Ontario water park firm on topless ban despite rights complaint

The owner of two popular water parks in Ontario and Quebec says women will not be allowed to go topless on the premises, despite a human rights complaint.

Groupe Calypso Valcartier issued a statement Wednesday saying women must continue to wear swimsuits covering their breasts and the lower part of their bodies.

- Cornwall, Ont., reviewing topless policy complain

The decision follows a human rights complaint filed in Ontario in February targeting Ottawa-area Calypso water park, the City of Cornwall, Ont., and seven Ontario hotels for their policies against toplessness at their pools.

"We work on an experience for our customers, and we think that toplessness should not be involved in this experience," said Louis Massicotte, CEO of Groupe Calypso Valcartier.

"We are an amusement park for kids and families and we want to stay with that mission."

Ever since the complaint became public, Massicotte said calls and emails inquiring about the water park's policy on toplessness have come flooding in.

The decision to make the topless ban official was made after consulting clients and legal advisers in both Quebec and Ontario, Massicotte told The Canadian Press.

"To us, it's not a question of sexual perception, the issue for us is to protect the comfort of our customers," he added.

In December 1996, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that a woman's topless stroll down a street in Guelph, Ont., was not obscene, making it legal for all women in Ontario to bare their breasts in public.