Sean Orr

Last updated

Sean Orr
Vancouver City Councillor
Incumbent
Assumed office
April 15, 2025
Personal details
Born (1978-05-18) May 18, 1978 (age 47)
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Political party COPE
Other political
affiliations
Residence(s) Vancouver, British Columbia
Alma mater Simon Fraser University
Occupation
  • Politician
  • writer

Sean Orr (born May 18, 1978) [1] is a Canadian politician and writer in Vancouver, British Columbia. [2] In 2025, he was elected to represent the left-wing Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) on Vancouver City Council. During the 2025 Vancouver City Council by-election, Orr garnered 50.7 percent of the vote, becoming one of two councillors elected. [3] [4]

Contents

Biography

Orr was born in Surrey to Northern Irish immigrant parents and raised in the Metro Vancouver area. He credits his family for his involvement in politics from a young age. [5]

He studied geography at the University of British Columbia before dropping out in his third year [6] and soon began writing letters to the editor and blogging. This led to Orr writing for Toronto-based Beyond Robson's Morning Brew column in the mid-2000s, through which he gained popularity. [7] [8]

Sean has undertaken many art projects. In 2009, he self-published a photography book called "Pretty Drifted," encapsulating snapshots of urban Vancouver. [9] Sean has been a musician in multiple bands such as Taxes, Kidnapping, producing music via the project Tassels, and most recently as front man for the hardcore-punk band NEEDS, since 2012. [10] [11]

Since 2011, Sean has been a writer for Vancouver-based Scout Magazine. His column Tea and Two Slices showcases Orr's outspoken leftist political commentary and has provided a digital outlet for his advocacy and activism. [12] [13] [14]

Orr graduated from Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor of Arts in geography and political science in 2025. [15]

Vancouver City Council

Orr first ran as a candidate for Vancouver City Council in the newly formed municipal party VOTE Socialist during the 2022 Vancouver municipal election. [16] Orr received 13,744 votes in the election. Orr previously ran as a Green Party of British Columbia candidate in Surrey-Tynehead in the 2005 British Columbia general election. [17]

Ahead of the 2025 Vancouver City Council by-election, the VOTE Socialist party officially deregistered as an electoral party in support of Sean Orr's candidacy with COPE. [18] His campaign focused on homelessness, rent control, the Downtown Eastside, and climate change.

Since being elected as a councillor, Orr's past social media posts have come under scrutiny. [19] [2]

Electoral record

Provincial elections

2005 British Columbia general election : Surrey-Tynehead
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Dave Hayer 12,05251.37-9.58
New Democratic Barry Bell9,46940.36+24.64
Green Sean Orr1,0954.67%-4.67
Marijuana Donald Joseph Briere2431.04-0.28
Independent Summer Davis3801.62–
Independent Gary Alan Hoffman2230.95–
Total valid votes23,462100.00%–
Liberal hold Swing –17.11

Municipal elections

Vancouver municipal by-election, April 5, 2025 : City Council
Resignation of Christine Boyle and Adriane Carr
PartyCandidateVotes%Elected
COPE Sean Orr 34,44850.69Green check.svgY
OneCity Lucy Maloney33,73249.63Green check.svgY
TEAM for a Livable Vancouver Colleen Hardwick 17,35225.53
Green Annette Reilly15,04522.14
TEAM for a Livable Vancouver Theodore Abbott11,58117.04
ABC Vancouver Jaime Stein9,26713.64
ABC Vancouver Ralph Kaisers8,91513.12
Independent Jeanifer Decena6520.96
Independent Guy Dubé4590.68
Independent Karin Litzcke4330.64
Independent Rollergirl4040.59
Independent Charles Ling3520.52
Independent Gerry McGuire2760.41
Total number of voters67,962100.00
Rejected ballots00.00
Turnout67,96215.09
Eligible voters450,503–
Percentage of votes shown is percentage of voters who voted, not votes cast.
Source: City of Vancouver [20] [21]
2022 Vancouver municipal election : City Council
PartyCandidateVotes%Elected
ABC Vancouver Sarah Kirby-Yung (X)72,54542.30Green check.svgY
ABC Vancouver Lisa Dominato (X)70,41541.05Green check.svgY
ABC Vancouver Brian Montague 68,61840.01Green check.svgY
ABC Vancouver Mike Klassen 65,58638.24Green check.svgY
ABC Vancouver Peter Meiszner 63,27536.90Green check.svgY
ABC Vancouver Rebecca Bligh (X)62,76536.60Green check.svgY
ABC Vancouver Lenny Zhou 62,39336.39Green check.svgY
Green Adriane Carr (X)41,83124.39Green check.svgY
OneCity Christine Boyle (X)38,46522.43Green check.svgY
Green Pete Fry (X)37,27021.73Green check.svgY
Forward Together Dulcy Anderson33,98519.82
OneCity Iona Bonamis33,74519.68
Forward Together Tesicca Truong32,90019.18
COPE Jean Swanson (X)32,83319.15
Green Michael Wiebe (X)30,37717.71
OneCity Ian Cromwell29,83317.40
OneCity Matthew Norris29,66317.30
Forward Together Alvin Singh29,04916.94
NPA Melissa De Genova (X)26,57815.50
COPE Breen Ouellette24,88114.51
Forward Together Jeanette Ashe22,43213.08
Forward Together Russil Wvong22,10712.89
Green Devyani Singh21,25512.39
TEAM for a Livable Vancouver Cleta Brown20,85412.16
Green Stephanie Smith20,40811.90
Forward Together Hilary Brown19,90211.61
COPE Nancy Trigueros19,15211.17
TEAM for a Livable Vancouver Sean Nardi18,35310.70
TEAM for a Livable Vancouver Grace Quan17,95510.47
COPE Tanya Webking17,67510.31
TEAM for a Livable Vancouver Bill Tieleman 17,24010.05
TEAM for a Livable Vancouver Stephen Roberts16,2619.48
Vision Stuart Mackinnon15,8659.25
NPA Morning Lee14,0838.21
TEAM for a Livable Vancouver Param Nijjar13,9508.13
VOTE Socialist Sean Orr 13,7448.01
Progress Vancouver Asha Hayer13,1077.64
NPA Ken Charko12,0837.47
Vision Lesli Boldt11,0706.46
NPA Elaine Allan10,9176.37
Affordable Housing CoalitionEric Redmond10,6176.19
NPA Arezo Zarrabian10,3616.04
Progress Vancouver Marie Noelle Rosa10,1115.90
Progress Vancouver Morgane Oger10,0155.84
Progress Vancouver David Chin9,3545.45
Progress Vancouver May He8,5935.01
NPA Cinnamon Bhayani8,5865.01
Independent Lina Vargas7,7144.50
Vision Honieh Barzegari6,8313.98
Progress Vancouver Mauro Francis6,5563.82
Independent Mark Bowen5,7063.33
Independent Dominic Denofrio4,9272.87
Independent Amy "Evil Genius" Fox3,7112.16
Independent Jeremy MacKenzie3,4462.01
Independent Kyra Philbert3,3821.97
Independent Tim Lý3,3391.95
Independent Marlo Franson2,8661.67
Independent Amie Peacock2,7451.60
Independent K. R. Alm2,3011.34
"(X)" indicates incumbent city councillor.
Percentage of votes shown is percentage of voters who voted, not votes cast.
"2022 Election results - list view". results.vancouver.ca. City of Vancouver. Retrieved June 8, 2025.

