July 22, 1998

By Martin O'Hanlon

REGINA (CP) _ Women in Saskatchewan now have the freedom to go topless like their sisters in Ontario thanks to a court ruling Wednesday.

Provincial court Judge Eugene Lewchuk acquitted Kathleen Rice, 42, and Evangeline Godron, 64, of creating an indecent exhibition by baring their breasts in public. In a brief decision, the judge said the women didn't violate community standards when they sunbathed topless in a downtown Regina park on hot afternoon last August.

Lewchuk accepted a 1996 ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeal that affirmed the right of women in that province to doff their tops. However, the judge warned that the acquittal doesn't mean women can bare their breasts in all circumstances.

Anyone who offends community standards, for example by acting in an erotic manner or going topless in the presence of children, could still be charged, he said. Despite the cautions, defence lawyer James Rybchuk hailed the ruling as a ``progressive decision.

``What this decision says is that women are free to do what men have been able to do for years and that is walk down our streets, in our parks and on our beaches topless.'' Rybchuk said the verdict is important because it shows that the Ontario appeal court ruling applies across Canada.

``Let's face it, if a woman can walk topless down the streets of Regina, Sask., she can probably walk topless down any city street in Canada.'' But Crown prosecutor Rhonda Tibbitt suggested that interpretation may be a little loose.

``(The judge) found these individuals not guilty in these particular circumstances,'' she said. ``He also included a caution saying this wasn't an open invitation that women can go topless anywhere. ``I'd say that the law in Saskatchewan is probably more restrictive than Ontario from my understanding.''

Rice said she was pleased to be cleared but worried about some of the judge's comments. ``The suggestion that it's harmful for children to see women bare breasted _ I think it is more harmful for women to be sexualized by society and to teach our children to sexualize,'' she said.

``When it comes to the community standard, are we going to tolerate laws that disrespect women?'' The topless debate became a national issue in 1991 when Gwen Jacobs was convicted of committing an indecent act for walking down a street bare-breasted in Guelph, Ont.

Jacobs appealed the judgment and in 1996, Ontario's appeal court overturned the conviction.