REGINA (CP) -- Women in Saskatchewan now have the freedom to go topless like
their sisters in Ontario, thanks to a court ruling yesterday.
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 a 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, Lewchuk
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."