References

  1. ↑ Orr, Sean (April 20, 2010). "Sean Orr: Obscure Bands Played My Friend's Secret Loft Party..." Scout Magazine. Retrieved April 8, 2025.
  2. 1 2 Ali, Amir. "New Vancouver councillor caught in storm over past remarks | News". Daily Hive. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  3. ↑ Weichel, Andrew (April 6, 2025). "2 new councillors elected in chaotic Vancouver byelection". CTV News . Retrieved April 8, 2025.
  4. ↑ McElroy, Justin (April 6, 2025). "Vancouver's byelection a story of big lines, big passion, and ABC coping with a big loss". CBC News. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  5. ↑ Lewis, Nate (February 12, 2025). "COPE council candidate Sean Orr opens up about advocacy, pragmatism, and the intimidation of city hall". Vancity Lookout.
  6. ↑ Kronbauer, Bob (April 29, 2009). "PRETTY DRIFTED – PHOTOS BY SEAN ORR". Vancouver Is Awesome. Retrieved April 8, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Sean Orr". Scout Magazine. October 16, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Beyond Robson's Sean Orr Emerges from the Blogosphere". The Tyee. January 27, 2006.
  9. ↑ Marigomen, Jennilee (May 6, 2009). "The Proof – Sean Orr". Vancouver Is Awesome. Retrieved April 8, 2025.
  10. ↑ Bollwitt, Rebecca (October 14, 2007). "Vancouver Blogger Profile: Sean Orr". Miss604. Retrieved April 8, 2025.
  11. ↑ Hudson, Alex (April 7, 2025). "Vancouver Just Elected a Hardcore Punk Vocalist to City Council". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  12. ↑ Carrigg, David (April 8, 2025). "Jewish groups condemn statements from new Vancouver councillor Sean Orr". Vancouver Sun. MSN.com. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  13. ↑ "20 years after Woodsquat, the protest that began at an old Vancouver department store continues to resonate" . Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  14. ↑ Kulkarni, Akshay (October 5, 2022). "Vancouver Police Union breaks with tradition and endorses ABC Vancouver for municipal election". CBC. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  15. ↑ "SFU Geography Alumni Sean Orr wins Vancouver council seat in byelection". Simon Fraser University . April 29, 2025. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
  16. ↑ Dan Fumano, "Firefighters' union endorses Stewart, 8 incumbent councillors for re-election". The Province , October 11, 2022.
  17. ↑ Elaine O'Connor, "What's at stake in the rest of the Lower Mainland's ridings". The Province , May 15, 2005.
  18. ↑ Mooney, Harrison. "Sean Orr Is Fired Up to Grill Ken Sim". The Tyee . Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  19. ↑ "Newly-elected Vancouver councillor under fire for online posts critical of police – BC | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
  20. ↑ "2025 by-election official results". City of Vancouver . Retrieved April 6, 2025.
  21. ↑ "Declaration of 2025 Official By-election Results" (PDF). City of Vancouver. April 9, 2025. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
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