The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) has been granted leave to intervene in a judicial review of a controversial Ontario Human Rights Tribunal decision that resulted in the garnishment of a small-town mayor’s bank account.

The case stems from a November 2024 ruling by the Tribunal, which fined Mayor Harold McQuaker of Emo, Ontario, and the municipality a combined $15,000 after the mayor voted against a 2020 request from activist group Borderland Pride to proclaim June as “Pride Month” and fly the rainbow flag.

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During council debate, Mayor McQuaker remarked, “There’s no flag being flown for the other side of the coin… there’s no flags being flown for the straight people.” The Tribunal’s adjudicator, Karen Dawson, ruled that this comment demonstrated the vote was motivated by discrimination, awarding $5,000 in damages from the mayor and $10,000 from the township to Borderland Pride.

McQuaker and the town’s Chief Administrative Officer were also ordered to complete a “Human Rights 101” course within 30 days. Borderland Pride later obtained an order to garnish the mayor’s bank account to recover the fine plus legal costs.

The CCF will argue the Tribunal failed to consider the mayor’s Charter-protected right to freedom of expression and did not apply the balancing test outlined by the Supreme Court of Canada in Ward v. Quebec.

“Human rights tribunals exist to prevent discrimination in public services, not to censor good faith political debates,” said CCF lawyer Josh Dehaas. “The bar for limiting political speech in Canada is high, yet there’s no evidence the Tribunal even considered the mayor’s expression rights.”

No date has yet been set for the hearing in Divisional Court.