July 21, 1997


Funny Business

Good work if you can get it

Frank King


First, of course, the Funny Business Monologue.

The other "Good Work If You Can Get It" story comes from our neighbors to the north. Ottawa, Canada's capital, is poised to allow women to go topless at municipal pools and beaches. (Don't start packing yet, fellows. Summer that far north only lasts a couple of hours.) If approved by the city council as expected, Ottawa would become the first city in Ontario to permit topless sunbathing at city-run facilities.

The move comes amid a controversy over topless women that was sparked in 1991 when a woman from Guelph, Ontario, about 50 miles north of Toronto, was fined for strolling without a top. A wave of topless solidarity protests followed. (Why didn't someone call me? I would have gladly walked the picket line.) Last December, Ontario's highest court overturned the woman's indecency conviction, effectively making it legal for women to go topless in public. Oh, Canada!

When asked about the ruling, Ottawa City Councilor Diane Deans said, "We're happy about the outcome, this way our lifeguards won't have to become breast police." Breast police?

Now, there's good work if you can get it.