The Alberta Government has rewritten its ministerial order that banned all books with sexually explicit content from school libraries, only to include books with graphic, sexually explicit images.
The government's revised order, released Monday after it was originally scheduled to be released Friday, was updated to "prevent misinterpretation and ensure that restrictions focus specifically on materials with explicit visual depictions of sexual acts."
"Our goal has always been to make sure students are not exposed to visually graphic sexual material in school libraries," said Demetrios Nicolaides, Minister of Education and Childcare in a press release.
"I am confident we can meet that goal while making the process as simple and straightforward as possible for schools and teachers. The revised order will ensure that classic literary works remain in school libraries, while materials with explicit visual depictions of sexual acts do not end up in the hands of children.”
A list by the Edmonton Public School Board that was released earlier this month had more than 200 books that would need to be removed from libraries across schools in the region based on language in the government's original ministerial order.
The province said that they updated the standards for school literary material because of concerns over some "classic works" on the list, such as Brave New World and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
Under the updated standards, school boards must remove any school literary materials that contain explicit visual depictions of a sexual act. To ensure the intent of the standards is clear and achievable, the updated order:
-Narrows the scope to focus strictly on explicit visual depictions of a sexual act.
-Requires school boards to be transparent about school literary materials.
-The school authority must establish and maintain a publicly available listing of all school literary materials other than those contained in a classroom collection.
-The school authority must ensure that the parents of the children or students who have access to a classroom collection are informed of the school literary materials contained specifically in the classroom collection.
-Extends the implementation date to January 5, 2026, to provide school boards with additional time for communication and preparation.
-Does not apply to material, whether in physical or electronic form, brought into the school by a child or student without the knowledge of any school authority employee.
The province says by Oct. 31, school boards must provide the minister with a list of literary materials they intend to remove in order to implement the standards
"With clear expectations for school boards, the new ministerial order will ensure the standards continue to protect young students from exposure to materials with inappropriate images as previously intended," the province said in its release.
The original order, which stated that sexually explicit content is not permitted in schools and students in Grade 10 may access non-explicit, age-appropriate educational material, was changed after widespread, international condemnation.
Famous Canadian author Margaret Atwood, who wrote The Handmaid's Tale, one classic that was to be removed based on its sexually explicit material, voiced her concern about the original order.
"By sheer coincidence, just as I was writing this speech, news broke that a school board in Edmonton, Alberta – under direction from their provincial government -- had banned my book, The Handmaid’s Tale, from their school system – the classrooms, the libraries – because it was pornographic," Atwood said in a virtual PEN Conference speech last week in Poland.
"That’s quite funny: the book has more often been criticized for not being pornographic – for having sex acts in it that are not sexy. Well, they aren’t supposed to be: it’s a Puritanical regime, after all. So in the Canadian media a minor tempest is raging, as this is the first-ever Canadian province-wide attempt at mass book banning. I’m in good company, however: Brave New World and 1984 are also on the list. I guess they don’t want young people thinking about dictatorships."
