James Sears (l) and Leroy St. Germaine were convicted of demonizing women and Jews in their Toronto newspaper ‘Your Ward News.’ Photo: Screenshot.

Two men behind a Toronto newspaper whose favored topics include Holocaust denial and the degradation of women were found guilty of inciting hatred by a Canadian court on Thursday.

James Sears and Leroy St. Germaine —  respectively, the editor and publisher of racist, antisemitic and misogynistic newspaper Your Ward News (YWN) — were convicted of willful promotion of hatred against Jews and women.

Delivering his verdict against Sears and St. Germaine, Ontario court Judge Richard Blouin called evidence of their guilt overwhelming.

“YWN repeatedly and consistently dehumanized Jews and women,” Blouin said in his ruling. “Both men were fully aware of the unrelenting promotion of hate.”

The men, who will have a sentencing hearing April 26, face a maximum six months imprisonment and/or $5,000 in fines.

Sears, who has two convictions for sexual assault from 1991 and who lost his medical license in 1992 for sexual misconduct with three women, called the hate law “arbitrary” and the prosecution “politically motivated.” He went on to compare himself to the biblical figure of Jesus, saying that “two thousand years ago, a man very similar to me was hauled up on hate-speech charges by the Pharisees and he was crucified subsequently. The same thing is happening today and I’m prepared to be crucified.”

The trial heard how in editions published between 2015-18, YWN demonized feminists as “dangerous people” and called women “tri-orificed chattels.” An enthusiastic purveyor of antisemitic conspiracy theories, the paper was also filled with articles denying the Holocaust and blaming Jews for the September 11, 2001 Al Qaeda attacks in the United States. The paper is affiliated with an extremist organization called “The New Constitution Party of Canada” which claims to “incorporate the intellect of [former US congressman] Dr. Ron Paul, the heart of Chancellor Adolf Hitler, and the soul of Jesus Christ, into one powerful political Chimera that will crush the Marxist beast.”

Jewish community leaders in Canada expressed satisfaction with Thursday’s court verdict — the latest legal penalty against a paper that has already been banned by the government from distributing printed copies through the national mail system

“We are pleased to see justice served and Sears and St. Germaine found guilty of promoting hatred against women and members of the Jewish community,” said Michael Mostyn, chief executive officer of B’nai Brith Canada. “B’nai Brith has for years spoken out against the hateful content found in the pages of Your Ward News. We now eagerly await sentencing, and hope that the punishment fits the crime.”