An issue that won’t go away

The Edmonton Public School Board has ordered that more than 200 books — including titles such as “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Brave New World,” “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” — are to be removed from its schools this fall.

This decision comes following an order in May by Alberta’s United Conservative Party government that aimed at ensuring that only “age appropriate” books are available in that province’s school libraries. In justifying that order, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith explained at the time that “Albertans deserve to know what’s really being shown to children in some of our K-9 schools … Parents are right to be upset.”

In response to the order, school board trustees from both the Edmonton and Calgary public school divisions complained that the announcement was a “complete surprise” to them, as no concerns had been raised prior to it being made.

In a joint statement, they said that “Both our divisions follow established, rigorous processes to ensure that library resources are age-appropriate and relevant for students,” and added that both divisions already have processes in place for parents and other members of the community to raise concerns about the content of library books in schools.

Similarly, the Alberta Teachers’ Association agreed that it is important to ensure that materials in school libraries are developmentally and age-appropriate, but expressed the concern that the Alberta government’s approach could prioritize the views of special interest groups. In particular, it noted that the government’s announcement specifically targeted 2SLGBTQIA+ materials.

That should surprise nobody. The “parental rights” agenda, which the Alberta government is committed to, typically includes efforts to prevent schools from teaching about topics like gender identity, sexuality and race without parental approval. In particular, it aims to limit the teaching of 2SLGBTQIA+ issues in schools.

Despite the well-reasoned objections of the Alberta school trustees, as well as those expressed by many educators, parents and advocacy groups, dozens of books are being removed from that province’s school library shelves, and this may be just the first instalment.

It is easy to dismiss this as an Alberta issue that is of no relevance to Manitoba schools, but what is happening in Alberta could have also happened here in our province and city, and could still happen at some point in the future if a group of determined politicians and their supporters get their way.

In the 2023 Manitoba provincial election, the Progressive Conservative Party’s platform included a commitment to protect and enhance parental rights, including exercising greater control over the types of books stocked on the province’s school libraries. The Tories lost that election, but newly elected PC Leader Obby Khan confirmed during a leadership debate here in Brandon last February that he proudly supported the “parental rights” portion of the 2023 platform, and still does.

That points to the distinct possibility that a future Progressive Conservative government in this province would adopt policies similar to those currently being implemented by the Smith government in Alberta. In fact, newly elected Spruce Woods PC MLA Colleen Robbins confirmed her support for the parental rights agenda just last week, during the Brandon Sun-Brandon University all-candidates’ debate.

Months prior to the 2023 provincial election, the Brandon School Division’s board of trustees also grappled with the issue, when former trustee Lorraine Hackenschmidt requested that the board create a committee to review the books in each BSD school library and remove them if the committee deemed them harmful to children. Her request was denied by a majority vote of the trustees, but only after a long, contentious and divisive debate that drew national media attention.

Many Brandonites assumed the trustees’ decision put the issue behind us, but BSD school board byelections later that fall revived the question — and the possibility of banning school books may be raised yet again during the upcoming school board byelection in October. Nominations for that contest will be accepted at city hall from Sept. 4 to 5 and Sept. 8 to 10.

It is an opportunity for those who care about civil rights and academic freedom to make their voices and concerns heard. Time will tell how many citizens are prepared to take advantage of that opportunity.