By: Yildiz Subuk, Staff Writer
Sean Orr recently completed his bachelor of arts in geography and political science at SFU. After beginning his studies at UBC and dropping out, Orr pursued writing for local publication Scout Magazine. Orr — who is also a vocalist in Vancouver-based punk rock group, NEEDS — has been involved in politics since a young age. Until recently, he worked as a dishwasher at Published on Main, until he put in his two weeks as he found a new job — city councillor of Vancouver.
Orr won in a 2025 byelection that saw a 40% turnout increase from 2017. So, how did he manage to enter city hall while amassing a dedicated following? He wasn’t just fighting for the people; he was part of the people. Orr’s campaign focused on housing rights and fighting the political establishment — mayor Ken Sim’s ABC party for favouring the elites in Vancouver, building expensive homes many can’t afford to live in, and sending the police department to dismantle unhoused encampments.
Orr sat down with The Peak for an interview, discussing what shaped him, his roots in punk rock, and his education at SFU. The interview has been edited for concision and clarity.
Tell us about your education at SFU and other institutes. What was the most helpful learning experience you had? Is there anything SFU should focus on to better prepare students interested in making a change?
“The best part about SFU was the breadth of learning I got — a good general background that covered a lot of the gaps I missed earlier. I’d already taken school, going to UBC in the ‘90s before dropping out. I was already writing, so I was already well-informed. But I think SFU does a good job rounding things up.”
“I took Geoff Mann’s course on the geography of capitalism. That was an incredible course. He’s a great teacher, writes for the London Review of Books. He really got me interested in doing everything I can to tackle capitalism or find problems and inefficiencies within [capitalist structures]. Building on [that, there] was a course called Geography of Racial Capitalism, [taught by] Sharon Luk — that was one of the most challenging courses I’ve ever taken, as I had to rethink everything I know about how race and capitalism go together. Another great course was on the Canadian Charter — really practical. It seems dry on the surface, but it’s a course that everybody should take, because I think we get confused [with what’s applicable] in the United States and what’s actually applicable here.”
How would you differentiate communism from democratic socialism?
“I don’t think seizing the means of production is inherently something we could do, especially at a city level. Democratic socialism pervades a lot of what we take for granted; libraries, public health, public housing, socialized medicine, even sewers, or having a fire department — it’s everywhere. It’s a social safety net. A lot of people, if they understood the benefits of socialism, they would [realize] they actually are socialists too.”
“There’s a lot of things that we can do immediately that will benefit everyone’s lives, it’s just about redistributing wealth. We’ve got a system that rewards people hoarding vast amounts of wealth — amounts that we have never seen on this planet before. In my mind, every billionaire is a policy failure. It [boils down] to taxing the rich properly; we have all the resources we need, we just need to redistribute properly. [Democratic socialism] is a little more practical and easier to do.”
“In my mind, every billionaire is a policy failure.”
How has the punk scene influenced your career in politics?
“There’s a saying, right-wing governments make great punk bands. I don’t think it’s confined to punk. There’s a punk ethos that doesn’t necessarily have to be about punk music. I see the punk ethos in hip hop, visual art, in writing, and in all different aspects.”
“I don’t think a lot of adults have a good release for the stresses of this world. Punk is a really good outlet for that and it’s always been a good organizing tool to fight back against [oppressive] forces.”
Do you think there’s actually a stigma around social housing and social programs here in Vancouver, or do you think that municipalities don’t want to build them?
“When this current Council paused supportive housing, I think there were a lot of misconceptions around what that was. Supportive housing could mean seniors housing. It could mean housing for single women or for 2SLGBTQIA+ people. But there’s been a misconception to tie all social housing to [drug use] — and we need [sites like] those everywhere across the city — but, to use that to paint all social housing with the same brush is unfortunate and I do think there is a bit of that that goes on.”
“The by-election shows that people do want social housing and we want people to have those options. We want people off the streets. We have almost 4,000 homeless people — that doesn’t even include people that are precariously housed, who could be homeless within the next paycheck. So, people understand the value of social housing — we had it before.”
“We had a federal government that used to build tons of housing. Unfortunately, through neoliberalism, that has been downloaded off into provincial governments and then into municipal governments — we’re playing catch-up since. It was Paul Martin’s famous austerity budget in 1996. In 1993, we started deinstitutionalizing places like Riverview [a mental health facility in Coquitlam which closed later in 2012]. There was no model that allowed for community care. It was also the year that a lot of the drugs became poisoned. We had a chance to introduce progressive property taxes across the province, which would have paid for a lot of this. We didn’t do that. It was the height of neoliberalism — which has led to us playing catch up 20 to 30 years later.”
What are your plans for the future? Would you consider running for mayor?
“I don’t think it’d ever be off the table, but for 2026, I want to get a grasp of what the city Council is. It’s a lot of information. There’s [more than] 9,000 people working for the City of Vancouver, there are a lot of different departments, some that I haven’t even met with. So, I would like to get a real grasp of what I can do as a city councillor. Focus on 2026 in terms of flipping and having a progressive Council.”
“Being mayor is [important], and what we saw with Zohran Mamdani in New York’s [mayoral primary race] was awesome. People want that for Vancouver and I’m humbled by the fact that they think that I could be that. I just have so much to learn. Zohran was in politics for a while before he ran for mayor too. So, I just want to make sure that if I ever decide that, it’s at the right time.”
