STATEMENT
On December 20, 2024, Borderland Pride made the following statement:
“Yesterday we were served with a Notice of Application for Judicial Review on behalf of the Corporation of the Township of Emo and the Mayor Harold McQuaker. The Township and Mayor McQuaker are represented by separate, taxpayer-funded law firms.
“An application for judicial review is not an appeal. It is a process by which the court reviews the decision of an administrative body or tribunal. This application asks the court to overturn the November 20 decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, which found that by denying Borderland Pride the service of issuing a proclamation, the municipality discriminated against us, contrary to the Ontario Human Rights Code.
"The Tribunal ordered $15,000 in compensation, $5,000 of which was to be paid by Mayor McQuaker, given his bad faith, homophobic comments justifying the discriminatory decision. The Mayor and municipal CAO were also ordered to complete a 30-minute online training module, which the CAO has completed but the Mayor refuses to do.
“Judicial review is a procedural right; however, the applicants face a heavy burden. Section 45.8 of the Human Rights Code prevents an order of the Tribunal from being set aside unless it is “patently unreasonable”. Section 47(2) of the Code also gives it primacy over all other provincial legislation, which would include the statutory immunity provisions of the Municipal Act that apply to members of council. The applicants have also failed to make use of the Tribunal's reconsideration process prior to launching this court application.
“All of this is aside from the reality that the application needlessly challenges interpretations of the Human Rights Code that have been settled for almost 30 years. It makes unnecessary attacks against our organization and its volunteers for exercising their right to enforce a Tribunal order.
“The application reflects the far-right political obsession with the legal rights of queer and trans people. It attacks the civil rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ people in Ontario to access municipal services free from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. It attempts to conflate the personal political views and bigotry of members of council with the legal, institutional role of the municipal corporation in our communities. This is entirely unacceptable.
“The Township has refused to disclose to the community how much money it has paid to lawyers over the past four years to defend its discriminatory actions, despite being given several opportunities to resolve and move forward. Taxpayers have a right to know how well their hard-earned money is being spent. Sadly, they remain in the dark. This judicial review represents the further mismanagement of hundreds of thousands of dollars by a small, cash-strapped town council – all to wage a homophobic and transphobic litigation vendetta and to protect one 76-year-old man’s fragile ego.
“The decision to pursue judicial review by this council reflects their continued abdication of municipal leadership, their failure to promote community safety and respect for law and legal institutions, a blatant disrespect for taxpayers, and a tacit endorsement of weeks-long threats of violence against members of our organization.
“We unequivocally condemn this mayor and council. We will vigorously defend our rights, and the rights of all 2SLGBTQIA+ people to be treated without discrimination by public officeholders, regardless of where they live in this province.”
Borderland Pride is currently fundraising to offset some of the costs of its representation. Donations can be made online at www.borderlandpride.org/donate. Donations received by December 31, 2024 are eligible for charitable donation receipts from Veritas Charity Services.
For more information, please contact:
Douglas W. Judson (he/him)
Director/Co-Chair
Email: borderlandpride@gmail.com