Hockey's Heroine for Human Rights

Justine Blainey was playing ice hockey as early as 7 years old. She loved it so much that she was determined to go pro, but her aggressive style of play often got her into trouble with the referee. So, she opted to join the boys team, where bodychecking was allowed. But that move was far easier said than done. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
From the time she was a kid, Justine Blaney knew
what she wanted to do. She wanted to play ice
hockey in the Metro Toronto Hockey League. There was only
one problem. She wanted to play with the boys. Hey,

(00:29):
I'm Tony Armstrong. Welcome to the poolroom. This is where
we celebrate the winners, losers, and the weird stuff between.

(00:54):
Growing up in Canada, Justine Blaney had a special relationship
with the ice. She started with figures while her brother
David played hockey. It wasn't long before Justine realized that's
where her heart was too. She'd picked up a hockey
stick by age seven, and by the time she was
ten years old, she was determined to go pro. This

(01:16):
was the nineteen seventies. Girls did play then, but they
had fewer games, worse equipment, and it was no contact.
Justine joined the team anyway, the Lee Side Wildcats, but
she didn't play like them. She was tough and she
had a knack for blocking shots. Her history with figure
skating made her quick on the ice, and she loved

(01:37):
the physicality of the sport. That would have been fine
in the boys league, where body checking was allowed from
age eleven, but for Justine, it just seemed to get
her into trouble. She wasn't content with tagging along to
her brother's training sessions anymore. She wanted to play. In
nineteen eighty one, Justine won a spot in the Metro

(02:00):
Toronto Hockey League. She was good enough to join, but
she wasn't allowed to play. Her mother came up with
the idea of writing a letter to the newspaper, could
anyone help get the rules changed. To their surprise, a
lawyer responded, Anna Fraser was pretty fresh to practicing law,

(02:22):
but she loved hockey and she wanted Justine to have
equal footing. With Anna's help, Justine made a complaint to
the Human Rights Commission. It was rejected. Although the Ontario
Human Rights Code said no one could be excluded based
on their sex, there was one exception sport boys and
girls could be forced to play separately. Anna Phraser's mission

(02:45):
quickly changed. She wouldn't just get Justine her spot in
the team, She would change the law. In nineteen eighty five,
when Justine was just twelve years old, they headed to
the Ontario the Rio Supreme Court. If Justine was good
enough to earn a spot, they argued she was good
enough to play. Besides, the law was simple discrimination. Canadian

(03:09):
law said everyone was equal. But they lost the case.
Justine's life was turned upside down. People recognized her on
the street and called her crazy. Some even physically threatened her,
but she was determined. In nineteen eighty six, eleven days

(03:30):
after her thirteenth birthday, Justine took her case to the
Ontario Court of Appeal. After three months of silence, she
was given the news. Finally they had won. But it
wasn't that simple. It turned out the Ontario Hockey Association
didn't really agree. Eventually, they said they'd made an exception

(03:54):
for Justine, but wouldn't promise the same for other girls.
Justine turned them down. The case to the Human Rights Commission,
then a Board of Inquiry. For three long years, Justine
fought the law. Then right before her fifteenth birthday, a
final decision was made she could play. Justine had been

(04:18):
offered a spot in the East Enders, her brother's team,
but with the court case fiasco, her place on the
roster have been given to another player. She was allowed
to play, but there was no space on the team. So,
knowing how hard she'd fought to get there. Justine's brother
David quit the team his spot became hers. Justine Blaney

(04:43):
only played in the men's competition until her late teens,
but the law she helped change has had a lasting impact.
More than one hundred girls play alongside the boys in
the Greater Toronto Hockey League, as it's now known, showing
everyone how competitive they can be, and it was Ustine
who got them there. I hope you enjoyed this episode

(05:11):
of the Ballroom and iHeart production. I'm Tony Armstrong and
I'll speak to you soon.