with misinforming a community in a language other than English, and then members of that community calling them out,” he said.

“And I think that that’s actually a good sign.”

Too little too late?

Solomon Yi-Kieran, a student activist who is also seeking a Vancouver city council nomination with COPE, said the timing of the mayor’s apology misses the mark.

“I think that opportunity is largely past, for him to actually come and proactively, rebuild that trust,” they said.

‘I support his decision’

On Wednesday, at an unrelated news conference, Zhou finally made a public appearance and defended the mayor’s apology.

“I support his decision,” he said.

“I think, when people make a mistake. That’s a classy way to make that official apology. So, I support that. I think, moving forward, we need to focus on the key issues facing the city of Vancouver—key issues that Vancouver residents really care about.”

At the event Sim again reiterated his remorse, called it a mistake, and said he’s open to speaking with the local Chinese community.

“If someone wants me to come up to them personally, I’d be more than happy to do it,” he said.