A Human Rights Tribunal hearing launched by Borderland Pride against the Township of Emo and Mayor Harold McQuaker concluded last week, with the decision being made against the Township.
The suit stems from 2020, when council voted against a request from Borderland Pride to proclaim June Pride Month and fly a Pride flag at the Civic Centre. In response, Borderland Pride led a group of organizations and individuals to launched a complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal.
According to a media release from Borderland Pride, and documents from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, McQuaker is personally responsible for paying $5,000 to compensate Borderland Pride for “injury” to its “dignity, feelings, and self-respect.” Moreover, the Township of Emo will be responsible for paying $10,000 for its role in the adjudicated breach of Ontario’s Human Rights Code. Finally, McQuaker and the Township Of Emo’s CAO, Crystal Gray, are required to complete the ‘Human Rights 101’ eLearning module of the Human Rights Code within 30 days.
Moreover, Karen Dawson, Vice Chair of the Tribunal and adjudicator for this case suggested McQuaker’s comments, specifically, “There’s no flags being flown for the straight people,” were made in bad faith, contrary to public interest, and “undermine the protections afforded by the Code,” causing injury to the “dignity, feelings, and self-respect” of Borderland Pride.
“I am however unable to find, based on the evidence presented, that the nay votes of Mr. Boven and Mr. Toles constituted discrimination under the Code,” Dawson wrote.
The Tribunal accepted the expert testimony of Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc, who suggests “there is a link between public or political figures making discriminatory statements or hate speech and significant harms among those targeted by that discrimination.”
“While Mayor McQuaker had the “right to be wrong,” he did not have the right to act in bad faith and breach the Code,” the decision stated. “There may well be circumstances in which a breach of the Code may have occurred in “good faith,” but this is not one of those cases.”
Acting in bad faith removed McQuaker’s protections under section 448(1) of the Municipal Act, 2001, meaning the Township would not be obliged to cover his personal legal costs in the case.
“The Tribunal’s decision affirms precedent-setting cases from 30 years ago, where Hamilton and London officials were sanctioned for refusing to adopt proclamations in support of their local Pride organizations,” the release from Borderland Pride reads. “The Township’s council was explicitly warned about those earlier decisions back in May 2020 when it was asked to reconsider its position. It ignored those cautions.”
According to the release from Borderland Pride, some of those discriminatory remarks were made online, by relatives. The organization is also seeking to find out how much tax money has been used to fight the case.
Mayor McQuaker was contacted by the Fort Frances Times, but declined the opportunity to comment.
