Northwestern Ontario community fined for refusing to celebrate Pride Month

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An Ontario town and its mayor have been fined a total of $15,000 for refusing to celebrate Pride Month. 

In a decision from Nov. 20, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ordered the Town of Emo to pay $10,000 and Mayor Harold McQuaker to pay $5,000 to Borderland Pride for violating the Human Rights Code and discriminating against the organization. The tribunal has also ordered the town’s mayor and CAO to complete human rights training.

The issue began in 2020, when Borderland Pride requested the town declare June as Pride Month and fly or display a LGBTQ2S+ flag for a week during the month of June.

Borderland Pride’s proclamation was brought forward at a May 2020 council meeting by then-councillor Lincoln Dunn.

"I had warned members of council that I was aware of the potential ramifications of not passing this bylaw," Dunn told CTV News.

The resolution was defeated 3-2.

"The explicit reason that they did not adopt our proclamation was obviously tied to the sexual orientation and gender identity issues attached to pride," said Borderland Pride director Douglas Judson.

"Generally this is a non-controversial thing," Judson said, referring to the proclamation. "But it's an important signal in a small community."

Shortly after the vote, Mayor Harold McQuaker, who voted against the proclamation, said, “There’s no flag being flown for the other side of the coin…there’s no flags being flown for the straight people.”

The tribunal called McQuaker's comment "demeaning and disparaging" of the LGTBTQ2S+ community and constituted it as discrimination.

"I'm gratified that the tribunal made the decision that they did, which I believe was the right decision," Dunn said.

Harrold Boven and Warren Toles, the two other councillors who voted against the proclamation, were found to have not been discriminatory in their reasoning and were cleared by the tribunal. 

"It's not a great look for a rural community that is struggling to build its economy, to grow its population, and to attract and retain young people," said Judson. "So I'm optimistic that they're going to see this in a different light now that we're at the other side of this decision."

The town of Emo, almost 200 kilometres south of Kenora, has a population of about 1,330. The Human Rights Tribunal's full decision can be found online.

- With files from CTV's Alexandra Holyk