'I don't want to see this,' says resident
Barin' all at Beaconia blasted

Chris Purdy
Courts Reporter

Public nudity isn't only naughty, it's illegal and should be enforced
through the courts, says a Beaconia Beach resident.
  "I don't want to see this," Sue Denorer said yesterday.
  "I don't understand how it can be illegal and there can be no charges."
  The 30 year old woman and her partner, who have lived in the area for a
few years, have complained to RCMP three times this month about the
skin-only sunbathers.
  Officers investigated the complaints and found 15 to 20 nudists - mostly
men - and have since passed five of the names on to the attorney general's
office to see if public nudity charges can be laid.
  The five names include four Winnipeggers  and one Brandon resident. Two
are women.
  One of the men was charged with indecent exhibition, but it's not the
proper charge and a public nudity charge needs the Crown consent, said Cpl.
Tom Cooney of the Grand Marais RCMP.

Last charge in the late 80's

He said the last time his detachment laid a public nudity charge was in the
late '80s. It was eventually stayed in court.
  The Crown is reviewing the case and studying how other provinces have
dealt with the issue.
  Although recent court rulings in Ontario and Saskatchewan have allowed
women to go topless -- they're only "persuasive" and not binding in
Manitoba, said Lynn Stannard, director of prosecutions.
  Cooney said the nudists thought it was a clothing optional beach.
  The beach has been a well known sunbathing spot for the past three
decades, said Lynn Prucyk, manager of the Crocus Grove nudist camp near
Libau.
  Denorer said she knew sun-seekers stripped near a secluded part of the
beach's south end. That was fine until this year, when some started moving
north where there are more people - and more children.
  Some Beaconia residents are now keeping their kids from the beach, said
Denorer.
 "I'm not trying to get rid of them - just cover up," she said.