The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) calls for immediate policy change in Alberta to reverse the outrageous public school book ban imposed by new provincial government restrictions introduced last spring.
The Edmonton Public School Board’s recent decision to remove 200 titles from school libraries is the result of a government directive supposedly aimed at ensuring an undefined “age-appropriateness” within school library collections. The resulting list of “inappropriate books” includes recognized modern classics such as The Handmaid’s Tale, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and Nineteen Eighty-Four, as well as a number of LGBTQ+-themed books directly identified by the province in earlier discussion.
As TWUC noted during public consultation, the Alberta initiative is censorious by nature:
“The proposal of pending new rules for book selection, and the fielding of what appears to be a misleading public survey designed to justify such rules, attacks and undermines education and library professionals in the province of Alberta, while casting LGBTQ+-themed books as somehow dangerous to students.”
School libraries are woefully underfunded across the country, both in terms of book buying budgets and the hiring of qualified staff. The diversity and rich variety of titles in their collections — many by Canadian authors and illustrators — are essential to providing Canadian students a deep and nuanced understanding of the world around them.
“I am a teacher as well as an author,” noted TWUC Chair Kim Fahner. “This is an attack on both professions and, most sadly, on students. It is government’s job to fund education properly, and then to trust trained professionals to teach broadly at appropriate grade levels. Government trespass into teachers' professional judgement and knowledge never ends well.”
A wave of so-called “parents’ rights” challenges to books in the United States has fueled a rise in censorship and targeting of titles with LGBTQ+ characters and themes, with notable Canadian books in the mix. The United States Supreme Court recently ruled in favour of such targeting.
“Now is not the time for Canada to be following in US footsteps,” remarked Fahner. “Book bans are regressive, anti-education policy. Canada is better than that, or should be.”
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The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) is the national organization of professionally published writers. TWUC was founded in 1973 to work with governments, publishers, booksellers, and readers to improve the conditions of Canadian writers. Now over 3,000 members strong, TWUC advocates on behalf of writers’ collective interests, and delivers value to members through advocacy, community, and information. TWUC believes in a thriving, diverse Canadian culture that values and supports writers.
For additional information:
John Degen, Chief Executive Officer
The Writers’ Union of Canada
jdegen@writersunion.ca
DATE: September 2, 2025
