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This month, Alberta school boards began removing dozens of books from library shelves to comply with a provincial government order banning literary materials deemed “sexually explicit.” The order was originally issued in July of last year, when Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides defined “sexually explicit” as a “detailed and clear depiction of a sexual act” and made no distinction between written and visual representations. Naturally, the order carved out an exemption for religious scripture—sparing the Bible—and informational, non-narrative books, like biology textbooks. However, critics were quick to point out that the order would effectively ban literary classics, like Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

Faced with widespread public criticism, the original ministerial order had been gradually watered-down. In September, age ranges were introduced, with students between kindergarten and grade nine being blocked from accessing books with explicit and non-explicit sexual content, and students in grades 10-12 being allowed to read works with “sexual passages” but not “sexual imagery.” By December 2025, the final revision of the book ban only targeted visual mediums like graphic novels, leaving books without a pictorial component untouched. Instead of the hundreds of books implicated by the original order, the policy implemented last week resulted in the removal of just a few dozen titles.

In their attempt to ban books they deem sexually explicit, Danielle Smith’s government followed a script well-worn by politicians in red districts across the United States. Back in 2023, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis had Bill 1467 passed in Florida. It stipulated that “book selections be free of pornography” in school libraries—but instead of defining “pornography” the bill only referenced Florida’s Obscenity Statute 847.012, which describes obscenity as any visual or printed representation of “a person or portion of the human body which depicts nudity or sexual conduct, sexual excitement, sexual battery, bestiality, or sadomasochistic abuse.” With such a broad definition, even a glimpse of bare skin could qualify as obscene—so watch those ankles.

In both Alberta and Florida, this........

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