Councillors accuse colleague of defamation, code of conduct violation over social media video

ABC councillor Lenny Zhou has apologized for inaccurate comments he made about city council colleagues outside his party. In a now-deleted video posted on the Chinese social media platform WeChat, Zhou asked Vancouverites to oppose a motion to reconsider the ban on new supportive housing, which ABC implemented a year ago.  

In the video, Zhao speaks to the camera in Mandarin, referring to Councillor Rebecca Bligh as “extreme,” calling supportive housing “drug houses,” and saying that “several non-ABC councillors are drug users themselves and have openly distributed drugs on the street,” according to a copy of the video shared with media by Bligh. 

If Zhou is “willing to say that in Mandarin on WeChat, and he's not willing to say the exact same thing in English and council chambers, we have a serious problem,” Bligh said.

In a statement through the Mayor’s Office, Zhou said his “remarks regarding other Vancouver city councillors… were based on incorrect information, and for that I unequivocally apologize. I am retracting my statement, and I’ve taken down the video.” The video was shared more than 1,300 times before being removed. 

Zhou’s apology did not clarify if he was also retracting his statements about Bligh being “extreme” and supportive housing being “drug houses,” and representatives for the Mayor’s Office did not respond to Vancity Lookout’s request for clarification before publication.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Bligh was joined by the other non-ABC councillors, Pete Fry, Lucy Maloney, and Sean Orr, to share the comments and push back on Zhou's remarks.

Fry said it was an “egregious falsehood and misinformation” for Zhou to claim that several non-ABC counsellors are drug users and distribute drugs. Fry said the comments violate the city’s code of conduct, which prohibits false communications, and could be grounds for a defamatory libel case, as it “not only damages our reputations, but actually puts us at significant public risk,” Fry argued.

“On a very personal level, I live in a predominantly Chinese neighbourhood where my neighbours speak Chinese, and the insinuation that I somehow might be a drug dealer … is frankly outrageous,” Fry, who lives in Strathcona, said. 

“The idea that my wife and I can't walk around our neighbourhood without people thinking we might be drug dealers is remarkably offensive, and my wife is incredibly upset to think that that is how we're being characterized in our home,” Fry added.

Orr also commented on the impact Zhou’s inaccurate claims could have on his standing in the Chinese community, reflecting on the time he spent this weekend at Lunar New Year celebrations.

“Were they thinking the whole time, ‘look at these drug users’? It kind of makes me sick to think, because it was such a positive and beautiful celebration of community, and now that seems tarnished,” Orr said.

Maloney said Zhou’s comments were “so far across the line” and “obviously designed to make people think less of us.” 

Zhou’s video directly called on viewers to sign up and speak in opposition to Bligh’s motion on Wednesday, which, if passed, would direct staff to assess the impact of Vancouver’s temporary ban on new supportive housing, with an eye to lifting it. The ban, which has now been in place for a year, was one of the wedge issues between Bligh and ABC that resulted in Bligh being booted from the governing party last February. Given that context, it’s unlikely the motion will get the required support from any councillor in the ABC majority. 

Bligh told Vancity Lookout on Tuesday night that she plans to go ahead with the motion on Wednesday, despite the potential that some public speakers signed up based on the inaccurate information in Zhou’s video.     

“You can disagree on supportive housing, you can advocate for a different approach to public safety. This is legitimate political debate, but personal allegations and inflammatory characterizations moves us away from debate and toward division,” Bligh said. 

“This makes it incredibly difficult to have nuanced conversations around policy” on issues like harm reduction and supportive housing, Orr said, adding that Zhao’s claims promote fear and misinformation, similar to the moral panics of the 1980s. 

“This is a moralization of a health issue,” Orr said. Zhou’s video included photos of people sitting or lying down on sidewalks, needles on the ground, and someone sleeping near the side of a road with their belongings. 

Bligh shared a translation of Zhou’s video with Vancity Lookout and other media, noting that it was prepared by a Mandarin speaker who is not affiliated with her party. Vancity Lookout solicited its own independent translation of Zhou’s comments as well, which largely matched the translation shared by Bligh. Fry and Maloney said members of their respective parties also provided translations of the video, which matched Bligh’s version.   

“[We] made sure that they all were the same translation, and they are. So we feel very confident about that,” Bligh said. 

“I want to thank Councillor Zhou for acknowledging his mistake and taking responsibility for sharing information that was not accurate,” Mayor Ken Sim said in a statement. “Councillor Zhou has always been a passionate advocate for Vancouver’s Chinese community. He works hard to ensure residents, especially seniors and families who rely on in-language updates, understand what’s happening at City Hall and how it affects them,” Sim added. 

Zhou said he’s proud to engage his community in civic dialogue, but “did not live up to the standards that I strive for,” in this case. 

Fry called for Zhou to face disciplinary action, but, beyond his apology, that appears unlikely, unless the non-ABC councillors pursued the matter in civil court. Possible violations of the city’s code of conduct are investigated by the city’s Integrity Commissioner, and any penalties are ultimately voted on by city council, where Zhou’s ABC colleagues have a majority.

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