Canada Post has been ordered to stop delivering a publication in Toronto that several groups have blasted as anti-Semitic and homophobic.
Judy Foote, minister of public services and procurement, issued a prohibitory order on Monday against the delivery of Your Ward News, according to a press release from Standing Together Against Mailing Prejudice.
“We are ecstatic about the Minister’s decision,” said Lisa Kinsella, one of the founding members of STAMP, in a statement.
Minister of Public Services Judy Foote ordered Canada Post to stop delivering the newsletter on Monday. (Photo: The Canadian Press)
“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.”
Human rights complaint
In April, a human rights complaint was filed by an Ottawa lawyer against the paper, according to the Toronto Star.
"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," Richard Warman said in the complaint.
'We're just a satirical, offensive newspaper'
The paper's editor, who has identified himself in the past as pick-up artist Dmitri The Lover, told CBC News the government order would be a "temporary inconvenience," and vowed to fight it.
Editor James Sears has asked for a panel to review the order and expects the case to be presided by "a real judge."
"We've done nothing illegal. There have been no criminal charges filed. It is an arbitrary decision," Sears said.
"We're just a satirical, offensive newspaper. It has been found multiple times by Canada Post lawyers that we're not breaking any hate-speech laws."
Kinsella called Sears "an unabashed Hitler enthusiast" in the release. She told CBC that his publication is not satirical and is "hate promotion."
Sears is a former Toronto doctor who lost his medical licence in the '90s after pleading guilty to sexual assault.
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