KENORA – Women hockey players are victims of an “inexcusably discriminatory” ice-time allocation policy that must be amended forthwith, lawyer Douglas Judson says in a letter to Kenora’s city council.
The Kenora Women’s Hockey League, relegated to late-night slots in the city’s hockey ice schedule, has tried to persuade the city to allocate earlier times but their “thoughtful and thorough deputations have been met with obstruction and disregard,” Judson says in the Sept. 16 letter.
The women will seek damages in court if the City of Kenora does not change direction and find reasonable hours for the league, the letter says.
“They’re feeling a sense of injustice … an innate sense of being wronged,” Judson said of his clients in an interview with Newswatch.
Councillors seem to be following advice from city administration that they cannot touch the scheduling policy until next year, “which is nonsense,” the Fort Frances-based attorney said.
He added that the letter is not just a legal demand, but “an invitation to the city to work in good faith with” the women’s hockey league.
Kenora Mayor Andrew Poirier said by email that the city has no comment at this time.
Judson’s letter accuses the city of “gender-based discrimination,” saying the city’s current policy is “plainly and inexcusably discriminatory towards women.”
The hours given to Kenora women for hockey are “so late at night that they are virtually unusable and exclusionary,” according to the letter.
It says Ontario’s Human Rights Code and section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms are being violated and the city is “firmly exposed” to liability on both.
If the matter must go to court, the letter says, Judson and his clients will seek compensation under the rights code, Charter damages and compensation for court costs in addition to changes in city ice allocation policy.
“We trust that you share our client’s desire to avoid branding Kenora as a northern municipality that is hostile to women, young families, and inclusion in winter sports opportunities,” the letter concludes.
Women’s hockey has been assigned twice-weekly 10-11 p.m. ice time at the city’s Moncrief Construction Sports Centre for 2024-25, instead of the 9-10 and 9:30-10:30 slots of the last few years.
The scheduling followed a new city policy, published in June, that touts both “equitable allocation” and a “Podium Pathway” principle of “developing high performance athletes capable of winning at the highest levels.”
In July a delegation to Kenora council called the late time slot “marginalization of women in sport” and noted that it makes participation difficult for women with jobs and family responsibilities.
