James Sears

James Sears
Born Dimitrious Sarafopoulos
(1961-09-14) September 14, 1961
Nationality Canadian

James Nicholas Sears (born Dimitrious Sarafopoulos[1] on September 14,[2] 1961)[3] is the editor of a controversial Toronto community newspaper, a Canadian perennial candidate and professional pickup artist who also goes by the name Dimitri the Lover.

Medical background

Sears is trained as a physician and describes himself as a retired Canadian Armed Forces Medical Officer (Captain).[1] In the 1980s while a medical student with the Canadian Armed Forces, Sears was noted for erratic behaviour, and graduated in 1988 despite "documented reservations". During his subsequent internship he was judged "immature" and entered psychotherapy in 1990. Following complaints from female patients, Sears' medical licence was revoked by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario in 1992 after pleading guilty to two counts of sexual assault.[3]

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 suits. In 2001, it was reported in the Toronto Star that they had been hired by Canadian Tire and the Toronto Transit Commission.[4]

Mortgage broker

He has also been involved with the mortgage brokerage industry with Trillium Mortgages and then Expert Mortgage Company. His application for a mortgage broker's licence was denied by the regulatory body, the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, however he has continued to work for Expert Mortgage Company as a “full-time in-house marketing guru”, describing himself as “Ontario’s #1 Trainer of Sales Consultants, with Specialization in Mortgage & Real Estate Agents.”[4]

Pickup artist

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.[4]

Politics

In the 2014 Toronto civic election, Sears was a city council candidate in Ward 32 and received 797 votes (roughly 3% of the vote).[5][6] 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.[7]

He also 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).[8]

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.[1][9] The newspaper used to be printed and distributed as a flyer in the east Toronto neighbourhood of The Beaches. 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".[9] On June 6, 2016, the Government of Canada ordered Canada Post to cease delivery of the paper.[10]

However, the newspaper continues to be distributed using private delivery services, and continues to be investigated for possible hate crime.[11] On June 21, 2017, James Sears and publisher Leroy St. Germaine were charged under the Criminal Code 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.”[12][13]

Sources

  1. 1 2 3 "Message From NCP Leader, Dr. James Sears". New Constitution Party of Canada. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ https://twitter.com/dimitrithelover
  3. 1 2 "Disgraced doctor is T.O.'s seduction guru". Toronto Sun. December 30, 2008. Retrieved May 20, 2015. By 1986, Sears was in the Canadian Armed Forces and while still a third-year medical student was evaluated by a military psychiatrist who suggested there was "something seriously wrong" with Sears.
  4. 1 2 3 http://torontoist.com/2017/04/controversial-publisher-ward-news-send-homophobic-hate-mail-councillor-wong-tam/
  5. ↑ "2014 Municipal Election Results - Councillor Poll by Poll" (PDF). 31 October 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  6. ↑ "'Dimitri the Lover' back making headlines". Toronto Sun. March 25, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Toronto city council candidate James Sears promotes online ‘spanking’ game against female rival". canada.com. Postmedia News. June 30, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Federal Election 2015: Beaches-East York riding results - Toronto | Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Beach residents decry ‘offensive’ newsletter". Toronto Star. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  10. ↑ Shane, Emmett (June 6, 2016). "Canada Post ordered to stop delivering controversial Your Ward News". CBC News. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  11. ↑ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-police-investigating-controversial-your-ward-news-publication-1.3957831
  12. ↑ http://www.citynews.ca/2017/06/21/editor-publisher-of-neo-nazi-tabloid-charged-with-uttering-threats/
  13. ↑ http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/criminal-charges-laid-against-publisher-of-controversial-newspaper-your-ward-news-1.3470015
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