ABC has been running a pretty aggressive attack ad campaign against Pete Fry — notably by associating him with Sean Orr, painting them both as very dangerous in terms of the potential damage they will inflict on Vancouver if re-elected.
Maybe they feel that Sim’s record is such a liability that they need to show that the other choices are even worse, so we get scary ads featuring purposefully grainy footage and audio treatment which sounds like Fry’s voice is coming through a phone in the movie Dial M for Murder. Scary, indeed!
Using Orr as a bogeyman to attack Fry is bold considering the hot water Sim and councillor Lenny Zhou got into for falsely claiming, in Chinese only, that Orr was personally selling hard drugs on Christmas day. Orr is suing Sim for defamation so you would think he might consider steering clear — but no, he is doubling down.
The message being, “Vote for Fry and you are voting for Fry’s best pal and comrade, Sean Orr."
In reality, while COPE policies are geographically closer to the Greens' than ABC’s, they are still distinct and unique parties with distinct policy positions. That some ideas crossover is reasonable, but Orr is presented as an extremist with a sketchy past. Is this framing fair?
Much has been made of Orr’s history as a provocateur and agitator, but is any of it true and anyway, should we care? To some, he is the smart and sharp writer by way of his regular columns on politics and social issues in Scout Magazine. He admits to past addiction and mental health issues, which some use against him, but to his supporters, this demonstrates that Orr knows what it’s like to be that person and the fact that he has taken steps to recover and go from drug addict to elected city councillor is an impressive story.
Who can argue with that? Well, a lot of people argue with that!
His past social media posts have been widely circulated to make him look like a racist, homophobic, antisemite who hates cops, Israel, and even Canada. Those are pretty serious allegations, but does any of it stick? There is no question that they are real. What is not clear is the context he meant them. Some are clearly sarcastic, even if in poor taste. Others, hard to say.
He did really post that city planners are being controlled by “a secret cabal of Jews who have a bunker in the earth’s core” and this has been widely shared to claim that he is an antisemite, but hold on. In fact, Orr was referencing Jewish comedian David Cross who said much the same thing as a response to antisemitism. Orr was seeking to undermine antisemitism by using an absurd, if perhaps obscure, reference — not supporting it. Context does matter.
He did post “All Pigs Must Die” with an image of a cop as a pig, “Cops aren’t people,” “The VPD are murderers,” and he replied to “I want for the destruction of both Israel and Canada” with, “Well...me too son, Me too.”
Again, Orr insists that the context explains that it’s satire and was never meant to be taken seriously, but I think it’s clear that Orr has a certain antipathy towards the police. He has been arrested by them and seen them deal with people in the DTES and he is critical. That he expressed those views the way he did is part of who he is and guess what? Many of his supporters see it as a positive, as a sign of someone who speaks truth to power and takes no prisoners.
Orr supporters are not going to like this comparison, but I’m going to make it anyway. Trump supporters excuse the orange buffoon’s colourful and offensive comments as honest locker room talk they can relate to. Sure, it’s offensive, but it’s off the cuff and he’s saying things other politicians would never say. “He is not one of them.”
I’m not comparing Orr to Trump, I’m referencing the way supporters accept and even admire what they see as honesty (they are wrong, Trump is a deranged criminal lunatic, but I’m talking about how his supporters see him).
All that being said, maybe it’s more important who Sean Orr is right now. As a new COPE councillor, the firebrand Orr checked his hat at the door and has actually been an articulate and principled addition to council. Restrained, even, while sticking to his principals and voting accordingly. Anyone who hoped he would show up with fire coming out of his nostrils might be disappointed, but I see that as a good thing. Whether or not you agree with Orr’s positions, he has been an effective opposition to ABC.
I have no doubt that Orr has been an aggressive and toxic voice online in the past, and full disclosure, he was a member of the VanPoli Facebook group I manage and from which he was banned for his aggression and offensiveness. He subsequently came back with a fake profile to do it again, until that was uncovered, so I know of his past online behaviour first hand. But today, the Sean Orr on city council has been a very different person and to be honest, I’m really glad for it.
We will find out on Saturday whether or not Sim’s attack ads resonate and he gets elected.
David Fine is an award winning Vancouver filmmaker who is also very interested in Vancouver civic politics. He manages the VanPoli Facebook group which has over 8,000 members, and has written op-eds for various publications on a range of issues.
