Under fire for vulgar bathroom comment, Vancouver council candidate says it was a 'joke'

A Vancouver council candidate is clarifying something he said in a YouTube video while giving advice on a landlord-tenant dispute.

Non Partisan Association (NPA) candidate Morning Lee said a comment he made about using a tenant’s bathroom was a joke, and acknowledged some aren’t finding it funny.

Lee, who is also a business investor and consultant, said the video was for landlords dealing with problems with tenants, and used an example based on a situation where Lee was providing advice to a property owner.

“I want to fight for people if they don’t know their rights, if they don’t know how to fight for their rights,” he said. “I just want people to know it doesn't matter if you’re a tenant or you’re a landlord, fight for your own right.”

The Mandarin-language video, which was posted last fall, dealt with a scenario where a tenant was not cooperating with showing a property for sale.

At one point in the video, Lee suggests using the toilet in the tenant’s place after being allowed inside.

On Monday, he said while he cannot recall the exact wording, the comment was intended as a joke.

“It’s a joke about the bathroom, take a sh*t or something,” he said. “But obviously right now, some people think it’s not funny, and they got offended. I’m sorry about that.”

Council candidate Peter Meiszner with ABC Vancouver called the comment distasteful.

“I totally understand people make jokes. I make jokes,” he said. “But I think the topic and just what’s going on in Vancouver, with affordability, with housing, it’s incredibly inappropriate.”

Lee said he posted a video in English on the same topic. The 32-minute long video, titled “BAD Tenants - How to handle problem tenants, my stories and experiences” also refers to using the tenant’s bathroom.

“I also told my team member you must go inside. You cannot just open the door and take a peek,” Lee said in the video. “Also I told them, and you must go to use the bathroom, and you know, why we do that, the reason we do that is we want to tell the tenant we have the right to do that.”

The BC Real Estate Association declined to comment.

In a statement, the head of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said Realtors must comply with the law as well as a code of ethics enforced by their professional association, and added “it would be inappropriate for our organization to publicly comment on any situation that could be reviewed as part of a disciplinary process”.

Lee said he’s been both a landlord and a tenant, and just wants people to know their rights and the law.

“I did nothing wrong…just a wrong word,” he said. “I apologize for that dirty word, and if some people got offended. But that’s my job, my business, to give suggestions to tenants or landlords.”

CTV also reached out to the NPA, but did not receive a response by our deadline.