James Nicholas Sears (born Dimitrious Sarafopoulos;[1] September 14, 1963)[2][3] is a Canadian neo-Nazi who was convicted of willful promotion of hatred in 2019.
The newspaper, titled Your Ward News, was barred from distribution by Canada Post in 2016, and Sears was convicted of willful promotion of hate on January 24, 2019.
[8] Sears was trained as a physician and described himself as a retired Canadian Armed Forces Medical Officer (Captain).
Sears was also known for his activities as a pickup artist using the pseudonym "Dimitri the Lover" selling courses that claimed to train men in how to seduce women.
The vanity publication, which claimed to have a circulation of 50,000, was criticized for using antisemitic caricatures and language, described by former Canadian Jewish Congress Chief Executive Officer Bernie Farber as "classic anti-Semitic tropes" and "a clear attempt at a hateful representation of Jews".
[22] After being released on parole in 2021, Sears accepted a "free speech award" from white supremacist Paul Fromm.
[24][25] His campaign included a website with an interactive animation that asked users to choose one of three playable characters, Rob Ford, Vladimir Putin or Adolf Hitler to "spank" the bare bottom of a cartoon caricature of city councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon, Sears's rival in the election.
[27] Sears was a candidate for the Canadians' Choice Party in the 2018 provincial election running against Attorney General Yasir Naqvi in Ottawa Centre.