James Nicholas Sears (born Dimitrious Sarafopoulos; September 14, 1963) is a Canadian

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

who was convicted of willful promotion of hatred in 2019. Sears was the editor of a

misogynist Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...

and

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

tabloid promoting his own New Constitution Party. The newspaper, titled ''Your Ward News'', was barred from distribution by

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the opera ...

in 2016, and Sears was convicted of willful promotion of hate on January 24, 2019. He was sentenced to imprisonment for one year on August 22, 2019. On August 27, 2019, Sears was released on bail pending the hearing of his appeal. On June 14, 2021, his appeal was denied and his one-year prison sentence began. He was released on

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

on October 14, 2021, and was arrested again for violating his parole conditions on February 3, 2022.

Medical and military background

Sears was trained as a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and described himself as a retired Canadian Armed Forces Medical Officer (

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

). In the 1980s he was a medical student with the Canadian Armed Forces and graduated in 1988. During his subsequent internship, he was judged "immature" and entered

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

in 1990. Following complaints from female patients, Sears' medical licence was revoked by the

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) is the regulatory college for medical doctors in Ontario, Canada. The college issues certificates of registration for all doctors to allow them to practise medicine as well as: monitors an ...

in 1992 after Sears pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault. Sears started the Second Opinion Medical-Legal Consultants Group in 1994, offering "medical investigative services" such as medical background checks for the prospective employees of its clients and research for parties to

medical malpractice Medical malpractice is a legal cause of action that occurs when a medical or health care professional, through a negligent act or omission, deviates from standards in their profession, thereby causing injury or death to a patient. The negligen ...

suits. In 2001, it was reported in the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' that they had been hired by Canadian Tire and the Toronto Transit Commission.

Mortgage broker

Sears claimed as of 2005 to be the co-owner of Toronto

mortgage broker A mortgage broker acts as an intermediary who brokers mortgage loans on behalf of individuals or businesses. Traditionally, banks and other lending institutions have sold their own products. As markets for mortgages have become more competitive, ...

Trillium Mortgage. In 2014, in campaign materials supporting his run for Toronto city council, Sears referred to himself as "Ontario's #1 Trainer of Sales Consultants, with Specialization in Mortgage & Real Estate Agents". In an article describing hate mail allegedly sent from ''Your Ward News'' to Toronto city councillor

Kristyn Wong-Tam Kristyn Wong-Tam (born ) is a Canadian politician who has represented Toronto Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 2022 as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP). They served on Toronto City Council from 2010 to 2022 ...

, ''Torontoist'' reported that as of 2015 Sears was merely an employee of the brokerage, and that his application for a broker's license had been denied in 2008.

Pickup artist

Sears was also known for his activities as a

pickup artist Pickup artists (PUA), self-identified as dating coaches, the seduction community or the pickup community, is a movement of men (or women) whose goal is seduction and sexual success. The community exists through Internet newsletters and blogs, ma ...

using the pseudonym "Dimitri the Lover" selling courses that claimed to train men in how to seduce women.

''Your Ward News''

Sears is editor-in-chief of ''Your Ward News'', a quarterly newspaper which promotes the New Constitution Party, an unregistered neo-Nazi political party led by Sears. The newspaper used to be printed and distributed as a flyer in the east

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

neighbourhood of

The Beaches The Beaches (also known as "The Beach") is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is so named because of its four beaches situated on Lake Ontario. It is located east of downtown within the "Old" City of Toronto. The approximate boundar ...

. The

vanity publication A vanity press or vanity publisher, sometimes also subsidy publisher, is a publishing house where anyone can pay to have a book published.. The term "vanity press" is often used pejoratively, implying that an author who uses such a service is publ ...

, which claimed to have a circulation of 50,000, was criticized for using

caricatures and language, described by former

Canadian Jewish Congress The Canadian Jewish Congress (, , ) was, for more than ninety years, the main advocacy group for the Jewish community in Canada. Regarded by many as the "Parliament of Canadian Jewry," the Congress was at the forefront of the struggle for human r ...

Chief Executive Officer

Bernie Farber Bernie M. Farber (born 1951) is a writer, commentator, and the former chief executive officer of the Canadian Jewish Congress and a social activist. He has testified before the Canadian courts as an expert witness on hate crime. He was appointe ...

as "classic anti-Semitic tropes" and "a clear attempt at a hateful representation of Jews". On June 6, 2016, the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

ordered

to cease delivery of the paper. The newspaper continued to be distributed using private delivery services, and was investigated for

hate crime A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...

