Unlike me, Fatima Pereira Henson is not a dilettante. When I went topless
recently, for as long as it took my friend Rosie DiManno and I to play out the last
hole of a media golf tournament, it was for a lark. We were among friends and colleagues;
we were bored; we got a little silly.
Pereira Henson is much braver, much more serious, and far more worthy of your
sober consideration.
She lives, first of all, not in Toronto, but in Cambridge, which is not that
far away in miles but in other ways, such as in its municipal politics, is in another
galaxy entirely. She is a nice conservative woman of 35, a full-time mom with two
young daughters and a husband, and in the ordinary course, unlike some of her coarser
sisters, she would not dream of going topless.
But when, in the aftermath of the Ontario Court of Appeal decision late last
year which overturned the conviction of topless trailblazer Gwen Jacob of Guelph
and made toplessless legal for women, Pereira Henson saw a story in the local press
about Cambridge city council having thumbed its nose at the ruling and passed a
policy against toplessless, she was outraged.
Her late father, Alfredo, fled his comfortable life in Mozambique, then a
Portuguese colony, and moved his family to Canada in 1972 precisely because democracy
was too slow in coming to Portugal. "My father did not bring us to this country
so I could be treated like a second-class citizen," Pereira Henson snaps.
Given the choice to be topless or not, she would be clothed every time; "Try
to take my right away, and I will continue to exercise it."
So it was that on Feb. 21, Pereira Henson headed off to her local swimming
hole, the W.G. Johnson Pool and, in short order, went topless, was asked to leave
and, when she wouldn't unless the lifeguards also asked the men in the pool to don
tops, found herself surrounded by Waterloo Regional Police and given a $65 trespass
ticket.
This past May 9, fully prepared to go ahead, she went to court to learn that
the Crown attorney was asking the court to quash the charge on a technicality.
She might have left well enough alone, but it turned out that in anticipation
of her court date, council had in April actually formalized its anti-topless policy
into a bylaw (it is No. 72-97), and then, a few days after she was in court, she
saw some city literature featuring the councillors in their favorite sports gear;
one of the men was in swim trunks, baring his chest. It was salt in the wound.
On July 18, Pereira Henson and a 21-year-old friend from Kitchener, Jeannette
Tossounian, went to the same pool, removed their tops and went swimming. The same
scenario as before played out, with a few twists; this time, the pool was crowded,
so the lifeguards blew the whistles and ordered everyone out before the police approached
the two women. At one point, Pereira Henson pulled out her well-worn copy of the
Charter and tried to show the police the relevant sections; one of them told her
the Constitution doesn't apply in Cambridge.
On Wednesday, her lawyer, T. Sher Singh, was contacted by Brian Law, a local
lawyer hired by city council to handle this matter, and he revealed that the Crown
attorney was declining to prosecute the case, a decision senior Crown Lydia Narozniak
confirmed yesterday. The opinion in the Crown's office, she said, was that a prosecution
would not be successful.
The city, Mayor Jane Brewer said yesterday, has now asked Law to study the
merits of a private prosecution -- in other words, using public money to push the
trepass charge through the courts one way or another.
Brewer is clearly annoyed by Narozniak's decision. "She said they had
other priorities," Brewer sniffed. "I hope they don't take that same position
with a lot of other things." She referred to earlier "assurances"
council had that their bylaw was enforceable.
Asked why the bee in council's bonnet, Brewer replied, "There's some
strong feeling in the community that there should be community standards."
Indeed, lawyer Sher Singh believes the issue, which has already polarized
opinion in the city, would be a handy campaign hot button in the coming fall election,
useful for diverting attention away from more important matters.
Fatima Pereira Henson has lived in Cambridge for eight years. Her opinion
of the local politicians isn't high, but she has great affection and respect for
her neighbors. "The majority of this community is so peaceful ... there's that
deep-down good heartedness." She is willing, if that's what it takes, if council
decides to prosecute regardless of the cost and the lousy prospects for success,
to lose her house in order to pay for the battle. A tawdry floozy in comparison,
I am not worthy, but would be honored to go topless with her any time.
Anyone wanting to help with her legal expenses can send donations, cheques
made out to her, care of 256 Union St. N., Cambridge N3H 5L1.