“I survived reading banned books. All I got was smarter and more empathetic.”
If one person believes something illogical, he is called a fool – but if ten million people believe the same illogical thing, it is called religion.
-Voltaire
@thebreannabrown:
“Teachers are teaching kids sexual positions!”
No, but maybe they should.
Not all of us have perfect little households, Susan.
Some of us are handed over to abusers with no idea of what sex is supposed to be – just pain, silence, & shame.
Education saves. Your moral panic won’t.
I think Herr Hideous Harper had something to do with this vile book ban. He’s a big time fan of and invests in Israel’s genocide; Israel harbours pedophiles from all over the world. Harper, the IDU, and TBA’s NaZiP want to make Alberta another haven for kid rapists?
I had no idea what the rapists my mother sent me to, summer after summer, were doing to me. I was not interested in humans, I was in love with water, the river I grew up near, earth, trees and wild creatures. My imagination made me believe the attacks by the men and subsequent messes were “normal” and happened to all kids, the rips, the bruises, the blood, so much blood, the smell, the horrible horrible smell of rape. I smell it every day – it triggers me from out of nowhere, most times when I am near humans, notably male.
Knowledge is power, especially for kids and women.
The Take Back Alberta evangelicals and the kid-abusing NaZiP (UCP) they control, do not want children to have sexual knowledge – I believe for the many monsters like Trump and his bestie Epstein and others to be able to rape many kids and get away with it. Can’t have 7 year old Albertans yelling, “Me Too!”
How much harder is it for pastors/priests/ministers/parents/friends of the family/neighbours/coaches/lawyers/politicians to rape kids if they are educated and know what rape is? Sexual ignorance when I was 6 and 8 and older, destroyed my life and my body; every day, I wish I were dead to be free of what the fuckers did to me.
I think those responsible for this book ban, and yes it is a book ban, need to be investigated for pedophilia, sex trafficking of kids, and tossed in prison, if crimes found.
@notjustdave.bsky.social:
It’s also about making children easier to victimize. Sex education was already opt-out in Alberta, but Danielle’s base of zealots has demanded that she make it opt-in. This is another step in that direction.Pleasing her orange painted kid-raping Nazi pal in USA
@TheBreakdownAB:
By request!
(And in preparation for Sunday’s show)
Tonight at 8 we’ve got a special mashup of all of our Alberta Book Ban coverage so far!
Including our FOIP that shows how the UCP used religious and American lists to inform their new policy!
@RobinHoodlum:
I’m convinced that the UCP is bought by the US Republican Party. We know several of them contributed to the convoy.
@HGanshorn:
100%. I know someone whose daughter has been getting unsolicited dick pics from male classmates since grade 9. Kids aren’t “reading porn” in school libraries, they are making and distributing it. But this government thinks parents should decide whether kids get sex ed.
@Bobbyem13:
The UCP and TBA is projecting their own deranged thoughts about what teaching is.
They are trying to erode public confidence in teachers that have overwhelmingly rejected the UCP’s insufficient settlement contract offer.
The UCP also stole teacher’s pensions to AimCo. Disaster!
@uppitybitxh:
Geez, I hope none of those kids with measles are exposed to any books!
@KarlaMarx1917:
The UCP are banning books in schools. This will disproportionately affect queer literature and students. This is a #dontsaygay ban right here in Alberta
DanielleSmithIsUnfitToLead
@TheBreakdownAB
That’s the Handmaids Tale, pretty much every Stephen King book, any books on anatomy and physiology and…
the Bible.
And the Quran.
@HGanshorn:
I will not be voting for any trustee candidate that upholds a book ban. This is vile and morally bankrupt.
School boards ALREADY have policies around library collection development, put in place by knowledgeable teachers and teacher-librarians. They also have procedures for challenging a book that a parent AT THAT SCHOOL finds inappropriate.
This is a blatant attack on the autonomy of school boards, and an inappropriate overreach by the provincial government
It is not driven by legitimate parent concerns, but by far-right lobby groups masquerading as concerned parents while actually carrying out a witch hunt. @demetriosnAB
knows this and is colluding with it. Just like Ron DeSantis and Moms for Liberty.
The real problem with school libraries is that they are under-resourced. We no longer have qualified teacher-librarians in most schools. Books are largely purchased through parent fundraising. So @demetriosnAB wants to call the tune, but he’s not even paying the piper!
The government’s own survey shows that parents aren’t falling for this fake moral panic. The people have spoken, and the government should listen and butt out.
