Men's shinny groups and players in the competitive Greater Toronto Hockey League will be moved out of city arenas or pushed to different time slots to accommodate the growing number of girls in the game.

"They need to accept that they are less of a priority for public arenas than girls, and I don't think anyone can quarrel with that," Mayor David Miller, a former midnight shinny player, said Wednesday. "Adult men and the Greater Toronto Hockey League ... have to take a back seat to girls, that's our (equity) policy."

Miller's comments followed Wednesday's Star story about the Toronto Leaside Girls Hockey Association's threat to launch a human-rights complaint over what the 900-member league alleges is the city's failure to enforce its equity policy at publicly owned city arenas.

The league, which sent Miller a letter Oct. 30, claims municipal facilities shut girls out of prime-time ice and, in some cases, rent it to adult men.

Greater Toronto Hockey League president John Gardner called Miller's stand on pushing boys off public ice "hypocritical" because the expanding girls' game has already squeezed boys' permit times.

"If you've got to get what you want by taking away from other kids, I don't see what that accomplishes," Gardner said, "and any politician who subscribes to that ought to be ashamed of themselves."

His league's 40,000 players will use municipal ice for close to 30 per cent of games this season – down from 40 per cent in recent years. Gardner said forcing league players into private arenas, where rates can top $300 an hour, will drive up the price of the game for families.

But skating on expensive private ice is at the core of Toronto Leaside's argument.

Ron Baker, president of the girls' hockey association, said his non-profit league has spent more than $1 million over the past five years at private arenas, largely because city-owned facilities in players' neighbourhoods regularly refuse to give the association ice permits that Baker says it is entitled to.

Regardless of gender, priority at city rinks is supposed to be given to youth recreational hockey (house leagues), then to youth competitive hockey and then to adult players.

Miller warned arenas run at arm's-length from the city by autonomous boards of management – in particular, North Toronto Memorial, Larry Grossman Forest Hill Memorial and Leaside Memorial Community Gardens – that he will intervene if requests for ice time from female hockey groups continue to be ignored or restricted.

"The lack of action by the arena boards is completely unacceptable," Miller said. He noted Ted Reeve Arena has made a serious effort to open ice for Toronto Leaside and other girls-only programs.

The mayor said if boards refuse to ensure equal access to ice time, he'll summon board chairs to his office for an accountability meeting.

And if that doesn't produce change, "I'll move a motion at council to direct the boards and our (city councillor) representatives on the boards to act."

The mayor added he was disappointed with councillors on the boards of arenas that are not actively welcoming girls. Councillor Karen Stintz (Ward 16, Eglinton-Lawrence) sits on the Larry Grossman and North Toronto boards, but said in an email Tuesday that the arenas and the Leaside league are working together "to ensure equitable ice allocation" in the future.

What's crowding the icy landscape is the rapidly emerging army of female hockey players trying to squeeze into facilities long dominated by adult men, competitive boys and figure skating clubs.

In Ontario, there were 37,827 registered female hockey players last season – more than double the 16,049 in the Ontario Women's Hockey Association in the 1997-98 season. And fighting to get on local rinks is not unique to the GTA, said association president Fran Rider.

"It's a universal issue, it's absolutely everywhere," said Rider, who noted women have had to push hard for access in Oakville, Cornwall and Durham.

Rider estimated there are about 14,000 association house-league and competitive players in the GTA.

Gardner, of the Greater Toronto league, said the root of this hockey battlefield is the city's failure to keep up with the game's demand.

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"(Politicians) are letting the girls and boys fight each other, rather than the girls and the boys uniting to go after the problem where it really exists, which is at city hall for insufficient facilities," he said.

Miller agreed a lack of facilities "is a big part of the problem, no question about it." He said the planned four-pad arena in the port lands (to be finished in March 2011) will alleviate some pressure.

The mayor also encouraged people to sign the Toronto Leaside league's petition, which calls on council to enforce its equity policy at its Nov. 30 meeting.