‘Vicious compliance’: Alberta premier questions Edmonton schools’ banned books

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Edmonton’s school board is trying to make the UCP look bad with a list of books that could be banned under provincial rules.

EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Edmonton’s public school board has gone over the top in complying with new rules banning books with sexual content, adding her government “will hold their hand” in following the intent of the policy if need be.

The school division is yanking more than 200 books from its library shelves this year in order to comply with the new rules, including literary classics such as Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” — prompting Atwood to take to social media Friday to encourage people to get copies before “they have public book burnings of it.”

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Smith said at a Friday news conference she thinks the division’s list is a form of “vicious compliance,” and proceeded to show reporters excerpts from the graphic novels — including “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe — that prompted the new rules in the first place for the explicit illustrations of sexual acts they contain.

“We have tried to be as polite about this so that people understand what it is (we’re trying to do),” Smith said as she flipped through the slides, which she warned beforehand contained “content that may be disturbing.”

“Please take a look at it and (I’d) invite all of the school trustees to take a look at it, too.”

Edmonton Public’s list of books was leaked and widely shared online Thursday, and the school division verified the list Friday. The list does include the four graphic novels the province was initially concerned about.

Public School Board chair Julie Kusiek, in a statement, said Thursday anyone unhappy with the move should contact Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides as the board’s position is that the list meets the criteria set out by the government.

The result, she said, is “several excellent books will be removed from our shelves this fall.”

Kusiek said trustees have already heard concerns from families about the list of books, and trustees share their concerns.

“We encourage anyone who has a concern about a book being removed, or the criteria for book removal set out in the ministerial order, to contact the Minister of Education and Childcare directly,” she wrote.

In a response, Nicolaides said his office is reviewing the Edmonton public board list and has asked the division to clarify why the books on it have been chosen for removal.

“I do have some questions about how some of these titles were selected, and I’ll be talking more with Edmonton Public,” he said.

Nicolaides also said his ministry plans to work with all school boards to ensure the policy is implemented appropriately, “with the intent of ensuring young kids are not exposed to sexually explicit books.”

Edmonton Public’s list of books — the first such look into the policy’s effect in schools — also includes Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World,” and books by authors like Alice Munro and Ayn Rand.

Dozens of additional books will also be made inaccessible to students in kindergarten through Grade 9, including George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.”

Smith said the division needed to exercise better judgment.

“They have obviously put books on there that there was never any intention of having them target those books,” she said.

The school division, in an email, says the list isn’t complete and further titles are expected to be added.

Nicolaides has directed schools to remove books with sexually explicit content from shelves by the end of September. They must also have in place by the new year clear policies on how the new directive will be maintained.

The rules, contained in a ministerial order signed by Nicolaides last month, ban books with explicit sexual content for students in all grades. Those in Grade 10 and over may have access to books containing what the province deems to be non-explicit sexual content.

Other school divisions are expected to come up with similar lists as Edmonton Public in the coming days, and Smith said Nicolaides could form a working group to work with school boards and go through books to discuss if the content is appropriate.

Critics have accused Nicolaides of overstepping his mandate while pandering to the social conservative wing of the governing United Conservative Party.

Howard Sapers, executive director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said he was disappointed by the division’s list and concerned about the path the province is going down.

“Let’s just think about what the loss is to students and to their community when students don’t get exposed to a variety of thought and expression,” said Sapers.

The move comes as students head back to school for the new year, including 115,000 across more than 200 schools in the Edmonton public system. On top of that, talks aimed at averting a potential provincewide strike by some 51,000 teachers have hit the ditch.

Opposition NDP education critic Amanda Chapman said the government’s priorities are wrong, and the province should be more focused on heading off a strike.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2025.

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press