Akim Aliu took his campaign against the hockey establishment to Queen’s Park on Tuesday, supporting a call by the NDP for a provincial investigation into allegations that minor hockey teams, which are supposed to be not-for-profit operations, are being bought and sold, sometimes for millions of dollars.
“There appears to be a cash-for-access culture that is giving some kids more opportunity than others,” said Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles, speaking at a press conference flanked by Aliu and Jennie Stevens, the party’s critic for sports and tourism. “When wealthy parents pay for their kids’ spot on a GTHL (Greater Toronto Hockey League) team, does that mean other kids are missing out?”
Stiles was referencing a TSN report that described a father of two minor hockey players who alleged that in late 2019 and early 2020 he had held extensive discussions with the then-owner of the GTHL’s Humberview Huskies about purchasing the team. The prospective buyer told TSN that he was coached on how to avoid revealing that he had paid for the team, since GTHL rules forbid teams from being bought and sold.
The sale fell apart after the then-owner allegedly told the prospective buyer that he had been outbid.
The allegations have not been proven. TSN reported that the former owner did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The Globe and Mail was unable to establish contact with the former owner.
The story follows allegations by Aliu that, after GTHL leadership asked him in 2021 to help improve the league’s diversity, he was told teams were available to be purchased. As chair of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, he had been working with business partners to improve access to minor hockey by BIPOC players and others from traditionally marginalized communities. Player registration fees, which are often prohibitively expensive, would be subsidized through sponsorships from corporations such as Scotiabank, Canadian Tire, and Kraft/Heinz.
Phone calls by The Globe to the GTHL seeking comment were not returned by deadline.
“What’s happening right now with our game is a national embarrassment on so many levels,” Aliu said during the press conference. “I believe anybody who continues to stay silent on these topics is complicit.”
On Tuesday, Stiles told reporters that, in addition to a provincial investigation of the allegations, she was calling on the government to close what she called “loopholes” that permit owners of minor hockey teams to use numbered companies to shield the purchase and sale of clubs from taxes and other government oversight.
During question period, Neil Lumsden, Ontario’s Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Sport, announced that “GTHL executives have actioned an independent investigation with respect to ethical issues of influence and governance,” and “have hired a retired justice from the Ontario Court of Appeal and a retired police detective to do the investigation.”
He noted that the provincial government does not have direct oversight of the GTHL, but after the investigation is concluded, “if there is information that we need to follow up with the Ontario Hockey Federation, we will do exactly that.” The OHF oversees hockey in most of Ontario, including the Greater Toronto Area.
Though Aliu insisted he was not trying to make the issue partisan, he expressed frustration with the Ford government’s lack of action. He noted that, months before the matter hit the press in February, he had shared with Lumsden the troubling correspondence he had had with GTHL leadership.
“Neil called it disgusting, and something that we need to put an end to, but it seems he hasn’t kept the same energy since then,” Aliu told The Globe. He added that he had pressed Lumsden “even after the first few articles dropped, and it’s been really disappointing to see his response.”
In a scrum outside the legislature following Question Period on Tuesday morning, Lumsden’s press secretary abruptly cut off questions from reporters.
Aliu recalled that, when he was playing in minor hockey almost two decades ago, annual fees cost approximately $3,500. Now, he said, registration can be double or triple that figure.
He alleged that his efforts to acquire a minor hockey team and offer subsidized registration fees met resistance from the “elite old boys club” who control the league. “They felt that, with us lowering our fees, it would make other organizations look bad.”
“I think hockey is a microcosm of some of the issues that have happened in society, where the elite price out everybody else,” Aliu said. “I never expected two years ago, when the GTHL came to us to ask for help in promoting diversity in the sport, to help them access the BIPOC community in the GTA, I really never knew I was gonna uncover this web of ugliness and deceit that’s going on in minor hockey.”
In a late afternoon phone call on Tuesday following the events at Queen’s Park, The Globe asked Aliu whether he would still want to be a part of the GTHL, given what he has alleged about the organization.
He paused before answering. “That’s a great question,” he said, then added: “One-hundred per cent. Because I don’t think it’s about those people.
“These organizations are supposed to be, quote-unquote, for the children, that are nine to 16, 17 years old. At the end of the day, that’s who I serve. And if I’m given an opportunity to do that, I would be glad to.”