TORONTO. August 22, 2019. Today Provincial Court Judge Richard Blouin blew it. He had the chance to declare a mistrial for outrageously ineffective representation but instead chose to sentence Dr. James Sears, editor of the satirical YOUR WARD NEWS to the maximum -- a year in prison, six months each consecutive on two counts of wilfully promoting hate against privileged minorities -- Jews and Women.
Despite evidence in e-mail exchanges that lawyer Dean Embry had refused Dr. Sears instruction to call expert witnesses and to make certain submissions, the judge, sticking by a fellow lawyer declared: " "Mr. Embry approached the case tactically and professionally. This was not incompetence or worse. This was a lawyer doing his job. It just didn't work."
The judge then got down to sentencing. He declared that Dr. Sears deserved at least 18 months. A conviction attracts only a maximum of six months. Agreeing to the Crown's demands for the maximum sentence of six months on each count to be served concurrently, the judge gave Dr. Sears a year.
The judge faithfully echoed a line spread by Canada's Jewish lobby that criticism of Jews leads to violence: " "Mr. Sears promoted hate to a vast audience in an era where online exposure to this material inexorably leads to extremism and the potential of mass casualties." Oddly, in press reports, Noah Shack of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said much the same thing: "Those who promote hatred must be held accountable. What starts with words can often lead to violence." At an earlier sentencing hearing, Dr. Sears had submitted evidence that YOUR WARD NEWS's satire serves as a safety valve and offers a voice to many people marginalized by political correctness. he cited two examples of people who had threatened violence but who had calmed down once their stories appeared in YOUR WARD NEWS.
Dr, Sears wife Colette and his four year old son attended the sentencing. The boy saw his father handcuffed and led away. Dr. Sears gave his wife his car keys and cellphone and insisted on keeping his chain and crucifix as he headed to the cells.
A woman supported called out: "This is not right." The judge threatened to have her removed. The woman, who grew up in communist Eastern Europe, left the court in tears with memories of exactly the same things in her homeland.
In a press scrum afterwards, Paul Fromm, Director of the Canadian Association for Free Expression, warned an extremely hostile reporter: "This is a sad day for freedom of speech and freedom of the press. This is North Korea lite. CAFE has supported YOUR WARD NEWS all along in its fight for freedom. Neither the Crown nor the judge could see that this paper was satirical. My parents if alive today would have wondered what they risked their youth for. My father served three and a half years in the Royal Canadian Navy; my mother six years as a nurse in the Canadian Army. They thought they were fighting for freedom and against people who jailed writers and threw people in prison for the non-violent expression of their religious or political views."
"Dr. Sears is a Christian martyr," another supporter said.
Publisher Leroy St. Germaine will be sentenced August 29. A proud Metis, he was entitled to the Aboriginal discount, or special reduction of sentences in view of his ethnicity. At a previous hearing the judge urged him to accept mediation -- a sitdown with Jews and women who had complained against YOUR WARD NEWS. "Fuck that," he told his lawyer.
So, August 29 will show whether our cultural Marxist courts will send a proud, ailing 77-year old Metis to prison for the non-violent publication of his political and religious views.
A notice of appeal against the conviction was filed earlier this week. Another lawyer will appear in Provincial Court on Friday to seek Dr. Sears release on bail pending appeal