“There is absolutely nothing wrong with a parent deciding a certain book is not right for their child. There is a colossal problem with a parent deciding that, therefore, no child should be allowed to read that book.” Jodi Picoult
Which is what I find most annoying about most religious people I’ve met, and most religions I’ve been bullied by: Whether I want to live religiously or not, it’s their way, or no way, my choices and beliefs are verbotten. I find it galling than any human thinks they have the right to make me live how they live (one example, no right to my own body or to live not serving a man and producing endless kids whether wanted or not, or whether earth has room for them or not) and no right to believe or not believe what they believe. It’s really sick, how religious people like TBA et al thinks. They need deprogramming. Fast, before all schools in Alberta are destroyed by their stupidity, bigotry and cruelty.
@caulfieldtim.bsky.social:
To paraphrase: “We aren’t gonna ban books but these books are banned. But not a ban. But these are banned.”
Regressive. Harmful. Out of touch. Authoritarian. And not a surprise. Ugh.
@bradleybutts.bsky.social:
Check his internet history.
The most vocal about these things tend to be the most depraved.
@heathermcpherson.bsky.social:
In all of history, the good folks were NEVER the ones banning books!
The UCP’s attack on school libraries is straight out of a dangerous playbook that fears knowledge, diversity, and truth.
This is about silencing diversity and reducing students access to information.
Alberta Used Lists of America’s Most Banned Books to Target ‘Inappropriate’ School Material, Internal emails show how education ministry staff compiled book titles subject to new content restrictions by Brett McKay, July 11, 2025, The Tyee
Good old vulgar Nazi Dani, keeping her painted orange demented ugly kid raping fake christian blob happy. Many times a day, I think how wise I was to choose to have no kids which would be abused by these evil NaZiP!
Internal emails throw light on the sources used by Government of Alberta staff to search for “inappropriate” materials in school libraries, including an index of America’s most banned books and a website linked to the rise in attempts to ban books in the U.S
Alberta’s Minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides announced in May the province planned to bring in new standards to ensure explicit and “age-inappropriate” books were kept off school library shelves, and said the policy “is not a question of banning specific books or specific titles but rather establishing clear policies and guidelines for all school divisions to follow.”
However, emails released through a freedom-of-information request show Nicolaides’s staff did create lists of specific books and titles they used to search Edmonton Public Schools (EPSB) and Calgary Board of Education (CBE) library catalogues.
In a Nov. 4 email, James Johnson, chief of staff for education and child care, shared a link to an article about PEN America’s report showing a nearly 200 per cent increase in book bans in the United States, and its launch of a searchable database of banned and challenged materials. PEN America is a literary and free expression organization that “champions the freedom to write.”
“Can we see which books are banned the most and see if they’re in [our libraries] where appropriate?” Johnson asked Alberta education ministry staff.
It also appears the department checked for titles censored by book bans in Austin, Texas, specifically, and found most of these novels were available in Alberta’s public schools.
“Only 16 per cent of books banned in Austin weren’t found in EPSB and roughly 19 per cent weren’t found in CBE,” ministerial assistant Elizabeth Harper informed Johnson in a reply.
Jonathan Friedman, managing director of U.S. free expression programs at PEN America, objected to the use of PEN’s database by the Government of Alberta.
“The use of our index as a tool of possible censorship is disappointing and wrong,” he told the IJF in an email.
Friedman said that all the bans documented by PEN were instances of books that were removed after they had been placed in libraries by professional educators, based on a collection development policy or a curriculum expert, for use with young people.
“These are works with literary and artistic and scientific merit. And perhaps most important, these books contain stories and information that make a difference in the lives of students.”
In addition to titles from these lists of banned books, the emails show that Harper searched EPSB and CBE libraries for novels featured on the controversial amateur content rating system BookLooks.org.
BookLooks was launched in 2022 by Emily Maikisch, a former member of the book review committee with Moms for Liberty, a “parental rights” organization listed as an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The BookLooks website, which shut down in March 2025, provided reports on select books using its own rating system developed “to provide a means of assessing the appropriateness of a book for a child or young adult,” and was frequently used by people attempting to have books removed from school libraries — particularly those dealing with LGBTQ2S+ content and sexuality.
An analysis of the BookLooks rating system published in the Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy found that passages about LGBTQ+ people and their allies were repeatedly flagged by the site and included in book reports, though they had no connection to profanity, nudity or sexual content.
“By trying to restrict the ability of young people to access these titles, the website creators are essentially advocating for the erasure of LGBTQIA+ identities rather than ‘every’ parent’s ability to make decisions for their own children,” the article’s authors Jenna Spiering and Kate Kedley concluded.
