David Nickarz
David Nickarz is a radical animal rights and environmental extremist from Winnipeg, Manitoba with a long history of civil disobedience and failure. Beginning his involvement in environmental action in 1991, David first became infamous for his unsuccessful campaign to prevent the capture of four beluga whales in Churchill, Manitoba to be sent to the Shedd aquarium in Chicago.
Arrested in 1993 for becoming violent and uncooperative with authorities during a protest against the logging industry, the Nickarz family seems to have a background with civil disobedience and radicalism. David’s father Jim Nickarz was arrested for protesting against malathion spraying in 2005, the year following David led a campaign against pesticides and lost in his riding in the 2004 Canadian federal election.
The Green Party of Canada, an environmental political party with socialist and far left ambitions saw an opportunity in Nickarz. The Green Party, who have never won a seat in Canadian Government despite fielding candidates in all 308 of the nation’s riding’s in the last two federal elections, paid Nickarz’s $1500 fine in an informal agreement for him to represent them in his riding. The Greens quickly received flak for covering the fines of a registered offender since the parties main source of financing comes from tax-free public funding (over $1 million CAD per year). Nickarz became a registered member and candidate for the Greens in his riding, proudly supporting their stance as the only political party in Canada to be radical enough to oppose the Canadian seal hunt, and ran for them in 3 elections. David ran in the 1999 provincial election in the riding of Concordia and came last, only receiving 87 votes. Not learning from his past mistakes Nickarz tried to gain political fame elsewhere, this time in a federal election in the riding of Winnipeg. Hoping to gain supporters from an urban environment which breeds environmental and left wing ideologies, his second attempt failed greater than his last, placing 5th out of 8 with only 229 votes from a city of 648,000 , 0.7% of all votes cast. In his third and final attempt at running for government, Nickarz ran again in 2004 in the district of Churchill, this time gaining more votes, 612, but still only gaining 3% of the total votes cast and placing last out of 4. In all 3 elections Nickarz lost to candidates from the New Democratic Party, another socialist party with an environmental platform that only have 37 seats in Government. Unlike the Green Party, the NDP side with the 2 major political parties, the Liberals and Conservatives in support of the seal hunt, seeing it as humane, sustainable, and a source of income for rural Canadian workers.
Quoted as becoming inspired by a speech by wanna-be Captain, Mr. Paul Watson. David Nickarz joined the Sea Shepperd Conservation Society, an environmental piracy group known for ramming ships with the intent to damage and sink, sporting the pirate flag, putting their crew at risk, and spending hundreds of thousands of donated dollars to sail around the world in they’re aging vessels. David actively joined in their campaign in protesting the Canadian seal hunt, sailing their large steel ship on several occasions into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence ice flows, unavoidably and hypocritically crushing newborn seals themselves. After ramming a Canadian Coast Guard Vessel the previous year, and putting the lives of several fishermen in danger by steaming their large vessel through the ice pans on they were standing, the SSCS aging rusty ship the Farley Mowat, was seized by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Apr 12, 2008. Watson and Nickarz got off free since the ship was registered under another captain and first officer. The group pleaded to international courts that they not in Canadian waters, despite being arrested in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the mouth of Canada’s largest river, with accompanying GPS data from the RCMP and Coast Guard. Their ship is still currently impounded in Halifax and the 2 arrested members face court and $100,000 fines.
Currently working as an odd job handyman during the majority of the year, it is rumored that Nickarz has been troubled by medical illness. Although he can be seen on the new Animal Planet program ‘Whale Wars’ documenting the work of the SSCS in the Southern Ocean, he spends a large amount of his time doing internet campaigning and traveling and talking about his involvement in the failed campaign to stop the Canadian seal hunt. Blaming Canadian politicians, rural Canadians and Newfoundlanders for his failures, Nickarz is known to troll internet websites and facebook groups, including the “I Support the Seal Hunt” group started in support of the industry, leaving racist and violent comments.
Recently, Nickarz gave a speech about the SSCS at Spirited Anarchy, a convention for radical and anti-government anarchists, an investigation by Animal Wrongs will be held to determine the opinion of the Green Party on this.
