A sexist remark in a GTHL game was caught on video. Fallout from the Hockey Canada scandal has delayed justice

The Greater Toronto Hockey League held a hearing over Zoom last week.

There were 12 people on the call, including two members of the league’s board of directors. The meeting was regarding allegations of sexual and misogynistic comments made about a 16-year-old female hockey player during an under-17 boys’ A Division game this season.

The hearing lasted fewer than five minutes. You could say it never really got started.

“You’ve got the wrong kid,” the father of the girl said shortly after everyone had introduced themselves.

The call was immediately shut down and rescheduled, and by the time it reconvened Thursday night — this time with another player answering to the allegations — it had been four months since the on-ice incident occurred.

The delayed adjudication of this complaint is one example of the unintended consequences of the sweeping changes made to minor hockey’s system for reporting abuse in the wake of the Hockey Canada scandal.

“I don’t expect anything to come out of this,” Ryan Choi said in an interview. His daughter was involved in the alleged interaction. “I don’t expect a whole lot from this organization and I don’t have a lot of faith in it because it hasn’t demonstrated any (reason) to this point.”

Sexual and misogynistic comment

The hearings stemmed from an incident in a Nov. 8 game between the West Hill Golden Hawks, for which Choi’s daughter plays, and the Goulding Park Rangers. Choi’s daughter was involved in an altercation in front of her team’s net for which both players were penalized. As the players were skating to the penalty box, one of the Goulding Park players could be heard saying numerous times, “She’s just here for the d–k.”

No on-ice officials heard the comment, according to the incident report, but it was clearly heard by the Golden Hawks coaching staff and was picked up on the GTHL’s GameOn video camera that streamed the game. One of the Golden Hawks players received a misconduct penalty for confronting the Goulding Park bench about the comments.

The Golden Hawks immediately filed a complaint with the GTHL. The league confirmed it was informed of the incident by both the on-ice officials and the Golden Hawks and initiated its process the day after the game. The complaint was then referred to a Hockey Canada independent third party, which is headed by Ottawa lawyer Brian Ward, a designated Safe Sport dispute resolution officer.

Case sent back to GTHL

On Jan. 26, roughly 2 1/2 months after the game, Ward did not assume jurisdiction over the incident and directed it back to the GTHL. Ward wrote in his ruling that, “Upon review of the allegations, I do not find that the Complainant has made any specific allegations that, if substantiated, would constitute Serious Misconduct.”

Ward, contacted by the Star, declined to comment on the specifics of the case, but said if he had assumed jurisdiction he would have appointed an investigator. He also said the fact he did not assume jurisdiction “does not mean that the complaint is without merit, but only that the Hockey Canada Discipline and Complaints Policy is not applicable to the situation.” Asked by email why it would require 2 1/2 months to make that determination, Ward did not respond.

Hockey Canada declined to comment on the specifics of this case.

Scott Oakman, GTHL executive director and chief operating officer, said he can understand why Choi is frustrated with the delays.

Had an allegation like this happened last season, the GTHL would have received an incident report and conducted a full investigation, with a hearing and decision within a couple of weeks. But in the wake of the Hockey Canada scandal, which saw the governing body come under scrutiny for how it handled sexual assault allegations surrounding the 2018 world junior hockey team at a London, Ont. gala and a subsequent secret settlement with the alleged victim, processes have changed.

Hockey Canada had its government funding frozen by the federal Ministry of Sport last year and several of its executives were forced to appear before a Heritage Canada standing committee. One of the requirements to restore funding — the organization received $14 million from the government in 2020 and 2021, including $3.4 million in COVID subsidies — was that Hockey Canada become a signatory to Abuse-Free Sport, a program operated by the newly created Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner.

The commissioner’s role

The Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner handles all cases of abuse, harassment, bullying, misconduct and discrimination in sports at the national level. As part of its action plan announced over the summer, Hockey Canada established an independent third party for all complaints at the provincial, regional and local levels not handled by the integrity commissioner. That effectively cut out bodies such as the Ontario Hockey Federation and its branches such as the GTHL, Canada’s largest minor hockey league, which had previously handled these types of matters internally.

