A Human Rights Tribunal (HRTO) ruling that requires the Township of Emo to pay $10,000 and Mayor Harold McQuaker $5,000 to cross‑border LGBTQ2+ community organization Borderland Pride will stand, a tribunal adjudicator has ruled.
The Township and McQuaker had asked the tribunal to reconsider its 2024 decision, which ruled that Emo and McQuaker had discriminated against Borderland Pride, a cross‑border LGBTQ2+ community organization serving Northwestern Ontario and northern Minnesota, by refusing to issue a Pride proclamation recognizing Pride Month in June 2022.
In a ruling released last Friday, tribunal vice-chair Joseph Tascona said that Emo and McQuaker’s request to have the decision reconsidered was made far too late and did not meet the requirements for reconsideration.
“As a result, I decline to exercise my discretion and refuse the request,” Tascona wrote. “This means that the Merits Hearing Decision stands as issued.”
The tribunal ordered the town to pay Borderland Pride $10,000 and McQuaker personally to pay $5,000. It also ordered McQuaker and Emo’s senior administrative staff—specifically, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Crystal Gray—to undergo mandatory human rights training.
Emo and McQuaker had sought a judicial review of the discrimination finding, but the court held that they had skipped the mandatory step of first requesting reconsideration from the tribunal. As a result, the court stayed their challenge and directed Emo to file a reconsideration request within 30 days if it wished to continue contesting the decision. Friday’s ruling found that Emo had not filed the request until July 9, 2026, creating a delay of 597 days.
The ruling is another victory for Borderland Pride, which filed the initial human rights complaint in 2020.
“The Tribunal’s dismissal of the request for reconsideration is yet another complete rejection of the Township of Emo’s and Mayor McQuaker’s effort to avoid accountability for their homophobic and transphobic discrimination,” Borderland Pride Chair Doug Judson said in a press release.
“Today’s decision confirms that the original human rights ruling remains intact. The finding of discrimination stands. The remedies stand. And after nearly six years of litigation, the Township and Mayor McQuaker have still identified no legitimate basis to disturb that result.”
McQuaker declined to comment on the tribunal’s dismissal of the request when contacted by The Times.
Judson, a Fort Frances lawyer whose firm Judson Howie LLP has been representing Borderland Pride said he has become the target of sustained online harassment, anonymous threats and defamatory campaigns. Through Judson Howie LLP, he has pursued production orders against telecom and technology companies to identify the individuals behind those reprisals. Once identified, he launched civil actions—including a libel and reprisal suit against former councillor Derek Johnson—alleging coordinated retaliation for the human‑rights complaint.
The ruling came just over a week after an integrity commissioner’s report recommended that McQuaker be reprimanded and have his pay suspended for 60 days following the mayor’s failure to report funds donated to help with legal costs stemming from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) ruling.
Integrity Commissioner Robin Dunn confirmed that more than $5,000 had been deposited into McQuaker’s personal bank account, where it remained for nearly two years. It also found that McQuaker has co-operated with the investigation and intended to transfer the proceeds to the township following the resolution of any legal proceedings with Borderland Pride.
A social media post made by Michael Kellar, an organizer of one of the campaigns, shows McQuaker in the municipal office accepting a cheque for $5,300.65.
McQuaker told The Times that council has received the suggestions from Dunn’s report but has not yet chosen to take any action, nor does he intend to take any personal action in response. He declined to provide any further comment on the integrity commissioner’s report.
Dunn stated in the report that while he could not recommend elevating the situation to the Superior Court of Justice for criminal investigation, he advised a reprimand through suspension of pay.
The integrity commissioner’s investigation was triggered when Emo Town Council could not account for more than $35,000 allegedly raised to help the town cover legal costs related to its legal response to the HRTO investigation, which ruled that Emo and McQuaker had discriminated against Borderland Pride, a cross‑border LGBTQ2+ community organization serving Northwestern Ontario and northern Minnesota, by refusing the 2020 Pride proclamation.
Emo CAO Crystal Gray confirmed in a letter to Judson Howie LLP last December that there was no available record of the municipality having received the funds accepted by McQuaker. She did not respond to a request for comment.
Several crowdfunding campaigns have collectively raised nearly $35,000, according to Judson Howie, for the Township of Emo to assist with legal fees and damages. Judson said his law firm has sent a letter to the Ontario Provincial Police to look into the whereabouts of remaining funds.
“OPP have confirmed they are looking into that situation because it seems that there are a number of criminal offences that should either attach to the mayor, members of council or the people that crowd funded those funds,” Judson said.
