Canadian Human Rights Act complaint against Canada Post and the Government of Canada
Canada Post and the Government of Canada are regularly and knowingly delivering misogynist, racist, anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, and homophobic hate propaganda into Toronto-area homes. Canada Post and the Government of Canada are regularly and knowingly exposing Canada Post workers to misogynist, racist, anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, and homophobic hate propaganda in the workplace. The hate propaganda is in the form of an unsealed tabloid newspaper called ‘Your Ward News’. While the exact circulation is unknown, it is understood that thousands of copies of each edition are delivered. Media reports (
globalnews.ca/news/1906577/canada-post-workers-upset-over-having-to-deliver-controversial-newspaper
) confirm that Canada Post has been aware of the discriminatory content since the first month they began delivering Your Ward News in March 2015 when employee members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers objected. Further, on 28 May 2015 both Canada Post and the Government of Canada were put on notice that they were distributing hate propaganda after Arthur Potts, MPP for Beaches-East York wrote a formal complaint to Canada Post CEO Deepak Chopra and Lisa Raitt, then Minister responsible for Canada Post. Those involved with Your Ward News include the following: 1.James Sears (aka Dimitrious Sarafopoulos, aka “Dmitri the Loser”). In 1993, Mr. Sears was stripped of his licence to practice medicine for sexual misconduct by the College of Physicians and Surgeons (Ontario) - see: Ontario (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) v. Sears, 1993 ONCPSD 9, <http://canlii.ca/t/glgkv>. In addition to his other bigotry, Mr. Sears repeatedly advocates the rape of women and states that “fantasizing about KILLING YOUR WIFE is perfectly normal and healthy!”
[sic] through his Twitter account. 2.Gary Schipper - previously a leading member of the neo-Nazi Heritage Front group and already convicted of contempt of Federal Court for disseminating hate propaganda. See: Canada (Human Rights Commission) v. Heritage Front, [1994] 3 FCR 710, <http://canlii.ca/t/4glw>. In a decision involving Holocaust-denier Ernst Zundel, Justice Blais of the Federal Court noted the following about the Heritage Front: [39] If, as Mr. Zündel said, the Heritage Front, a group described as the most powerful racist gang to hit Canada since the real Nazis back in the Dirty Thirties, was not a good idea, then why would he hire the president of that organization, [Marc] Lemire, as a part-time and then full-time employee in his own personal residence? Zündel, Re, 2005 FC 295 (CanLII), <http://canlii.ca/t/1jv4z> 3.Michelle Erstikaitis - reported in the media as an admirer of child-killer and rapist Paul Bernardo and one of the few women declared a “dangerous offender”
under the Criminal Code. At the time she was declared a dangerous offender, the Toronto Star wrote: In June 1999, Erstikaitis was sentenced to two years’
probation after she was convicted of threatening to kill Debbie Mahaffy, the mother of Leslie Mahaffy, 14, one of three girls murdered by Bernardo and Karla Homolka. www.thestar.com/news/crime/2011/04/07/female_ paul_bernardo_fan_named_dangerous_offender.html
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While the back issues of Your Ward News that Canada Post and the Government of Canada are responsible for having distributed are replete with bigotry, samples are provided below of only the four most recent dating from December 2015 to ‘Spring’ 2016. If there is any difficulty in accessing the back issues at the URL links provided, please advise and I will forward PDF copies. Spring 2016 edition https://issuu.com/yourwardnews/docs/ywn_spring16 - page 3 openly acknowledges the paper advocates Nazism - refers to opponents of the newsletter as “faggy” - page 8 describes a named individual as a “boy-hungry faggot” - pages 10 and 11 engage in Holocaust denial and general anti-Jewish bigotry - page 19 repeatedly refers to individuals as “faggots”, “cripples”, “spazzes”, Mr. Sears states that if elected to municipal council he would yell “SUCK MY COCK” [sic] to Mayor John Tory, refers to a named woman as a “CUNT”, and mocks sexual assault victims February 2016 edition https://issuu.com/yourwardnews/docs/ywn_feb_2016 - the front page image and text display gross bigotry against the Muslim community (as does the rest of the article at p.4) - pp 8/9/11 contain bizarre allegations that Sophie Gregoire is a member of a Satanic cult, drank menstrual blood and repeated references to "fags/faggots", homophobic abuse, "Satanic Jew" as well as encouraging sexual harassment of women - the entire newsletter contains misogynist language repeatedly referring to women as "sluts", that women are inferior to men, that a named woman had "grope worthy breasts" - p19 - the letters to the editor section refers to a named woman as a "cunt" and promotes Holocaust denial January 2016 edition https://issuu.com/yourwardnews/docs/ywnjan16 - the cover image and text display bigotry against the Filipino community - p 2 refers to women as "cunts" - pp 7/10/11/13 promote Holocaust denial and anti-Jewish bigotry with Mr. Faed's ad appearing on p7 - p15 refers to women as "dykey gals" and a named woman as likely having been sexually abused as a child and one who enjoys sexual assault - further, that she was a "feral shrew" in need of "domestication" - p16 includes anti-Jewish bigotry - p19 again refers to "fags" and a named woman as a "cunt" December 2015 issue https://issuu.com/yourwardnews/docs/ywn_dec15_final - p3 repeatedly describes a named woman as an "attention whore" - Mr. Sears also indicates that he is seeking a "token Jew" to write a column for the newspaper but articles must not insult his "Holy Trinity" including Adolf Hitler and National Socialism - p6 describes African-Americans as "Negroes" - refers to a transgendered individual as a "FAGGOT" - p7 immediately above Mr. Faed's ad refers to Caitlin Jenner as a "fag in drag" and goes on to state that "During rational times in human history, Adolf Hitler's 'natural order' would prevail." - p11 argues that Jews and/or Israelis were responsible for the 9/11 terror attacks - pp16-17 and 19 engage in extensive Holocaust denial
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Additional evidence of the fact that the actions of Canada Post and the Government of Canada are unlawful under the
Canadian Human Rights Act
is that they are also in breach of Canada’s international legal obligations prohibiting the dissemination of hate propaganda. After witnessing the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust, Canada and the international community came together in an attempt to establish a legal framework through documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and later agreements like the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to ensure that such carnage would never again take place. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted by UN General Assembly 10 October 1948) states that: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Article 7 holds that: All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.
All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Concerned with the enduring plague of racism, the United Nations later enacted the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Under Article 4 of the Convention, Canada as a party;
(a) Shall declare an offence punishable by law all dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred, incitement to racial discrimination, as well as all acts of violence or incitement to such acts against any race or group of persons of another colour or ethnic origin, and also the provision of any assistance to racist activities, including the financing thereof; (b) Shall declare illegal and prohibit organizations, and also organized and all other propaganda activities, which promote and incite racial discrimination, and shall recognize participation in such organizations or activities as an offence punishable by law;
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 7 March 1966, Can. T.S. 1970 No. 28, 660 U.N.T.S. 195, 5 I.L.M., art. 4.
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