Canada Post says it will stop delivering an intolerant and bizarre newsletter to Toronto homes after receiving a ministerial order from Public Services and Procurement Minister Judy Foote.
The newsletter, “Your Ward News” has been distributed to thousands of Toronto homes through Canada Post in the past and has been the subject of numerous complaints over anti-Semitic, Islamophobic and homophobic content. However Canada Post has said in the past that it is required by law to deliver all mail as long as it is properly prepared.
“We understand the concerns brought forward regarding Your Ward News,” Canada Post spokesperson Jon Hamilton said in an email. “We do not support this publication. It is offensive to deliver and, we can certainly appreciate, offensive to receive in the mail. We have received the order from the Minister and will comply immediately.”
The newsletter is edited by James Sears, a former Ward 32 council candidate who describes himself as a spiritual leader and the “world’s #1 seduction guru.”
In the latest newsletter, he variously takes aim at feminists, Jews, black people and others, refers to the Holocausts as a hoax, and lists Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump among his inspirations.
A group that has been fighting the newsletter, Standing Together Against Mailing Prejudice (STAMP), praised Foote’s decision after it was announced.
“We are ecstatic about the Minister’s decision,” STAMP member Lisa Kinsella said in a news release. “For too long, Your Ward News has been permitted to disseminate racism, homophobia, misogyny and anti-Semitism to as many as 300,000 homes in Toronto. Minister Foote’s swift and decisive action means that this disgusting material will no longer be landing in the mailboxes of people who don’t want it.”
Sears could not immediately be reached for comment.
