Ottawa women will be allowed to swim topless at municipal pools -- at least until
another swimmer objects -- if a report released yesterday by city staff is approved
by councillors.
Lifeguards "will be directed not to intervene with a topless swimmer unless
there is a complaint received," states the proposed policy. It adds that signs
requiring "modest attire" will not be posted.
The proposed policy will go before a city committee on Wednesday.
The new policy was prompted by a December ruling of the Ontario Court of Appeal
that gave women the same right as men to expose their chest in public. And two other
incidents, in which women in Hamilton and Cambridge took bare-breasted dips in city
pools, have left municipal officials throughout Ontario scrambling to adopt clearer
rules on female swimming attire.
Fatima Pereira Henson, 34, is to appear in a Cambridge court today. She was charged
in February with trespassing after she refused to leave a city recreation centre
where she was swimming topless.
"We don't have a written policy at this time," said Janette Foo, Ottawa's
acting commissioner of community services. "The situation has not come up,
but if it does, what I'm proposing is that we not do a thing -- to not intervene
unless there is a complaint."
Ms. Foo said disputes among swimmers would be resolved on a "case-by-case basis"
and police would be called in if a complaint can't be settled quickly.
According to the report, it would depend on the "individual circumstances and
behaviour of the respective parties" whether the topless swimmer or the objector
would be the one removed from the pool.
It is not clear how the situation would be resolved if both parties were polite
yet insistent.
Ms. Foo said Ottawa Council could decide later to implement a bylaw outlawing topless
swims. But "it would be prudent to await the court's ruling in the Henson case"
before enacting a bylaw that might be struck down by a higher authority, the report
states.
Ms. Foo added most cities in the Toronto area have also adopted a permissive policy
on topless swimming as they await the Henson ruling.
Three Ottawa councillors contacted about the new policy said they would probably
approve it.
"Our position had better respect the law," said Coun. Karin Howard. "I
don't think we should intervene even when there is a complaint. I don't think we
should post signs or interfere in any way with what the public will naturally do.
This is a hands-off situation."
"Canadians have the maturity to be able to accept topless bathing," said
Coun. Richard Cannings. "I don't see what the big deal is."
He noted, however, that other tough issues might arise if a trend toward toplessness
takes off: "What about aerobics?"
Coun. Diane Deans said the no-intervention policy "is probably the right approach
for now."
A national debate about bare breasts in public was sparked by a 1991 indecency conviction
against Gwen Jacob, a Guelph woman who was fined after she took a topless stroll
on a city street on a hot summer day. The Appeal Court's ruling last December overturned
the conviction and made it unquestionably legal for women to appear bare-breasted
in public if there was no sexual intent.
The Ontario government, unhappy with that judgment, asked the federal government
in January to amend the Criminal Code so women who go topless in public can be prosecuted.
"A great many members of the public, from all over Ontario, have written to
the ministry concerned about this type of conduct, especially in public places as
it may relate to children," Ontario Attorney General Charles Harnick said in
a letter sent to his federal counterpart, Allan Rock.
Meanwhile, Ms. Henson's controversial plunge in Cambridge created a wave of concern
among Ontario municipalities that their civic pools could become the key battleground
in a fight over conflicting social mores.
After Ms. Henson challenged the city of Cambridge's unwritten rule against toplessness
-- citing the Jacobs precedent -- Cambridge Council quickly passed a new policy
explicitly outlawing bare-breasted swimming.
"We have to judge what we see to be community standards," said one city
councillor, Doug Craig.
Notices were to be posted at the city's two indoor and four outdoor pools, warning
that women who try to swim topless will be asked to leave. They could face trespassing
or criminal charges if they refuse.
In Hamilton, the issue took off when a woman began swimming bare-breasted every
lunch hour during adult swims. She was told she had to wear all of her bathing suit,
and Hamilton officials have since posted dress-code signs in their pools declaring
that all female bathers must wear suits with tops.