Vancouver mayor says city review underway, calls on province for mental health resources
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says the city has begun a comprehensive internal review after a man drove an SUV into the Lapu-Lapu Day Filipino block party, killing 11 people and injuring dozens more.
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Toronto Star
26-05-2025
- Toronto Star
Toronto to boost street festival security funding in the wake of Lapu-Lapu Day attack
The city of Toronto will inject an additional $750,000 in funding for festivals this summer to bolster security in the wake of the deadly Lapu-Lapu Day vehicle attack in Vancouver. The announcement followed a safety summit in Toronto on Monday morning, where 150 representatives from festivals across the city met with elected officials, including Mayor Olivia Chow.
The Province
24-05-2025
- The Province
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim launches defamation lawsuit against former chief of staff and local businessman
The mayor's lawsuit alleges his former chief of staff and a Vancouver businessman both displayed "a wanton and flagrant disregard for the plaintiff's rights" by spreading rumours about him allegedly being pulled over for drunk driving. Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim. Photo by Arlen Redekop / PNG Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has launched a defamation lawsuit against his former chief of staff and a local businessman, alleging they spread baseless rumours that the mayor was pulled over by police while driving drunk. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors In the lawsuit filed Friday in B.C. Supreme Court, Sim says he was defamed by comments that were made by his former chief of staff and campaign manager, Kareem Allam, in two private conversations in 2023 and 2024, and by local businessman Alex G. Tsakumis in public posts on X. The lawsuit alleges that Allam told Tsakumis in November 2023 that Sim had driven his car while drunk and was stopped by Vancouver Police Department officers, who let the mayor go without being booked or cited for an offence. Allam managed the successful 2022 election campaign for Sim and his political party ABC Vancouver, and then briefly served as the mayor's chief of staff before leaving city hall in February 2023. Allam made those November 2023 statements to Tsakumis, the lawsuit alleges, 'with the intent that Mr. Tsakumis would make the statements to others, including on the internet.' Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. On Nov. 23, 2023, Tsakumis wrote posts on X, describing the mayor being 'pulled over by the VPD for drunk driving,' and 'the Vancouver police essentially let him go.' 'Sim must be held accountable,' Tsakumis wrote. 'He's a joke.' The lawsuit also claims that Allam told a member of Sim's ABC Vancouver party in June 2024 that the mayor had been pulled over. In March and April of this year, in the lead-up to a city council byelection, the statements were republished in flyers distributed the public, the lawsuit says. The flyers said: 'Mayor Ken Sim had a DUI suspiciously 'cleared' by the VPD and subsequently poured millions of dollars into their budget, which is a major conflict of interest and likely corruption.' B.C.'s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner investigated the allegation that VPD officers had pulled over the mayor in 2023 and inappropriately let him go. The chief of the Abbotsford Police Department completed a report for the commissioner in October that called the police misconduct allegation 'baseless.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The mayor's lawsuit, filed by Vancouver lawyer David Church, seeks aggravated and punitive damages from the two defendants. It alleges Tsakumis and Allam displayed 'a wanton and flagrant disregard for the plaintiff's rights' and made false statements 'intended to injure the plaintiff as a public official, in his role as mayor, and the plaintiff suffered damage as a result.' Allam said: 'It is a matter of public record that I was not the source of these rumours. I intend to vigorously defend that I was not the source of these rumours.' The lawsuit, Allam said, is 'nothing more than a cheap distraction to distract voters in Vancouver' from the fact that property taxes have increased more during Sim's term than any term in the city's recent history, and made little progress in speeding up the development permitting process or making the city more friendly to businesses. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'This is a page straight out of Donald Trump's playbook. Every time Donald Trump seems to get into trouble on something,' he starts a trade war, Allam said. 'It's just a distraction.' Reached Friday, Tsakumis said: 'This is nothing but political theatre of the absurd. And you can quote me.' To date, Tsakumis said, he has never heard from Sim or any lawyer or staffer acting on his behalf, asking him to delete his November 2023 tweets. 'When was he damaged? If he was damaged, if he was really damaged, he would have sued me immediately,' Tsakumis said. 'I look very much forward to responding in court. … We look forward to putting the mayor on the stand.' dfumano@ Read More Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Canucks Local News Local News Local News
CBC
24-05-2025
- CBC
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim sues former chief of staff for defamation
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has filed a lawsuit against two people, including his former chief of staff, over alleged defamatory comments that claimed he had been pulled over by police for driving under the influence and used his position to cover it up. According to a notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court Friday, political strategist Kareem Allam, who had worked as Sim's campaign manager and chief of staff, told Alexander Tsakumis, a local businessman who is active on social media, that the mayor was pulled over by Vancouver police after driving while intoxicated, and officers let him go without being booked or cited for his actions. The claim says Allam told the story to Tsakumis in November 2023, less than a year after Allam was terminated as Sim's chief of staff, "with the intent that Mr. Tsakumis could publish the statements to others, including on the internet." It alleges Allam told a member of Sim's ABC Vancouver party that someone in the mayor's office told him that Sim had been pulled over by police for driving under the influence, and the mayor's office staffer and a VPD officer had "taken care of it." The suit claims Tsakumis posted a message on X on Nov. 23, 2023, accusing the mayor of driving drunk and using his influence to avoid consequences. It alleges Allam and Tsakumis made the comments "with malice, knowing them to be false, or in reckless disregard to the truth of the statements," and they "intended and expected" that others would republish the defamatory language. The suit says the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) investigated following Tsakumis's social media post, and the VPD's chief constable issued a report that concluded the OPCC investigation found "no objective evidence of an interaction between members of the VPD and [Sim]" as described in the post. It said the chief constable "further concluded the matter to be baseless and that Mr. Tsakumis irresponsibly used the platform to spread a rumour communicated to him by Mr. Allam." Speaking to CBC News Friday, Allam said he plans to "vigorously defend" himself. "It is a matter of public record that I was not the source of these rumours," Allam said.