The IJF asked Nicolaides whose decision it was to use BookLooks in the education ministry’s research, but he did not answer.Douche fucking coward
“To be clear — I have no authority to ban books, I am not banning books, I do not plan to ban books, and the rhetoric around this being a book ban is flagrant and irresponsible,” Nicolaides said in a statement.liar liar liar liar pants on fire.
“I asked my staff to gather information on books that show explicit sexual content and if they were in schools in Alberta. They located books of concern on shelves in Edmonton Public and Calgary Public schools.”
Edmonton Public Schools said it already has existing rules and regulations to support the selection of teaching and learning resources, and that these rules have been in place for a number of years.
A spokesperson for the CBE told the IJF it also has “rigorous processes to ensure that library resources are age-appropriate and relevant for students,” and clear mechanisms in place for any member of the school community to bring forward concerns about specific resources.
BookLooks’ rating system assigned books a score from 0 to 5, with corresponding age restrictions for each category. Along with violence, profanity and nudity, books were scrutinized for their inclusion of sexuality and “gender ideologies.” The mention of a gay person — “Jake and Bob are gay and married to each other,” is one example given on the website — would earn a book a score of 1, meaning it may be inappropriate for children. References to someone who is bisexual or transgender were categorized as “explicit sexuality/gender ideology,” and rated as requiring guidance for anyone under 13.
The list of objectionable materials in public schools compiled by Alberta’s education ministry appears to contain more than two pages of books.
However, a copy of this list released through a freedom-of-information request was entirely redacted except for the four graphic novels previously named by the ministry: Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, Blankets by Craig Thompson and Flamer by Mike Curato.
When Nicolaides first revealed plans in May for province-wide content policy and guidelines, he told media concerned parents had brought examples of “extremely inappropriate” materials to his ministry last November.
These examples of books from Alberta school libraries were in fact provided to Nicolaides by conservative activists from the groups Parents for Choice in Education and Action4Canada, as first reported by the Investigative Journalism Foundation.
The IJF also filed a freedom-of-information request for records of meetings Nicolaides or his staff had in November and December last year related to age-inappropriate and graphic sexual content in school library books, but the search returned no records.
Months before meeting with Nicolaides, Action4Canada’s Kim McBride was invited to speak at a United Conservative Party constituency association event in Calgary in March 2024 on Alberta’s parental rights policy. During her presentation, McBride told the audience that comprehensive sexual education, sexual orientation and gender identity education were part of a campaign of indoctrination in schools and media, and that the “political trans LGBT agenda” is to target children and use them as agents of change.
Parents for Choice in Education’s executive director John Hilton-O’Brien also spoke at the same UCP event.
Nicolaides said he had not met McBride or others from Action4Canada before their meeting about school library books.
“Action4Canada was one of the groups that provided a list of books to me that were of concern to them, once during my only meeting with them in November, which prompted us to investigate the situation further, through various avenues,” Nicolaides said.
Sean Burton:
the “political trans LGBT agenda” is to target children and use them as agents of change.
Much worse than the UCP promoting ignorance, leading to hatred. After all, rewriting the educational curriculum to the point no other province will use it, isn’t using children as agents of change is it. Nor this move, right.
It’s telling that the FOI request was blacked out, not even allowed to know what published evil I am facing. I could read something forbidden or even put it in my free library where the kids could see it.
Dangerous nutbars, the lot of them. Vote them out.Trouble is, many rural Albertans are dangerous nutbars too (and vicious bigots). That’s why they vote dangerous nutbars/bigots into power, election after election. I’ve lived in Alberta since 1982. Every variation of con govt has been filled with dangerous religious nut bars and I have to watch the rural dangerous religious nut bars loving the creeps they voted into power to abuse earth, water, air, communities, wildlife, and us. Many rural Albertans are delighted with the evil charter-trashing governing by Nazi Smith and her nasty stupid UCP – Trudeau you know.
Aye Aye:
MMarlaina Danielle Kolodnicki sure does engage in contradiction. Where is her Wildrose type of mindset, where she was so passionate about the rights of minorities? Davey Boy Parker sure controls her.He owns her, not just controls her. I’d hate myself if a bigoted hate-filled slug like him owned me, but then, I’d never let an evil shit like him control or own me.
Ryan McCourt:
Are there any right wing governments that aren’t overtly batshit insane?Not that I’ve ever seen
Blurr:
Ignorance Is Bliss should be the campaign slogan for the UCP – it covers off no scientific studies for coal mines, no real engagement for public vaccination, no control for oil and gas development and, of course, not permitting any books on shelves that do not reflect the dominant Christian heterosexual abuse the women and rape the kids and get away with it ‘lifestyle.’
