Ontario mayor reportedly has bank account garnished after fined for refusing to celebrate Pride month

A mayor of a township in Ontario, Canada, reportedly had his personal bank account garnished after he refused to pay a $5,000 fine after a tribunal ruled he had discriminated against an LGBTQ group.

On November 20, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ruled that the township of Emo and its mayor, Harold McQuaker, 77, had discriminated against an LGBTQ group, under the Ontario Human Rights Code, by denying its request to proclaim June as Pride Month. Borderland Pride had requested Emo make the Pride Month declaration and requested the township fly a "LGBTQ2" flag, despite Emo not having an official flag pole.

McQuaker was further found to have violated the human rights code by making a "discriminatory remark" during the town's council meeting about the flag request, saying that there was no flag for the "other side of the coin… for straight people."

Tribunal vice-chair Karen Dawson ordered the township to pay a fine of $10,000, while McQuaker was ordered to take a "Human Rights 101" course and pay a $5,000 fine to Borderland Pride. 

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However, McQuaker publicly said that he wouldn't pay the fine, calling it "extortion."

Borderland Pride then requested a court force McQuaker to pay, according to a Toronto Sun report.

"Mayor McQuaker’s comments in the Toronto 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 outlet. "Consequently, it was apparent he would not voluntarily make payment of the damages ordered. We took immediate action to garnish his bank account."

Borderland Pride has since shared several posts on their Facebook account mocking the mayor and his defenders.

"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?" read a post by Borderland Pride on Facebook.

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McQuaker did not immediately return Fox News Digital's request for comment.

The ruling came as a result of a 2020 incident in which the town was approached by Borderland Pride asking Emo to declare June Pride Month.

The group’s request also included a draft proclamation, containing clauses such as "pride is necessary to show community support and belonging for LGBTQ2 individuals" and "the diversity of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression represents a positive contribution to society."

Borderland Pride also asked the city to fly an "LGBTQ2 rainbow flag for a week of your choosing."

The request was defeated by a 3-2 vote at a later Emo township council meeting. 

McQuaker's remarks about the flag were seen as particularly offensive to the Human Rights Tribunal vice-chair, who said she found the remark "demeaning and disparaging of the LGBTQ2 community of which Borderland Pride is a member and therefore constituted discrimination under the Code."

Fox News' Michael Lee contributed to this report.