By paNOW

Peeling on the Prairies: Stripping now legal in Sask. bars

Jan 2, 2014 | 12:02 AM

It’s OK to “bottoms up” as long as the bottoms stay on in Saskatchewan. New liquor laws mean it’s now legal to striptease in bars.

“Nudity is still against the law in Saskatchewan and we’re the last province in Canada holding out on that,” said Patrick Burke, owner of Tiger Lily Cabaret. “It’s a strange dynamic, living here.”

As of Jan. 1, dancers can take their clothes off down to thongs and pasties—no nipples or full nudity allowed. Previously, dancers could be on-stage in bikinis at licensed venues, but they couldn’t be seen taking off their clothes on-stage.

Burke and other owners of erotic entertainment companies say the new laws won’t make much of a difference in their industry.

“Without the nudity, no dancers will come here to work because there’s no real money to be made,” said Burke.

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Other owners say the bulk of the money their dancers make is at private parties. For that, there are no overhead costs and the privacy makes it better for clients. Dancers can also strip right down to the nude.

The one exception could be with small town hotels.

“Wet T-shirt contests and girls being allowed to take their clothes off were the only changes allowed,” said Burke. “So if the small town bars will do that, I guess they might have some extra business but realistically, they might be disappointing patrons that assume they might have nude dancers when they’re actually not.”

Bryan Baraniski is co-owner of the Codette Hotel. The town is northeast of Saskatoon, nestled between Tisdale, Nipawin, and Carrot River. The hotel was shut down for about two years. Now, it’s making a splash shortly after its grand opening.

“I believe we are the first legal, licensed strip bar,” said Baraniski. “I know the younger guys are all excited about it in the area.”

Baraniski already owned a hotel. But he hesitated buying the Codette Hotel two years ago when it closed. He said he was keeping a close eye on the new liquor law coming down the pipeline. “It probably pushed us over the top to buy it, yeah.”

The first show is Jan. 2. Baraniski is bringing in strippers from a company in Regina which he’s booked for the next three months.

“They seem like they’re pretty excited about it. I think they’re running into a situation that they don’t know if they’ve got enough girls to supply us.”

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