The embattled mayor of Emo Township in northwest Ontario has had money seized from his bank account after a series of events following his refusal to celebrate Pride Month in 2020.The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ordered Harold McQuaker, 77, to pay a $5,000 dollar fine for comments related to refusing to fly the Pride flag at Emo town hall. He was also ordered to undergo human rights re-education training. The town was fined $10,000.McQuaker said the fine was "extortion" and refused to pay. He also refused to undergo re-education. Now the LGBTQ2+ community has the upper hand, and after the judgement boasted of raiding McQuaker's bank account, reported the Toronto Sun.“Sure, sex is great, but have you ever garnished your mayor’s bank account after he publicly refused to comply with a Tribunal’s order to pay damages?” wrote Borderland Pride on Facebook.“Mayor McQuaker’s comments in the Sun and other media were very clear that he did not respect nor intend to comply with the Tribunal’s orders,” Borderland Pride said in an email to the Sun. “Consequently, it was apparent he would not voluntarily make payment of the damages ordered. We took immediate action to garnish his bank account.”Canadians need to rally around Harold McQuaker, wrote one resident in response to the seizure of funds. "We have to send a message to these so-called human rights tribunals that they are administrative fictions that do not have the power to overrule Charter Rights just because some progressive is pretending to have hurt feelings," they said.McQuaker told the Sun, “I utterly refuse to pay the $5,000 because that’s extortion” and also said he would not undergo the Ontario Human Rights Commission re-education course.Two Alberta towns have banned pride flags and rainbow crosswalks — Westlock and Barrhead."I don't want to say that it was a response in hate," said NDP MLA Janice Irwin who was raised in Barrhead, in a CBC article."It just shows that we have a whole lot more work to do to educate and inform our province."
The embattled mayor of Emo Township in northwest Ontario has had money seized from his bank account after a series of events following his refusal to celebrate Pride Month in 2020.The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ordered Harold McQuaker, 77, to pay a $5,000 dollar fine for comments related to refusing to fly the Pride flag at Emo town hall. He was also ordered to undergo human rights re-education training. The town was fined $10,000.McQuaker said the fine was "extortion" and refused to pay. He also refused to undergo re-education. Now the LGBTQ2+ community has the upper hand, and after the judgement boasted of raiding McQuaker's bank account, reported the Toronto Sun.“Sure, sex is great, but have you ever garnished your mayor’s bank account after he publicly refused to comply with a Tribunal’s order to pay damages?” wrote Borderland Pride on Facebook.“Mayor McQuaker’s comments in the Sun and other media were very clear that he did not respect nor intend to comply with the Tribunal’s orders,” Borderland Pride said in an email to the Sun. “Consequently, it was apparent he would not voluntarily make payment of the damages ordered. We took immediate action to garnish his bank account.”Canadians need to rally around Harold McQuaker, wrote one resident in response to the seizure of funds. "We have to send a message to these so-called human rights tribunals that they are administrative fictions that do not have the power to overrule Charter Rights just because some progressive is pretending to have hurt feelings," they said.McQuaker told the Sun, “I utterly refuse to pay the $5,000 because that’s extortion” and also said he would not undergo the Ontario Human Rights Commission re-education course.Two Alberta towns have banned pride flags and rainbow crosswalks — Westlock and Barrhead."I don't want to say that it was a response in hate," said NDP MLA Janice Irwin who was raised in Barrhead, in a CBC article."It just shows that we have a whole lot more work to do to educate and inform our province."
