Emo is a small rural

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

, located along the Rainy River near the southwestern corner of northern

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, on the U.S. border directly north of the state of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. Emo had a population of 1,333 in the

Canada 2016 Census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial censu ...

and a population of 1,204 in the 2021 census. It is known for its

stock car races Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporation in proportion t ...

, its picturesque, family-friendly waterfront park, the annual Rainy River Agricultural Fair (cattle industry is key in the area) and the Emo Walleye Classic fishing tournament.

History

Emo was officially created on July 1, 1899, and celebrated its centennial in 1999. Emo's first reeve was Alexander Luttrell, an Irishman who named the town after a namesake village in Ireland near where he was born. The council was composed of Charles Fisher, John Dungey, Benjamin Phillips, and Thomas Shortreed. The post office, Emo River, dates from 1887.

Climate

Emo has a four-season

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

with extreme temperature differences between summer and winter. The daily mean difference between January and July is as much as 34 °C.

Local government

Emo is located in the

Rainy River District Rainy River District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1885. It is the only division in Ontario that lies completely in the Central Time Zone, except for the township o ...

. The current serving (acclaimed) mayor is Harold McQuaker, while Lisa Teeple, Harrold Boven, Phil Whatley, and Gerald Weiringa serve as councillors. Elections are held every four years, in October.

Pride flag controversy

In 2020, Borderland Pride requested that the township of Emo recognize June as Pride Month and fly the Pride flag outside their municipal office. The town council voted 3–2 against this request, with Emo mayor Harold McQuaker commenting “There’s no flag being flown for the other side of the coin ... there’s no flags being flown for the straight people”. This resulted in Borderland Pride protesting by staging their own Pride Parade in Emo. In 2024, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal ruled against the township and ordered them to pay $15,000 in compensation to Borderland Pride, with $5,000 of the fine coming from Harold McQuaker. The tribunal also ordered McQuaker and the Chief Administrative Officer of the municipality to complete a "Human Rights 101" training course, which is offered by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, within 30 days. Borderland Pride had previously offered to donate a third of their settlement to the Emo Public Library if they agreed to host a “drag story time event”.

Amenities

Emo is about halfway between two bridges to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, one at

Fort Frances Fort Frances is a town in, and the seat of, Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census was 7,466 Fort Frances is a popular fishing destination. It hosts the annual Fort Frances C ...

(approximately a 30-minute drive) and the other at Rainy River (about 40 minutes by road). It is identified in many

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

resources as an excellent overnight stopping point because of the facilities (shelter, showers and bathrooms) available in the waterfront park. There are many volunteer groups and a strong sense of community in Emo. In Emo's Lion's Park, a picturesque riverfront area, a new play structure was funded through volunteer fundraising efforts, and a 2005-2006 fiscal year grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundatio

The park is also home to the Emo Spray Park, a $500,000 community-driven project completed in July 2010. A safe way for kids to engage in water play, the spray park attracts thousands of visitors in the summertime. The spring brings the opening of the

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

fishing season, and the annual Emo Walleye Classic. The Emo Speedway draws race participants and fans from the central United States, Northwestern Ontario and Manitoba. The track is a 600-metre, high-banked dirt oval track which operates every Saturday from May through Mid-September. Emo is also home to four different religious denominations, including Knox

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (UCC; ) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada. The United Chu ...

, as well as Baptist, Catholic, and Christian Reformed churches. The Emo Food Bank and Thrift Shop, located in what was formerly the Anglican Church, helps hundreds of area residents in need every year. Initially located in private homes of local women, the town library was moved to the schoolhouse in 1940 and to its own building in the 50s.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Emo had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Emo Walleye Classic

The Emo Walleye Classic is a two-day

catch and release Catch and release is a practice within recreational fishing where after capture the fish is Fish hook, unhooked and returned live to the water. Originally adopted in the United Kingdom by Coarse fishing, coarse fishermen to Overfishing, preser ...

fishing tournament A fishing tournament, or Angling tournament, is an organised competition among anglers. Fishing tournaments typically take place as a series of competitive events around or on a clearly defined body of water with specific rules applying to each e ...

held annually in Emo, during the final week of May each year. Established in 2000, it takes place on the Rainy River, which marks the border between Minnesota and Ontario. Upwards of sixty

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

teams of two participate each year, each paying a participation fee ($500 in 2015). An organizing committee and many local

volunteer Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...

s assist at the event, and many local

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

es and individuals sponsor the event.

References

External links

* {{Rainy River District Municipalities in Rainy River District Single-tier municipalities in Ontario Township municipalities in Ontario