INSIDE
APRIL 2017 BCBUSINESS 67
"Someone hit the big score / They figured it out,"
goes the Gillian Welch song "Everything
Is Free." "That we're gonna do it anyway /
Even if it doesn't pay."
Welch is referring to musicians and the
curse of free downloads and streaming.
But in Canada, she might as well be sing-
ing about young hockey players. Hockey,
like music, doesn't really pay unless you
get to the top. In the Western Hockey
League (playoƒs take place this month),
where the Vancouver Giants toil, players
typically receive 50 bucks a week for what
amounts to full-time employment—games,
practices, training, travel and promotional
appearances.
Thus the lawsuit launched in 2014
against the Canadian Hockey League
(which includes the
WHL). Attorney Ted
Charney of Toronto law Žrm Charney Law-
yers PC has applied for class action status
on behalf of major junior players, seeking
minimum wage, holiday pay and back pay.
Charney wants
CHL players to be recog-
nized as employees. CertiŽcation hearings
to rule on whether the case can proceed
were scheduled for February and March.
As major junior hockey is to Canada,
college football is to the United States,
where the issue of paying college play-
ers has been a hot topic in recent years.
Northwestern University players tried to
Show Us
the Money
ILLUSTRATION: KAGAN McLEOD
Workers in glamour
industries often accept
lower pay for a shot
at the big time. Now
junior hockey players
are hitting back
by Steve Burgess
All the world's an ecosystem! ... From balance beam to stunt queen ... The Mexicans are here ... + more
A P R I L 2 0 17
"I was going to be a survivor and not
going to be afraid of anything," she
says. "Courage with compassion has
been my mantra all these years." –p.70
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