Vancouver city councillor Sean Orr has been asked to publicly apologize after an antisemitic post from his X/Twitter account in 2021 was recently discovered, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported on Wednesday.
In a news conference, Ezra Shanken, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, called on Orr to respond to the controversial tweet.
In 2021, I sarcastically quoted the comedian David Cross while condemning an antisemitic dogwhistle on Twitter. I was defending Karm Sumal against the claim he was a "globalist shill." I have been outspoken over the years opposing all forms of racism including anti-semitism. https://t.co/Q5qfft07xk
— SEAN ORR (@seanorr) April 8, 2025
In August 2021, Orr posted, “Everyone knows Vancouver City planners are controlled by a secret cabal of Jews who have a bunker in the earth's core fml,” sparking widespread criticism.
Orr responded on X, saying that his tweet had been "taken out of context," according to CBC.
"In 2021, I sarcastically quoted comedian David Cross while condemning an antisemitic dog whistle on Twitter," Orr explained.
"It's unfortunate that this was taken out of context and misrepresented." He also emphasized that his campaign platform explicitly called out antisemitism, along with Islamophobia and other forms of racism.
'We are a sarcastic comment for this individual'
"It hit me in the pit of my stomach," Shanken said in response to Orr’s 2021 post. "We are yet a sarcastic comment for this individual. We are a butt of this individual's joke."
In addition to the 2021 tweet, the CBC added that the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, along with B'nai Brith Canada and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, also condemned Orr for accusing Israel of committing acts of genocide following the October 7 massacre by Hamas terrorists.
Orr’s political party, the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE), defended him, describing the attacks as a "bad faith attempt to smear him" due to his opposition to Israel’s military actions in Gaza, CBC reported.