Bill is not a book ban, province says

The Alberta government is looking to make changes in public libraries aimed at ensuring that children and young teens can't access to graphic sexual images. (Rob Kruk/CBC/Radio-Canada)

The Alberta government has introduced legislation to ensure children and young teens won't be able to access sexually graphic images in books at public libraries.

At a news conference on Friday, Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams emphasized that the government is not banning books before holding up a sexually explicit example of the graphic images they seek to restrict.

"We will require that they are put behind a counter in a place that children cannot find them," Williams said Thursday after tabling the bill in the house.

"When a family walks into a public library, they should feel confident that appropriate safeguards are in place, that their children will feel comfortable there," he added.

"It's a reasonable expectation to balance the needs of the family along with the ability for libraries to continue offering services."

The bill looks at measures to make sure children ages 15 and under can't access visual depictions of sex. Options include having such material controlled by library staff or put in separate areas.

Premier Danielle Smith's government previously made rule changes to ban graphic sexual material in school libraries, resulting in some books being pulled from shelves.

Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi mocked Williams' bill.

"This government with its $9.4-billion deficit, its inability to spend any money correctly, is now building a team of library inspectors," Nenshi told reporters at the legislature.

"Can you imagine? What do they wear? What are their uniforms? Do they read every book? Are they librarians?

"This is insanity, and it's taking away the ability of people to make their own decisions.

"This government doesn't believe in human rights," he added. "It believes in dictating what people read, what people see, what people think."

Bill met with concern from advocacy group, municipal officials

In a statement, the Coalition of Alberta Public Libraries, representing 324 public library services across Alberta, said none of its members were consulted about the bill. It called the bill an “act of censorship.”

Ira Wells, president of the advocacy group PEN Canada, said he believes provincial officials aren’t equipped to understand the nuances presented in many of these books.

“These are books that are dealing in a serious way with issues of bullying, with issues of assault — these are books that might help Alberta's youth,” Wells said in an interview.

“Our fear is that the net result of the government's actions are likely to limit Alberta's youth in their ability to actually engage with these texts.”

Wells also notes that many of the books removed from school libraries were disproportionately 2SLGBTQ+ titles.

Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack also raised concerns.

“Edmonton Public Library has been the gold standard on this, and so I do worry about infringing on how they set up their library,” he said.

“When you start restricting the information you can access, that's actually fundamentally against what public libraries are all about."

Knack said he believes these kinds of decisions don't belong under provincial jurisdiction. Instead, he believes these decisions should be up to librarians, trained professional bodies and parents.

In Calgary, Mayor Jeromy Farkas told reporters, "We're still reviewing the exact legislation and what the impacts would be.

He added, "My understanding is the intent, at least from the various conversations I've had with ministers as well as public statements, was this was not intended to capture standalone libraries and that municipal autonomy would be respected.

The library changes are one part of the bill. It also proposes changes to create a provincewide councillor accountability framework that includes enforceable standards of conduct and third-party investigations for serious misconduct.

It will also require municipalities to publicly disclose salaries above a specified threshold.

Farkas said he is happy to give the bill his "endorsement" especially on accountability measures and code of conduct.

Lisa Johnson

The Canadian Press

Lisa Johnson is a reporter for The Canadian Press based in Alberta.