. On June 21, 2017, Sears and publisher Leroy St. Germaine were charged under the

Criminal Code A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that migh ...

with uttering threats against Warren and Lisa Kinsella in an article by Sears in which he wrote that his supporters may decide to "bludgeon the Kinsellas to death." In November 2017, Sears and St. Germaine were each charged with two counts of willful promotion of hatred under the Criminal Code. They were accused of promoting hatred against women and Jews. Both were found guilty on January 24, 2019. The Crown asked that Sears be given a one-year jail sentence and an additional three years'

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

during which Sears would be prohibited from publishing any material. On August 22, 2019, Sears was sentenced to one year's imprisonment, consisting of six months for each charge, served consecutively, the maximum sentence available. On August 29, 2019, St. Germaine was sentenced to one year of

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

. While Sears and St. Germaine appealed the verdict, suggesting that their counsel was incompetent, a judge denied their appeal on June 14, 2021, sustaining the lower court's sentences. Sears was ordered to surrender himself that afternoon to begin serving his sentence. After being released on parole in 2021, Sears accepted a "free speech award" from white supremacist Paul Fromm. In his videotaped acceptance speech, Sears theorized about the handling of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...

"if the Nazis were in charge", and called for the

public execution A public execution is a form of capital punishment which "members of the general public may voluntarily attend." This definition excludes the presence of only a small number of witnesses called upon to assure executive accountability. The purpose ...

Chief Public Health Officer The chief public health officer of Canada (CPHO; french: administratrice en chef de la santé publique; ACSP) is the lead health professional and primary spokesperson on public health related matters for the Government of Canada. The chief public ...

Theresa Tam Theresa Tam (; born 1965) is a Canadian physician and public servant who currently serves as the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, chief public health officer of Canada, who is the second-in-command of the Public Health Agency of Canada ( ...

. Sears was arrested again on February 3, 2022, for violating his parole conditions.

Political candidacies

In the 2014 Toronto civic election, Sears was a

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

candidate in Ward 32 and received 797 votes (roughly 3% of the vote). His campaign included a website with an interactive animation that asked users to choose one of three playable characters,

Rob Ford Robert Bruce Ford (May 28, 1969 – March 22, 2016) was a Canadian politician and businessman who served as the 64th mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014. Before and after his term as mayor, Ford was a city councillor representing Ward 2 Etobi ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

to "spank" the bare bottom of a cartoon caricature of city councillor

Mary-Margaret McMahon Mary-Margaret McMahon (born July 6, 1966) is a Canadian politician. She was elected MPP for the Ontario Liberal Party in Beaches—East York in the June 2022 provincial election. Previously, McMahon served on the Toronto City Council from 2010 to ...

, Sears's rival in the election. He ran in the 2015 federal election as an independent candidate (no party affiliation) and placed fifth out of seven candidates, getting 254 votes (less than 0.5% of the vote). Sears was a candidate for the

Canadians' Choice Party The Canadians′ Choice Party (CCP) is a minor political party based in Ontario, Canada. The party is led by Bahman Yazdanfar. History The Canadians' Choice Party was founded on August 26, 2011 by Bahman Yazdanfar of Toronto. Yazdanfar, who immigr ...

in the 2018 provincial election running against

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Yasir Naqvi Yasir Abbas Naqvi (born January 25, 1973) is a Canadian politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Ottawa Centre since the 2021 federal election, sitting as a Liberal. Prior to his election to the House of Commons, Naqvi wa ...

Ottawa Centre Ottawa Centre (french: Ottawa-Centre) is an urban federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. While the riding's boundaries (mainly to the south and west as the north a ...

. He placed last out of eight candidates with 92 votes. In 2018 he registered as a candidate for

Mayor of Toronto The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in ...

in that year's election. He finished with 680 votes, less than 1% of the total vote.

Electoral record

References

External links

*
Website of the New Constitution Party
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sears, James Canadian neo-Nazis Canadian anti-communists Journalists from Toronto Politicians from Toronto Pickup artists Canadian newspaper editors Canadian male journalists 1963 births Living people Independent candidates in the 2015 Canadian federal election 21st-century Canadian criminals Canadian male criminals Canadian politicians convicted of crimes