Ontario mayor refuses to pay ‘human rights’ fine for violating Pride Month
An Ontario mayor who was found guilty last month by a human rights tribunal of failing to observe Pride Month is refusing to comply with the penalties.
Harold McQuaker is the mayor of Emo, a town of approximately 1,333 residents near the Minnesota border. In 2020, an organization called Borderland Pride demanded that Emo’s municipal council adopt a resolution honoring Pride Month and fly a rainbow flag for a week, despite the township lacking an official flagpole.
“Please email us a copy of your proclamation or resolution once adopted and signed,” the organization ordered officials, also demanding photographic proof of a rainbow flag. Borderland Pride operatives have been open about their aim to force every community to honor LGTBQ orthodoxy.
Mayor found guilty because of Donald Trump
Ultimately, the council did not adopt a resolution or fly a flag.
“There’s no flag being flown for the other side of the coin . . . there’s no flags being flown for the straight people,” McQuaker said at the time.
Despite the fact that Borderland Pride still held a Pride parade and carnival in Emo, the organization nevertheless brought a complaint against the town for its non-observance.
Because of McQuaker’s comment, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal decided he discriminated against Borderland Pride and acted in bad faith. The court claimed the mayor’s discrimination would cause others to harm LGBTQ people. An expert witness, Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc, tried to prove this by blaming Donald Trump.
“Dr. Saewyc testified that one of the ways that negative speech contributes to harms is through tacitly encouraging others to imitate that discriminatory speech,” the decision says. “For example, she testified that in longitudinal qualitative research with more than 1,200 people in the United States, people described how the anti-LGBTQ rhetoric by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and members of Trump’s cabinet during his presidency visibly increased the amount of hate and violence publicly expressed by others who were strongly affiliated with Trump’s political views.”
Therefore, the tribunal ruled that Emo taxpayers must pay Borderland Pride $10,000 in damages, with McQuaker ordered to pay an additional $5,000 from his own pocket. The court further ordered McQuaker and the town’s chief administrative officer to attend a reeducation course titled “Human Rights 101.”
Mayor refuses: ‘That’s extortion’
But the mayor says he will not comply with either penalty.
“I utterly refuse to pay the $5,000 because that’s extortion,” he told the Toronto Sun, adding that he also refuses to be reeducated and rejects demands to hold drag time story hour in the local library. As far as the $10,000 penalty form the township, the council will vote on Tuesday whether to pay it.
“I have a lot of respect for our four councillors,” said the mayor. “We have a special meeting of council, and they will decide that and what to do next. Either pay the fine or appeal it?”
