Township of Emo loses motion to Borderland Pride

The Township of Emo has lost a motion before Ontario’s Divisional Court in its ongoing judicial review of a landmark Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario decision in favour of Borderland Pride.

In reasons released on January 23, 2026, Regional Senior Justice W. D. Newton dismissed the Township’s attempt to introduce “fresh evidence” as part of its judicial review application, finding that the proposed evidence was inadmissible and irrelevant to the issues before the court.

The underlying Tribunal decision, released in November 2024, found that the Township and Mayor McQuaker discriminated against Borderland Pride, contrary to the Human Rights Code, by refusing to issue a routine municipal proclamation recognizing Pride Month in 2020. The Tribunal awarded $15,000 in damages and ordered Mayor Harold McQuaker and the Township’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to complete a 30-minute online human rights training course.

In the judicial review of the Tribunal's decision, brought by the Township and McQuaker, the Township brought a motion seeking leave to file an affidavit from the current CAO. The municipality argued that this fresh evidence was relevant to their challenge of the Tribunal’s order requiring the CAO to undertake training.

Justice Newton rejected that argument. The court confirmed that the key facts concerning the CAO’s employment history were already before the Tribunal and that the remaining proposed evidence related either to post-decision events or to matters irrelevant to judicial review. The motion was dismissed in its entirety. The court’s ruling underscores the limited scope of judicial review and confirms that parties cannot expand the record simply to re-litigate issues already considered by the Tribunal.

Notably, lawyers for the Township did not file a bill of costs for the motion (as is routine and expected). As a result, the full cost to local taxpayers of the failed motion remains unknown.

The Township of Emo has repeatedly refused to disclose how much public money it has spent on this litigation and related proceedings to obstruct recognition of Pride and the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. The Township is currently contesting an appeal before the Information and Privacy Commissioner concerning its refusal to release that information.

In 2025, the Town of Fort Frances disclosed that its unsuccessful Point Park litigation cost taxpayers more than $5.4 million, before paying costs to the opposing parties. Emo has a far smaller tax base. Despite this, the Township's council continues to withhold basic information about how much public money is being spent defending its discriminatory misconduct.

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Borderland Pride is the 2SLGBTQIA+ organization serving Fort Frances and the surrounding area in Northwestern Ontario. In the judicial review referenced above, Borderland Pride is represented by Char Wiseman, Karin Galldin, and Melanie Anderson of Goldblatt Partners LLP.

Contact:

Borderland Pride

borderlandpride@gmail.com