From dishwasher and punk rocker to city councillor: Sean Orr’s unique path to City Hall

Sean Orr, one of Vancouver’s two new city councillors, had a backup plan if he didn’t win his seat. He’d simply go back to his day job as a dishwasher.

In fact, it wasn’t until he actually won his council seat – in a landslide victory on April 9 – that he ultimately gave his notice and put in his final shift at Published on Main, before beginning his new job as a municipal legislator. 

This kind of thing almost never happens. People rarely, if ever, go straight from the dish pit to political office. It’s nothing against dishwashing – or service and labour work of any stripe – but there’s typically little overlap between the jobs. 

So, what more potent example of a vibrant democracy is there than a self-identifying democratic socialist, elected to municipal government at the top of the polls, spending his final night as a civilian toiling in the underground kitchen of one of Vancouver’s trendiest restaurants? The symbolism is delicious. 

But symbolism aside, Orr said he just loves the work.

“I love the energy,” he said. “You're under this immense stress. You're, like, pushing your body to the limit, trying to go as fast as you can. It's dependent on you, but it's also dependent on the whole team and creating systems... which is kind of in line with politics. It's all very system-oriented, right? It's about seeing the big picture – not just reacting – and seeing how things could be better. If you just do this step, then this step, then this step, then the whole thing can be better for everyone.” 

We’re sitting at a table in Granville Square, a short walk from his apartment in Gastown, two weeks after his victory. The sun is beating down, almost oppressively, while Orr explains his perspective on the core struggle that Vancouver is currently grappling with.

“We're definitely at a turning point,” he said. “I think we've seen it become this kind of luxury resort for the one percent. I've used that line a few times. The UN Special Rapporteur for Housing called it an apartheid city, and it's very much a city of dualities. It’s always been this city of dualities. That's not going to change in the near future, but I think there are enough people to remind ourselves that there's a lot worth fighting for here.”

And today, under the beating Vancouver sun, sitting at the base of the building that once housed the Vancouver Sun, we see Orr in transition – a man grappling with his new reality. 

Before this campaign, he was primarily known through his online presence. Now, he’s materializing in the flesh – at community events, “popping in” as they say, revealing the face we can place to the name. A man who’s never had a desk job is now afforded his own office with two computer screens and a landline telephone. His election means he’s now making a city councillor’s base salary of $104,180 — which, for a punk rocker hospitality worker with no children and no mortgage, can be a life-changing sum.

“It's more money than I've ever seen in my entire life,” Orr said. “It feels weird. I have that impostor syndrome kind of thing – but it's like, no, I worked hard and, if I'm gonna do this work, I have to be healthy too. I have to take time for myself, be grounded. A part of that is just not worrying about fucking rent and bills.”

Orr was fundamentally elected on the promise that he would hold Mayor Ken Sim accountable. That promise was summed up perfectly in one of COPE’s campaign slogans – “grill Ken Sim” –  which went viral after the party posted a photo of Orr barbecuing hotdogs at a community cookout, wearing a red apron bearing the phrase. It turned out to be the right message, at the right time, from exactly the right person. 

Prior to the election, Orr was known – on social media, and in his writing for Scout Magazine – for his acerbic, witty, and often confrontational idealism, espousing socialist ideals at a time of growing disparity in the city. That principled yet easy rapport is part of why, after running for VOTE Socialist in the 2022 general election, COPE (the Coalition of Progressive Electors) tapped him to challenge Sim’s ABC Party in April’s by-election.

“I feel like there's just something really refreshing about a person who is not one of these polished, political test tube babies who's been practicing their Obama impression since they were eight years old,” Shawn Vulliez, COPE’s co-chair, said.

“One of the things that is amazing is just seeing how much [this victory] meant to people, not just here in the city, but from elsewhere. When you stand up and fight against mayors like Ken Sim and the billionaires who back him. I've been brought to tears multiple times seeing what this win meant to people. You feel so inspired to keep up the fight and push to win,” Vulliez said.

That underdog story is another factor in why Vancouverites overwhelmingly voted Orr into office, just a few years after the centre-right ABC swept into City Hall, winning the mayor’s office and every council seat they ran for.

Kareem Allam, a political strategist and former chief of staff for Sim’s office, says by-elections are almost always a referendum on the incumbents or the governing party —and who better to send a message to our millionaire mayor and ABC than by electing a self-described socialist.

“Campaigns are a battle of contrast and Sean Orr is the exact opposite of Ken,” Allam said. “Ken is wealthy. He lives in a big house. He’s a very successful businessman. And Sean Orr is at the opposite end by every metric.”

In other words, Orr is as outsider an elected official as you’ll find in this city – scruffy, artistic, funny and, especially, non-compromising.

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