{"id":10224,"date":"2024-12-03T22:16:58","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T03:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=10224"},"modified":"2024-12-03T22:17:27","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T03:17:27","slug":"elmo-mayor-will-not-pay-fine-for-not-declaring-gay-pride-month-will-not-attend-maoist-indoctrination-sessions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=10224","title":{"rendered":"Elmo Mayor Will Not Pay Fine For Not Declaring Gay Pride Month &#038; Will Not Attend Maoist Indoctrination Sessions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?kind=link&amp;url=https%3A\/\/torontosun.com\/news\/local-news\/warmington-mayor-says-he-refuses-to-be-bullied-or-pay-fine-for-not-flying-pride-flag&amp;title=\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url= https%3A\/\/torontosun.com\/news\/local-news\/warmington-mayor-says-he-refuses-to-be-bullied-or-pay-fine-for-not-flying-pride-flag&amp;text=WARMINGTON%3A%20Mayor%20says%20he%20refuses%20to%20be%20bullied%20or%20pay%20fine%20for%20not%20flying%20Pride%20flag&amp;via=\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/sharing\/share-offsite\/?url= https%3A\/\/torontosun.com\/news\/local-news\/warmington-mayor-says-he-refuses-to-be-bullied-or-pay-fine-for-not-flying-pride-flag\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Breadcrumb Trail Link<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/torontosun.com\/category\/news\/local-news\/\">Toronto &amp; GTA<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"articleTitle\">WARMINGTON: Mayor says he refuses to be bullied or pay fine for not flying Pride flag<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/torontosun.com\/author\/jwarmington\/\">Joe Warmington<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(<strong>Toronto Sun<\/strong>,  Dec 02, 2024) \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 3\u00a0hours ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 8 minute read<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/torontosun.com\/news\/local-news\/warmington-mayor-says-he-refuses-to-be-bullied-or-pay-fine-for-not-flying-pride-flag#comments-area\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/torontosun.com\/news\/local-news\/warmington-mayor-says-he-refuses-to-be-bullied-or-pay-fine-for-not-flying-pride-flag#comments-area\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>252 Comments<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/torontosun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/lgbtq-scaled-e1713971443856.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;h=216&amp;sig=63w7SgVmcMOsGpXu5Zh6Hg\" alt=\"A Northern Ontario mayor fined for voting against flying a Pride flag says he will not be bullied into paying the $5,000 penalty.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In this file photo taken on Nov. 20, 2022, a community member&#8217;s silhouette is seen through a Pride flag while paying their respects to the victims of the mass shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photo by JASON CONNOLLY \/AFP via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Article content<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A Northern Ontario mayor who was fined for voting against flying a Pride flag at his town hall says he will not be bullied into paying the $5,000 penalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nor will Mayor Harold McQuaker be taking LGBTQ training as he has been ordered to by the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario&nbsp;(HRTO)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, McQuaker, insisted he won\u2019t cave to demands that he must host a Drag Time story hour in the local library, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Canada may be a free country in some places. But not in Emo Township \u2014 380 kilometres west of Thunder Bay on the Canada-U.S. border. In this township, defying LGBTQ demands can not only land you a stiff fine, but also an order to attend a re-education camp, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This story which has had coverage in the United States and Europe is happening in Premier Doug Ford\u2019s Ontario where they can\u2019t seem to keep repeat gunman from being let out on bail but they can throw the book at a soon-to-be 77-year-old rural mayor of a tiny village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI utterly refuse to pay the $5,000 because that\u2019s extortion,\u201d McQuaker told<em> The Toronto Sun<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>t<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Art<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether Emo, located across from Minnesota, pays its $10,000 fine from the HRTO will be decided Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI have a lot of respect for our four councillors,\u201d said the mayor. \u201cWe have a special meeting of council, and they will decide that and what to do next. Either pay the fine or appeal it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Their choices are simple: Either buckle and bend to the pressure being brought on them by the OHRC and a local Pride group or tell them to go pound salt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Township shall pay to Borderland Pride the sum of $10,000 as compensation for infringement of the Code,\u201d said HRTO Commissioner Karen Dawson in her Nov. 20 ruling. \u201cMayor McQuaker shall pay to Borderland Pride the sum of $5,000 as compensation for infringement of the Code.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/torontosun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/thumbnail_IMG_1264.jpg?quality=5&amp;strip=all&amp;w=100&amp;sig=27JNO1THEsdwwSTb2RSZtA\" alt=\"Emo Township in Nothern Ontrario has been ordered to a $10,000 pay a fine by the Ontario Human Rights Commission for not voting to fly a Pride flag -- photo courtesy of Borderland Pride\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Emo Township in Northern Ontario has been ordered to a $10,000 pay a fine by the Ontario Human Rights Commission for not voting to fly a Pride flag \u2014 photo courtesy of Borderland Pride<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>She added \u201cMayor McQuaker and the Township\u2019s current CAO shall complete the OHRC eLearning Module, titled Human Rights 101, and provide proof of completion of same to Borderland Pride within 30 days of the date of this decision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It sounds like a prison sentence \u2014 only tougher than most criminals ever receive. It also shows when the motion was brought to council in 2020 to fly a Pride flag for Pride month, it was not a request but a demand, punishable by fine should council not play ball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Breadcrumb Trail Link WARMINGTON: Mayor says he refuses to be bullied or pay fine for not flying Pride flag Joe Warmington (Toronto Sun, Dec 02, 2024) \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 3\u00a0hours ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 8 minute read 252 Comments Article content A &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=10224\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5772,5774,5767,5773],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10224"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10224"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10225,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10224\/revisions\/10225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}