In an effort to make Orillia's recreational facilities more inclusive spaces, the city will be installing feminine hygiene disposal bins in the changerooms at Rotary Place and Brian Orser Arena.
The change comes after Madelyn Healy, a former Orillia Hawks girls' hockey player, raised concerns about the lack of disposal sites within the city’s arena change rooms.
Healy played hockey locally for seven seasons and she said girls hockey players had to use washrooms in the main lobbies of local arenas if they needed to dispose of hygiene products.
“There (were) no … hygiene disposal bins in the changeroom washrooms,” she told OrilliaMatters. “For hockey, you are in the change room an hour before games getting ready. You do a lot of team bonding and pregame, going over the game plan, and stuff happens in the change room, so if you had to go to the washroom you have to leave the changeroom and miss out on all that.”
In a letter to OrilliaMatters, Healy said the need to use the main lobby washrooms was “inconvenient, embarrassing, and frankly unfair” to hockey players who need to dispose of hygiene products, adding that the arrangement only “acknowledges women view the sport, not play it.”
“A urinal is in every single bathroom, and it's so much more complicated … and expensive to install a urinal than a disposal bin,” she said. “It wasn't an issue of expense or anything. It was just simply that it wasn't thought of or considered as a need.”
Now a student at McMaster University, Healy noted the university’s facilities provide ample disposal sites for athletes who need them.
“At Rotary Place … they were unisex, technically, but they catered specifically towards men and not women in those change rooms.”
In response to Healy’s concerns, Orillia city staff said they plan to install feminine hygiene disposal bins in arena change room washrooms by the end of 2023.
“All City of Orillia recreation facilities provide feminine hygiene product disposal units within the public women’s washroom stalls; however, at this time only garbage bins are available in the universal change rooms at Brian Orser Arena and Rotary Place,” said Renee Recoskie, director of facilities, climate change, and operations.
“We are actively working to install feminine hygiene disposal units in the universal change rooms at our arenas," she added.
“We appreciate the feedback that has been brought to our attention as it helps us make necessary improvements to our facilities to ensure we are creating a more inclusive and welcoming environment for all arena users."