“We have one full-time staff member who deals with this and she is the most caring and compassionate person and would spend hours on the phone with people who have had problems, and that doesn’t happen anymore because we’re stuck in the middle here,” said Oakman. “There is a move to get it fixed, but it doesn’t help this family or this young woman, which frustrates me. I can understand why he’s upset.”

Oakman said the GTHL has submitted 85 cases to the independent third party this season, though the overall number involving the league is likely much higher since complaints can also be submitted directly to the third party. Of those 85, the third party has taken jurisdiction of only seven, while another three are awaiting a decision. That means at least 75 cases of alleged on-ice harassment, discrimination or abuse have been delayed while the third party investigated and would later be referred back to the GTHL. Oakman said the delays have prompted the GTHL to begin investigating matters before hearing back from Hockey Canada.

Missed shifts submitted as ‘abuse’

“They’re getting complaints where a kid missed two shifts and that’s being filed with the independent third party as abuse,” Oakman said. “And they’re getting the very serious cases as well and they’re making a determination on which ones they’re dealing with based on the information that’s provided to them.”

The spectrum between allegations of sexual assault and inappropriate sexual comments made during a game is large — but that is the scope with which local sports associations are grappling.

Hockey Canada’s new independent third-party system takes complaints out of the hands of local associations such as the GTHL. Those complaints are handled by Ward and Jahmiah Ferdinand, also an Ottawa lawyer, along with 13 other staff members.

Once the independent third party rules on jurisdiction, it engages investigators on an as-needed basis. According to Oakman, the law of unintended consequences could be applied here. In its efforts to ensure that every case is dealt with and nothing falls through the cracks, Hockey Canada has created a system that, at least in this case, has ground the wheels of justice almost to a halt.

“I used an old analogy my dad used to use, that the pendulum has gone the other way, way too far,” Oakman said. “So we need to adjust to bring it back so that local, on-the-ground (organizations) that can deal with things a little more expediently and are capable of doing that, we should be able to do that without delay.”

Written decision forthcoming

The three volunteer members of the GTHL board of directors who participated in the rescheduled hearing on Thursday said a written decision is forthcoming. At this point, Choi can’t help but feel as though it’s a case of justice delayed being justice denied.

The Golden Hawks have already played their final regular-season game and, after finishing last in the 13-team league, will not make the playoffs. The Rangers, who finished seventh, begin their playoffs next week. Had the case been dealt with earlier, any sanctions would have been served during the regular season and likely before the two teams played again in December. The league could still suspend the player for upcoming playoff games, and any sanctions would be on his permanent record with the GTHL.

Choi is also upset that only one player is potentially being punished and none of the Goulding Park coaches, who claim they did not hear the comments. And while the West Hill trainer clearly pointed out the identity of the Goulding Park player who made the alleged comment in the original complaint to the league, it was recorded by the referee as another player on the incident report. The video does, however, record one of the Rangers coaches asking his players what was said.

“Kids can be stupid and I get that, but the coach or a responsible adult should have dealt with it,” Choi said. “I’m disappointed with the kid, but he’s a kid and I hope he can learn something from it. As far as the adults, I have no respect for them. If they would have (apologized), this would have been put to bed a long time ago. There would have been no complaint to the league.”

Eyewitnesses, video should speed up process

Oakman said the GTHL would normally have to launch its own investigation once it was handed back jurisdiction, but said there are eyewitness accounts “and we have a video that is very clear,” both of which should help speed up the process and bring an end to this case.

Choi said his daughter has had no problems with the other 12 teams in the division and accepts physical altercations with opponents as part of the game. Still, she intends to leave the GTHL next season and move back to women’s hockey.

Choi maintained that after all the turmoil and loss of public confidence in Hockey Canada, it’s really difficult to buy into the concept that hockey is for everyone.

At the hearing Thursday night, Choi said the Goulding Park player maintained his innocence. The coach and members of the executive, while admitting an unacceptable comment was directed toward Choi’s daughter, said it was impossible to identify which player made the remark. Choi is now considering filing a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission on the basis of targeted discrimination.

“If you’re a girl or you’re gay or Black or a minority,” Choi said, “why would you want to play this game?”

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