Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, police, cleared of ‘baseless’ DUI allegation

An explosive accusation has been circulating for two years that Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim was stopped by Vancouver police in January 2023 for drinking and driving.

There were also accusations that the Vancouver Police Department covered it up.

Global News has learned that the Vancouver police became aware of social media posts from developer and ex-political commentator Alex Tsakumis in late 2023, claiming officers had stopped Sim on West 4th Avenue earlier that year and Sim was let off.

Vancouver police notified the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, which ordered an external probe into the matter.

The RCMP led the investigation and the findings were reviewed by Abbotsford police.

Two Mounties interviewed VPD officers, scanned police databases and listened to radio recordings. They also interviewed Tsakumis and his source, Sim’s former chief of staff, Kareem Allam.

“I have no direct knowledge of a DUI. I have no direct knowledge of anything happening to that regard,” Allam told Global News.

Allam said he was in the hospital, recovering from surgery, in late January 2023 when his phone rang.

“On that Wednesday I got a call from a staff member in the mayor’s office letting me know that there had been this alleged incident where the mayor himself might have been involved in a DUI,” Allam said.

“I responded immediately at that point from my hospital bed that we need to get to the bottom of the facts – but if they are true – I will not be flakking for the mayor in the media on this and he’ll likely have to resign.”

Allam said he returned to work at city hall the following Monday and was fired.

“I wasn’t given any reason for my dismissal but I can’t imagine that it would’ve been performance-based,” Allam said.

Sim said he does not talk about human resource issues in public.

“What I can tell you is he worked here and then he didn’t,” Sim said.

After nine months of investigating the DUI and VPD cover-up rumour, the Mounties concluded their probe last October.

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Abbotsford police Chief Colin Watson reviewed their findings and wrote “I consider this matter to be baseless. Mr. Tsakumis irresponsibly used ‘X’ to spread a rumour communicated to him by Mr. Allam.”

Tsakumis did not retract his tweets and told Global News that “…Based on the refusal of witnesses to fully and openly participate in the investigation … I am not surprised by the conclusion of the investigation.”

The report remains secret. The Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner and the chair of the Vancouver Police Board said they will not release it but Sim would like it to be made public.

“It’s not about protecting me,” he said.

“It’s about protecting the integrity of the Office of Mayor, and it’s about protecting the integrity of the Vancouver Police Department.”

When asked if Sim had ever driven impaired, he said that when he was a teenager he had a couple of drinks and hopped behind the wheel.

“Not proud of it and we’ve learned a lot since then but we’re talking in the 80s,” Sim said.

“I don’t even remember the last time I got a ticket.”