A group of feisty women ski jumpers has taken on the most uphill task yet in its long, high-profile quest to participate in the 2010 Winter Olympics.
With the Games less than 2½ months away, the women asked the Supreme Court of Canada yesterday to hear their last-ditch appeal against previous court judgments keeping them out of the Olympics and to issue a ruling within the next six weeks.
"We need a decision by the middle of January, for there to be any hope of getting [women's ski jumping] on the program," said Ross Clark, lawyer for the 13 ski jumpers still pursuing the case.
Mr. Clark agreed there are high hurdles to overcome to even get the case before the nation's top court, but he said his clients are determined to exhaust every remedy before throwing in the towel.
"They are competitors. They have a lot of courage. Good on them," said Mr. Clark, who has waived his legal fees to represent the women during their two-year battle through the courts.
The B.C. Court of Appeal dealt the women their most recent setback, ruling unanimously last month that the International Olympic Committee, which controls what events are staged at the Olympics, is not covered by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom.
The women argue that holding three ski jumping events at the Olympics for men and none for them violates the Charter and that VANOC, as local organizers of the Games, must abide by its dictates.
Deedee Corradini, president of Women's Ski Jumping USA, said the case has evolved into a bigger issue than its original focus on women's rights.
"It is now one of international importance. Can a foreign organization [the IOC] come into a country and ignore their constitution?" Ms. Corradini asked. "We feel this has become not only about women's rights but about human rights and constitutional rights.
"It's a national and primary issue in Canada, and we hope the Supreme Court agrees with that."
From the beginning, the ski jumpers, several of them Canadian teenagers, have attracted widespread public support and sympathy. The appeal court setback brought even more high-powered assistance to their side.
Prominent national law firms Torys and Osler Hoskin & Harcourt have offered pro bono help to the women in their bid to have their suit heard by the top court in the land.
Supreme Court of Canada expert Eugene Meehan said the women have a tough road ahead.
He noted the court takes, on average, three to four months to rule on leaves to appeal, and applicants are successful only 10 per cent of the time.
But there is precedence for swift action by Supreme Court justices, said Mr. Meehan, a former executive legal officer of the court and currently a partner with Lang Michener in Ottawa. He pointed to the single month it took the court to hear and hand down a decision last year on a matter involving a proposed multibillion-dollar takeover of BCE Inc.
And Mr. Meehan said the B.C. Court of Appeal's strong, 3-0 verdict against the ski jumpers may not be a determining factor in whether the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case. "The court makes its decisions based on national interests, and gender issues are always important," he said.
A statement by VANOC executive vice-president Cathy Priestner Allinger said the organizing committee has done everything it can to help the women ski jumpers achieve their goal of competing at the Olympics, if not next year then at the next Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.
VANOC has consistently contended in the courts that it has no role in the controversy. The matter is solely within the jurisdiction of the IOC, according to VANOC lawyers.
So far, the courts have agreed.
