Schools exist to teach kids, not to stock material that would get a convenience store fined. Alberta’s move to keep pornographic material out of school libraries is common sense and long overdue. The last week proved why. Edmonton Public Schools yanked more than 200 titles, including The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984, claiming they were following a provincial directive. Then came the inevitable outcry and a pause while the rules are clarified. Good. The problem isn’t the goal — it’s the slippage. Classics aren’t the target; pornography is the target. Premier Danielle Smith has now said the fix is to focus on books with sexual images — the graphic material that doesn’t belong in K–12 stacks — and leave literature alone. That’s the right line, it's the pornographic pictures, not the words..EDITORIAL: Firing of Alberta coach for his views is an attack on free speech .Her point is backed by Canadian law, which has long drawn a distinction between artistic or literary merit and obscenity that risks harm. The Supreme Court’s Butler decision anchored the test in harm, and the Criminal Code still bans obscene publications and child pornography. Alberta can reflect that in school policy without turning librarians into censors of Shakespeare or Atwood. Critics say teens can “handle it.” Perhaps in theory. In practice, the duty of care in a school is different than in a downtown bookstore. The Canadian Centre for Child Protection has spent two decades warning about the normalization of sexual content to minors and the risks that flow from it. Educators need clear guardrails, not a wink and a nudge. Set the standard, then enforce it — consistently, transparently, and with a public list so no board can game the rules. .So, what should go — and what should stay?We should keep literary works where sexual themes are part of a larger narrative (yes, even uncomfortable ones) and text-only depictions evaluated for age appropriateness in senior grades. That means no more mass pull-lists of canon novels under the banner of “compliance.” Even Smith called that “vicious compliance.” The province is rewriting the order to protect classics while removing graphic pornographic imagery. Good. Finish the job. .EDITORIAL: The 'Wild West' had more justice than Liberal Canada.Remove from student access (K–12 shelves) titles that contain visual depictions of sex acts or explicit genital detail. The point isn’t identity or viewpoint; it’s pictures. For example, Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer, which is a graphic memoir containing cartoon depictions of sex acts. Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan’s Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human, which is an illustrated sex-ed manual with graphics showing nudity and sex positions..The list should be province-wide (so Edmonton can’t pretend the rule is vague), updated annually, and tied to the stated criterion: sexual imagery. If a board wants to retain any of these for curricular review or teacher reference, store them in staff-only collections, not in open stacks. Nothing stops a family from borrowing them at the public library. To prevent more performative “compliance,” adopt these administrative guardrails. Define “pornographic images” in policy as “visual depictions of sexual acts; explicit genital detail; or step-by-step sexual technique.” Reference the Criminal Code’s obscenity and child-pornography provisions and the Butler harm standard. .THOMAS: Let's shut down Calgary city council until after the election; yes, that can happen.Create age tiers so K-9 shelves are free of any sexual imagery. Grades 10–12 may access non-explicit sexual health materials vetted by a divisional panel. Publish the panel’s reasons. Put out public lists and post annual “removed for imagery” lists, and a separate “retained classics” list, with plain language justifications. Edmonton’s leaked spreadsheet shouldn’t be how parents find out. Have an appeals process that is fast and explains its decisions.Alberta NDP say they oppose the bans. Leader Naheed Nenshi claimed the UCP is “asking girls (not boys) to prove their sex and banning books.” While NDP Education Critic Amanda Chapman said “the UCP government has chosen to prioritize banning books over preventing a strike” and not dealing with overcrowded classes and funding issues. This isn’t about left or right. It’s about the difference between a school library and a porn website. Alberta set the right goal. Now finish the work: protect real literature, take pornographic images off school shelves, and stop the games that threw great books into the same bin as picture-book porn. Hold the line, Danielle Smith. Albertans are counting on you.
