Published Nov 27, 2024 \u2022 Last updated 6 hours ago \u2022 6 minute read<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 701 Comments<\/p>\n\n\n\n First Reading is a daily newsletter keeping you posted on the travails of Canadian politicos, all curated by the National Post\u2019s own Tristin Hopper. To get an early version sent directly to your inbox, sign up here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n An Ontario town has been fined $10,000 and its officials ordered to complete mandatory \u201chuman rights\u201d training after it refused to celebrate Pride Month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Emo is a township of about 1,300 people located in the far west of Ontario, along the border with Minnesota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a decision handed down last week<\/a>, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ruled that Emo, its mayor and two of its councillors had violated the Ontario Human Rights Code by refusing to proclaim June as \u201cPride Month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The town was also cited for failing to fly \u201can LGBTQ2 rainbow flag,\u201d despite the fact that they don\u2019t have an official flag pole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dispute began in 2020 when the township was approached by the group Borderland Pride with a written request to proclaim June as Pride Month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Attached to the letter was a draft proclamation including clauses such as \u201cpride is necessary to show community support and belonging for LGBTQ2 individuals\u201d and \u201cthe diversity of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression represents a positive contribution to society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Emo was also asked to fly an \u201cLGBTQ2 rainbow flag for a week of your choosing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Borderland Pride then asked Emo to \u201cemail us a copy of your proclamation or resolution once adopted and signed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although symbolic proclamations are standard fare in larger municipal governments such as Toronto or Hamilton, this didn\u2019t happen all that often in Emo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n This newsletter tackles hot topics with boldness, verve and wit. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)<\/p>\n\n\n\n By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ant<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe record indicated the Township did not receive many requests for declarations or proclamations or requests for display of a flag,\u201d the subsequent Tribunal decision would read. In a single 12-month period they received only four \u2014 two of which were from Borderland Pride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tribunal hearings would also reveal that Emo doesn\u2019t really have a central flag pole, aside from a Canadian flag angled over the front door of the Emo Municipal Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nevertheless, Borderland Pride\u2019s draft proclamation was tabled before a May 2020 meeting<\/a> of the Emo Township Council, where it was defeated by a vote of three to two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The claim of discrimination ultimately hinged on a single line uttered by Emo Mayor Harold McQuaker. When the proclamation came up for consideration, McQuaker was heard to say in a recording of the meeting, \u201cThere\u2019s no flag being flown for the other side of the coin \u2026 there\u2019s no flags being flown for the straight people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Human Rights Tribunal vice-chair Karen Dawson wrote in her decision, \u201cI find this remark was demeaning and disparaging of the LGBTQ2 community of which Borderland Pride is a member and therefore constituted discrimination under the Code.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Article content<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dawson also ruled that given the \u201cclose proximity\u201d of McQuaker\u2019s comment to his nay vote \u2014 that too \u201cconstituted discrimination under the Code.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The five days of hearings into the case would also include Emily Saewyc, a professor at the University of British Columbia\u2019s School of Nursing who was cited as \u201can expert on the LGBTQ2 community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDr. Saewyc testified that one of the ways that negative speech contributes to harms is through tacitly encouraging others to imitate that discriminatory speech,\u201d read the decision, which cited Saewyc\u2019s claim that U.S. President Donald Trump inspired \u201chate and violence\u201d against the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Human Rights Tribunal ultimately ordered the Township to pay $10,000 to Borderland Pride, and for McQuaker to personally pay them another $5,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was lower than what Borderland Pride had been seeking; they wanted $15,000 from the township and $10,000 each from the three councillors who voted no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But McQuaker and Emo\u2019s chief administrative officer were also ordered to complete an online course known as \u201cHuman Rights 101\u201d and \u201cprovide proof of completion \u2026 to Borderland Pride within 30 days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Article content<\/p>\n\n\n\n The course is offered by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, and their latest edition opens with an animated video<\/a> telling viewers that the Human Rights Code \u201cis not meant to punish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students are also told that \u201cit doesn\u2019t matter if you didn\u2019t intend or mean to discriminate \u2026 it\u2019s the impact on the person that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a statement celebrating the decision, Borderland Pride noted that Emo joins both London and Hamilton in the category of Ontario communities that have been \u201csanctioned for refusing to adopt proclamations in support of their local Pride organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1995, Hamilton Mayor Bob Morrow was fined $5,000 for refusing to proclaim Gay Pride Week. That same year, London, Ont., was similarly fined $10,000 for refusing to officially recognize Pride weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Borderland Pride said Emo was \u201cexplicitly warned\u201d about the 1995 examples, but \u201cignored those cautions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is an apparent reference to an April 2024 letter<\/a> that Borderland Pride sent to Emo on the eve of its Human Rights Tribunal hearing, threatening an \u201cimpending national public relations tire fire for your council and community\u201d if it went ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Article content<\/p>\n\n\n\n The township was told they could avoid the hearing only if they apologized, imposed mandatory \u201cdiversity and inclusion\u201d training for council, agreed to undisclosed financial terms, pledged to green-light future Pride proclamations without edits and provide free facilities for a \u201ccharitable drag event \u2026 the proceeds of which will support the Emo Public Library.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Borderland Pride also said it would return one third of their financial reward to the Emo Public Library, but only if the library hosted a \u201cdrag story time event\u201d on a \u201cdate of our choosing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the second time in four months that Borderland Pride has won a five-figure award via legal action. In August, the group won a $35,000 small claims court judgement against a Fort Frances man who wrote a Facebook post saying a Borderland-organized all-ages drag show was a \u201cpedophile show.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a statement to Dougall Media<\/a> at the time, Borderland Pride director Douglas Judson outlined his intention to continue imposing \u201cconsequences\u201d on anyone else who attacked them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs a lawyer who does this work that means I\u2019m going to start taking people\u2019s houses and their vehicles and their toys and draining their bank accounts and garnishing their wages because no one is going to stop behaving this way until there are real consequences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ontario town fined $10,000 for refusing to celebrate pride month Emo, Ont. was also cited for not flying a pride flag, despite not having a flag pole Get the latest from Tristin Hopper straight to your inbox Author of the … Continue reading ![\"Emo](\"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/nationalpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/6077927981_241c8e744f_k.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=288&h=216&sig=WeVn9Lr-nHqQtTFr5JSDmg\")
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