Emo, Ontario
Emo is a small rural township, located along the Rainy River near the southwestern corner of northern Ontario, Canada, on the U.S. border directly north of the state of Minnesota. Emo had a population of 1,333 in the Canada 2016 Census. It is known for its stock car races, 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 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. The current mayor is Harold McQuaker, while Harrold Boven, Lincoln Dunn, Lori Ann Shortreed, and Warren Toles are councillors. They  were elected in 2018. Elections are held every four years, in October. Emo is one of few Ontario municipalities that has refused to fly a Pride flag, or declare Pride Week. As a result of the defeat of the Pride Week declaration in 2020, a complaint was filed with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, which also named the three members of council who defeated the motion – Councillor Toles, Councillor Boven and Mayor McQuaker – as defendants. The complaint is currently ongoing. Amenities. Emo is about halfway between two bridges to the United States, one at Fort Frances (approximately a 30 -minute drive) and the other at Rainy River (about 40 minutes by road). It is identified in many cycling 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 Foundation . 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 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, 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 conducted by Statistics Canada, 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 fishing tournament held annually in Emo, during the final week of May each year. It takes place on the Rainy River, which marks the border between Minnesota and Ontario. Upwards of sixty Canadian and American teams of two participate each year, each paying a participation fee ($500 in 2015). An organizing committee and many local volunteers assist at the event, and many local businesses and individuals sponsor the event. On each morning of the tournament, anglers head upstream and downstream from the Emo waterfront to their chosen fishing spots. The  weigh-ins are held in the evenings at the Emo/LaVallee Community Centre where results are posted live. On the final day of the tournament, the top ten teams from day one are brought into the arena with their boats. Classic history. The tournament began in 2002 with forty-four participating teams, and has grown since then, with thirty-eight teams competing in 2013. The first winners were Harvey Cochrane and Oliver Gibbons who won as a result of the leading team having three fish over the legal size. In 2008 Doug McBride of Devlin, Ontario and Steve Ballan of  Fort Frances, Ontario became the first team to win the tournament twice. 2005 Tournament - Day 2 - Doug McBride and Steve Ballan: 10.02 lbs 2005 Tournament - Day 2 - Doug McBride and Steve Ballan: 15.06 lbs 2005 Tournament - Doug McBride and Steve Ballan: 25.82 lbs