Smith calls out school board playing games with library porn ban
Smith called for the removal of graphic pornography from school libraries, not classic literature.
Alberta temporarily halted its sexually explicit content standards for school libraries due to Edmonton Public Schools' book removal list, which the province deemed inconsistent with the policy's intent.
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides announced the pause yesterday, shortly after Edmonton Public Schools released a list of 200 books it planned to ban.
On August 28, a leaked list of banned books shared online included "The Handmaid's Tale," "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," "Brave New World," and works by Alice Munro and Ayn Rand.
That prompted a reaction from Premier Danielle Smith, who explicitly stated her policy: remove graphic pornography from school libraries but keep classic literature.
“We all know the difference between the items,” she said. “Let’s not play any more games in implementing this policy for our kids.”
A new order from the Alberta government is requiring school libraries to remove explicit content and creating additional rules, mandating transparency, staff supervision and parental access.
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) July 10, 2025
READ MORE: https://t.co/PXi23uC72N pic.twitter.com/GAbGuiKYwE
The province earlier requested school boards to use discretion in identifying age-inappropriate books for students. By October 1, 2025, all school boards must remove explicit sexual content from library materials under a July 10 ministerial order.
“After becoming aware of [the] list … I will be revising the order immediately to ensure that our classic literary works remain in school libraries, while books with graphic pornographic images, … do not end up in the hands of children,” Minister Nicolaides said on social media.
He announced new rules earlier this year after four graphic novels with explicit sexual content were found in school libraries. A freedom of information request revealed their titles: Gender Queer, Fun Home, Blankets, and Flamer.
“This is simply about ensuring young students are not exposed to content depicting oral sex, child molestation or other very inappropriate content,” the minister told reporters.
Smith defended the removal of "sexually explicit content" from elementary schools, stating, "it is inappropriate for 7-year-olds to see." She made the comment at an August 29 news conference.
“I don't know how much more clear we could be,” Smith added. “That's our objective.”
Alberta boots graphic smut from school libraries—media cries 'book banning'
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) May 28, 2025
This isn't censorship. It's protection. It's sanity. It's Alberta saying: Not our kids. Not anymore.
It's not censorship to keep dick-wagging, gender-wang books out of the hands of little kids.
And if… pic.twitter.com/KHmdqqZAqY
The Edmonton Public School Board cited family and community concerns in an August 29 statement, after its leaked book list, prompting the removal of titles to meet provincial standards.
The board was appreciative of the education minister's pause on Tuesday, reads a follow-up statement. “Our Board remains committed to keeping lines of communication open with the Minister as we continue to work collaboratively with families and the government in support of student learning,” it said.
Premier Smith claims Edmonton Public is "viciously complying" with the directive, having previously stated its existing rules support teaching and learning resource selection.
She added that the government would "happily work with" the school board to identify age-inappropriate material if they needed help.
10/ The media had embargoed access to these explicit books found in Alberta school libraries and still tried to paint removing these books as "banning" and censorship. What gaslighting weirdos. https://t.co/cNRugCDGhy
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) May 26, 2025
The province says it was compelled to act following widespread concern from parents and an online public survey that drew nearly 80,000 responses. Stakeholder consultations and polling showed strong support for a more consistent, age-appropriate approach to school library collections.
Conservative groups Parents for Choice in Education and Action4Canada, as first reported by the Investigative Journalism Foundation, gave Minister Nicolaides and his staff lists of books from Alberta school libraries.
Nicolaides clarified new standards aren't meant to silence identities, explicitly including sexual content involving heterosexual, same-sex, and large age-gap couples.
The order also doesn't restrict content on puberty, menstruation, and breastfeeding for any grade level, nor does it apply to school municipal libraries or teacher-selected materials.
Alex Dhaliwal
Journalist and Writer
Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.
Help fund Alex's journalism!
COMMENTS
-
Peter Wrenshall commented 2025-09-04 11:34:21 -0400Congratulations to Danielle Smith and her her government for taking concrete steps to push back against the sexual radicals who have infiltrated the educational system in Alberta – the only Canadian politician so far to have the gumption to do so. Unfortunately, her clarifying statement, allowing “teacher-selected material” to be used in classrooms will allow radical teachers, of which there are not a few, to bust the regulations wide open. -
Bruce Atchison commented 2025-09-03 19:52:05 -0400May spite bite the school board censors in the butt. It shows how demonic the left are. It’s time to purge the school board of such passive-aggressive people.
