Nudists want special places to bare breasts

REGINA - Members of a Saskatchewan nudist group are calling on the City of Regina and the rest of Saskatchewan to designate special places where women can bare their breasts.

A public swimming pool and a section of Regina's Wascana Park should be set aside as zones where people can expect to see topless women, said Terry Chadwick, president of the Green Haven Sun Club, which is located about 40 kilometres east of Regina.

"If there are signs up to let people know what to expect, there's less chance they'll be offended," Chadwick said Saturday at the club's open house to celebrate National Nude weekend. "Look at Europe. They have topless areas and nude areas."

The breast controversy stems from a court decision last December. That's when the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned an indecency conviction for a Guelph woman who removed her shirt on a hot day in 1991.

The ruling gave Ontario women the same right to go topless as men, provided the exposure isn't done for commercial purposes.

But Regina Mayor Doug Archer said the city has no plans to reserve places for women who want to go topless.

There are many special interest groups in Regina that don't get exactly what they want, Archer said.

Since the Ontario ruling, police departments across Canada have been scrambling to decide what to do if they are faced with a topless woman in public.

The Saskatoon Police Service has said officers would treat the situation as if the ruling in Ontario never happened.

Police would likely take a topless sunbather into custody, Sgt. Dave Kovach said. But they may relent if the woman voluntarily agreed to put her shirt back on

A Regina Police Service official refused to be that specific, saying police don't want to deal with hypothetical situations.

"If there is a complaint, police will investigate it," Elizabeth Popowich said. "In all likelihood, they would contact the prosecutor's office and see how to proceed."

Some women at the Green Haven Sun Resort's open house said they wouldn't go topless anywhere in Regina, even if they didn't have to fear arrest.

"I wouldn't feel comfortable," said Brenda, who didn't want to give her last name. "I don't think I would want to see that kind of thing if I was downtown."