EMO — The Township of Emo’s refusal to declare Pride Month and display a rainbow flag four years ago was a failure in leadership it continues to double down on, says a former councillor.
“It doesn’t reflect well,” said Lincoln Dunn. “I think it’s important for our community to be able to acknowledge what’s happened and to move forward to try and create a more positive and more welcoming space, and learn from the mistake that was made.”
Emo council held a special in-camera meeting on Tuesday to decide whether to comply with or appeal orders from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario after the tribunal ruled last month the 2020 decision to not declare Pride month was discriminatory to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
The tribunal awarded $15,000 in compensation to Borderland Pride with the township responsible for $10,000 of the amount and Emo’s mayor, Harold McQuaker, personally responsible for the remaining $5,000. The tribunal also ordered McQuaker and Emo’s current chief administrative officer to complete human rights training within 30 days.
The meeting was held Tuesday morning but the township could not be reached by phone by Dougall Media. Email requests to both McQuaker and the chief administrative officer also were unanswered.
On the Township of Emo website, a message was posted stating that “due to the high volume of calls that are being experienced by our office, all phone calls are being directed to voicemail. Messages will be checked throughout the day."
McQuaker told the Toronto Sun on Monday he didn’t know what the township would decide but he was refusing to pay the $5,000 or undertake the training ordered by the tribunal, calling it extortion.
Borderland Pride director, Douglas Judson, said the Rainy River area pride organization hadn’t heard anything from the township since the decision was released.
“The orders are not optional as (McQuaker) will soon learn,” Judson said. “We expect compliance. We expect to collect our judgment from the municipality and the mayor.”
This case sends the message that despite the advancements nationally and legally for 2SLGBTQIA+ people, there continue to be holdouts and people using their public office to undermine that equality, added Judson.
Dunn, who was a member of Emo council in 2020, said the tribunal’s decision came with feelings of sadness, relief and vindication.
“Being on council during this issue was challenging,” he said. “I’m grateful the tribunal made the decision that I think was widely anticipated they were going to make.”
Dunn said he had been hopeful Emo council would reconsider their position on the issue and they would look at the potential impact to members of the community, specifically the harm and hurt the decision made.
But when council voted 3-2 against the Pride declaration, Dunn assumed it would continue down this road and he cautioned council their decision could have legal ramifications.
“In some ways, unfortunately, when we refuse to reconsider and we refuse to take a look inward at the impact that our decisions make, I guess this is where we wind up,” said Dunn.
Some 2SLGBTQIA+ residents of Emo have moved away because of council’s stance on Pride Month as they felt like the community was no longer a place they could be their true, authentic selves, said Dunn.
“As a parent, as a community member, as someone who has many close family members who consider themselves to be part of that community, it was devastating to me that people would be made to feel by their leadership that this was no longer a safe place to be,” he said.
