BACKING BRANCH
Commissioner David Branch is standing firm in his belief that the players in the Ontario Hockey League are there for the love of the game, and shouldn’t be getting paid for their services.
It appears that the Ontario government agrees.
Branch sent a letter to the provincial government on Monday as an effort to keep the league’s 425 players under the title of amateur athletes, and not allow them to potentially become employees regulated by provincial employment standards legislation — which is a potential outcome from a class-action lawsuit filed against the Canadian Hockey League.
The government responded to Branch’s letter on Thursday, with Michael Tibollo, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, offering support.
“I want you to know, that our government is behind you,” Tibollo said. “We are going to do everything in our capacity to grow and support the Ontario Hockey League and junior hockey across our province.
“I want to reassure the OHL and the people of Ontario that we are actively looking at providing this clarity to the OHL and we will have more to say in the coming weeks.”
Branch, who also serves as president of the CHL, which the OHL is part of, has always considered major junior players — typically ranging from 16 to 20 years old — as student athletes.
Players are eligible for post-secondary school scholarships. Players also get money for out-of-pocket expenses,
equipment, billeting and travel costs while on a CHL roster.
“To us it’s the best scholarship program in North America, it’s the hallmark of our player experience,” Branch said.
In 2014, Toronto lawyer Ted Charney filed a $180-million lawsuit against the CHL on behalf of all current and many former players for outstanding wages, overtime pay, holiday pay and vacation pay. Sam Berg, a former Niagara IceDogs forward, and Daniel Pachis, a former member of the Oshawa Generals, were recognized as the representative plaintiffs against the OHL when the lawsuit was certified in March 2017.
If the Ontario court system rules in favour of the players, Branch says it could put some teams out of business while the programs currently being offered would have to be re-evaluated.
If players were to be paid the $14 hourly minimum wage in Ontario for a 40-hour work week over an eightmonth season, it would cost the OHL somewhere in the range of $8 million a year.
The letter addressed to Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Tibollo, says that there were 321 OHL graduates using their scholarship at a cost of $3.125 million in 2017-18. This year, teams also spent $475,000 on scholarships for current players.