Statement on Behalf of a Client
For immediate release: September 16, 2024
A group of women associated with the Kenora Women’s Hockey League claim that the City of Kenora’s policy governing ice allocation — and the manner in which that policy has been applied by municipal staff — is discriminatory within the meaning of Ontario’s Human Rights Code and is contrary to the equality rights guaranteed under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The women are represented by Judson Howie LLP. In a legal demand issued from the law firm this morning and published online, the women have threatened to make an application to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice if women’s hockey is not given an equitable allocation of ice time at Kenora’s facilities.
Currently, there are 31 hours each week when adult men can play hockey in Kenora, and only 2 hours for women. Those 2 hours are both after 10 PM, rendering Kenora’s arenas effectively unusable and exclusionary for women, who carry disproportionate burdens in the home and for the care of children. At the same time, Kenora’s ice allocation policy has been applied to give male hockey organizations a disproportionate share of prime time ice, including the Kenora Islanders.
The Human Rights Code prohibits municipalities from discriminating in the provision of services or facilities on the grounds of sex, gender identity, gender expression, family status and age. Section 15 of the Charter establishes that discrimination can be made out when a distinction in law relating to a personal characteristic, like sex, disadvantages or limits access to opportunities or benefits for a Charter-protected group.
The City has been given until September 30 to take steps to change their approach to ice allocation and to provide the Kenora Women’s Hockey League with more equitable access to facilities.
Judson Howie LLP has expressed the view to Kenora’s council that procedural advice given by city staff suggesting that the policy cannot be addressed or amended until 2025 is self-serving, asinine, and wrong in law.
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Further Information:
Contact:
Douglas W. Judson
Email: doug@judsonhowie.ca