---
title: "FOI clips document meeting where Ken Sim admitted false claim about Sean Orr"
description: "Bob Mackin published FOI video and audio from a February city hall meeting on election day, including Sim's admission that he falsely accused COPE candidate Sean Orr."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/news/ken-sim-orr-defamation-foi-october-17"
last_updated: "2026-10-17T19:03:16.094Z"
---

Bob Mackin, an investigative journalist who reports at theBreaker.news, published FOI-obtained video and audio clips on October 17 from a February 6 city hall meeting between Mayor [Ken Sim](/candidates/ken-sim) and crews from Chinese-language media outlets, according to his Substack post. [Lenny Zhou (周楠)](/candidates/lenny-zhou), an ABC Vancouver City Council candidate, served as Mandarin translator at the meeting, Mackin reports.

Three weeks after that meeting, Sim admitted he was not telling the truth and apologized, Mackin reports. Sim acknowledged falsely claiming that COPE City Council candidate [Sean Orr](/candidates/sean-orr) "was handing out illegal drugs on Christmas Day, to people on the streets." Those are the words Sim used in his apology, as reported by Mackin.

Orr deemed the apology insufficient and filed a defamation lawsuit against Sim, according to Mackin's reporting. A defamation claim is a civil allegation. No court has ruled on it. Mackin did not report Sim's response to the lawsuit in the portion of the article available without a subscription.

## The FOI clips

The clips were obtained from the City of Vancouver through a Freedom of Information request, Mackin writes. He describes the meeting as "a controversial Feb. 6 city hall meeting" and says it was "an early test of ABC Vancouver's campaign messaging for the Oct. 17 civic election."

The full article is published at bobmackin.substack.com. Mackin's publication, theBreaker.news, is a subscriber-supported outlet. The article was published on election day, October 17, 2026. The portion visible without a subscription ends after the introduction to the FOI clips.

## Both candidates are on the ballot today

Ken Sim is the incumbent mayor and is running for re-election with ABC Vancouver. Sean Orr is a COPE candidate running for one of ten City Council seats. Both are on the ballot in the October 17, 2026 Vancouver municipal election. The defamation claim Mackin reports has not been decided by a court. Mackin's article did not include a statement from Sim or ABC Vancouver on the lawsuit in the portion visible without a subscription.

## Polls are open today until 8 PM. Find your voting location at [voche.me/where-to-vote](/where-to-vote).

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