Alberta bans sexually explicit books in schools, Education minister says province’s new standards aren’t about banning books by Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press, Jul 10, 2025, CBC News
Alberta’s education minister says sexually explicit content must be gone from school library shelves as of Oct. 1, but says the announcement is not about book banning.
Well he’s a fucking repulsive liar and pedophile enabler; his actions and words indicate he supports pedophilia, as many Canadian men do, notably in positions of power, like judges, lawyers, politicians, coaches, doctors, dentists, etc. The only way to give kids a smidgen of protection from child abusers/rapists is detailed explicit sex education. Learning about holding hands and kissing will not protect any kid from being raped by their dad, dad’s best friend, uncle, neighbour, church minister/priest and other religious authorities.
Demetrios Nicolaides says the move is about putting rules in place for schools that until now have had no standard for selecting age-appropriate books for its libraries.
“This was never about erasing particular narratives from school libraries,” Nicolaides told a news conference in Calgary Thursday.You fucking evil liar, pimping for rapist of kids
“This is simply about ensuring young students are not exposed to content depicting oral sex, child molestation or other very inappropriate content.”Vital education for kids, notably in backwoods Alabama raping-religion run rural Alberta. NaZiP are unforgivable protectors of bad religions, and kids rapists. I bet the NaZiP, including repulsive Mr. Nicolaides, are putting this abusive book ban in place to protect kid rapists or under order from kid rapist Trump.
As part of the announcement, Nicolaides issued a list of specific sex acts that can’t be explicitly described in library books alongside new rules for what students can read.
Explicit sexual content, such as detailed and clear depictions of sexual acts, including masturbation, penetration and ejaculation, will not be accessible to students in any grade. NaZiP paying back the extreme repugnant Evangelical Take Back Alberta into the Cave for Dildo Smith and KKKlan into power.
Non-explicit sexual content, which refers to depictions of sexual acts that are not detailed or clear, will only be accessible to students in Grade 10 or higher.
Non-sexual content, such as information about puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, breastfeeding, biological functions, kissing or hand-holding, will be accessible to all students.
Religious texts, such as the Bible, will be allowed on the shelves.
School boards must review library materials, and school officials will be tasked with supervising students to make sure they are reading appropriate material.
No additional funds will be allotted for this work.
Other deadlines will follow.
By Jan. 1, new school board policies must be in place dictating how books are selected and reviewed. School divisions will also need to publish a full list of available materials.
The new policy stems from an announcement Nioclaides made in May that four inappropriate coming-of-age graphic novels were found in school libraries in Edmonton and Calgary.
He said each of the books contain graphic sexual material as well as depictions of molestation and drug and alcohol use.
The government launched an online survey prior to Thursday’s announcement. The survey found that the majority of respondents across demographics don’t support the government setting new standards for school library books.
Critics have said the province seems more concerned about engaging in culture-war politics than student well-being, as most of the books Nicolaides said he was looking to take off shelves deal with 2SLGBTQ+ subject matter.
Nicole Buchanan, chair of Red Deer Public Schools, who was also at the announcement, endorsed the new rules and said it’s important to know that content and resources are age appropriate.
“Take substances like alcohol and tobacco, for example. Some students in our schools may be of the provincial age to consume them,” Buchanan said.
“But that doesn’t mean that we put them in our vending machines.”
@TheBreakdownAB:
On what constitutes a religious text…
“The key texts of major religions”
So now the minister of Education gets to determine what valid faiths are too?
What could go wrong?
@WendyCoutu2:
How is this acceptable? Religion is ok as long as it’s their religion. Freedom exists only when they make the UCP approved choices!
@daydreamalot:
Violence is fine, but sex is bad.All the better to rape all the little children with, and make the girls pregnant and criminalize appropriate health care – abortions
In fact it’s so bad we’re not even gonna teach kids about puberty until they’re at least two years into it.
Problem solved.
Fucking rape religion
The Survivors Speak
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
@TheBreakdownAB:
So…
According to the Education minister, pregnancy content can still be accessed by kids under grade 9.
Just not the “how that happens” part?
You can’t make this stuff up.
The irony that inserting an appropriate deity makes explicit sex acts ok for
all ages…
Sure is a good thing there isn’t a history of that being weaponized for abuse!
@casualcactii:
Yeah, we can touch mans boobies in pictures because that’s not sexual at all?!
These folks in the @Alberta_UCP are perverts.
Constantly projecting their views of sexuality onto others.
What’s next strip searching kids for proper gender checks?
@jananeli:
But the Bible gets a pass.
Of fucking course.