Alberta’s government has rolled out new, clearer standards for school libraries after the Edmonton Public School Board and their media allies deliberately muddied the waters on what counts as “inappropriate” for kids.

The original July ministerial order was simple: remove books with explicit visual depictions of sex acts. That meant pornographic graphic novels like Gender Queer — which contains illustrations of sex toys, masturbation, and child molestation — had no place in schools.

But instead of following the obvious intent, Edmonton Public Schools pulled more than 200 books, including 1984, The Handmaid’s Tale, and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. 

Then the mainstream media rushed to call it a “book ban.”

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Orwell would’ve smirked — because it was the press themselves doing the Orwellian truth-twisting.

Faced with this manufactured outrage, the government issued a new order on September 8 to close the loophole that the board and media exploited. The standards now state plainly:

• Porn is out. Any book with illustrated sexual acts must be removed.

• Classics are safe. Written works with mature themes, from Orwell to Atwood, stay on shelves.

• Parents get transparency. Schools must publish book lists and inform families about classroom collections.

Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides had to spell it out: “Our goal has always been to make sure students are not exposed to visually graphic sexual material in school libraries. The revised order will ensure that classic literary works remain… while explicit depictions of sexual acts do not end up in the hands of children.”

In other words, the government had to reissue its policy because the school board pretended not to understand the difference between Orwell’s 1984 and a cartoon sex manual.

And the media? They proved Orwell right by redefining truth to smear a common-sense standard as censorship.

Alberta kids will still read Orwell in class — thankfully, they just won’t have to flip past porn to do it.