CURRENT CENSORSHIP ISSUES IN CANADA freedomBOOK AND PERIODICAL COUNCIL toread2020 VOLUME 36 Seeking the Light
Champion of Free Expression David Eby
Glad Day’s 50th Anniversary
Kids Have Rights Too! Show us what you’re doing for Freedom to Read Week! Here are some of the many highlights from FTRW’s 35th anniversary in 2019. ILLUSTRATION (DETAIL): GIL MARTINEZ, 2019 MARTINEZ, GIL (DETAIL): ILLUSTRATION Foreword
DEAR READERS, Welcome to the 2020 issue of Freedom to Read, the annual publication of the Book and Periodical Council’s Freedom of Expression Committee. We hope you find the news stories and opinions that we present enlightening and thought provoking. We also hope you find the information and ideas in Freedom to Read useful during Freedom to Read Week (February 23–29). In 2019, while following the news in Canada, we noted continuing challenges to Canadians who seek to exercise their expression rights. But we also noted several triumphs for Canadians who seek to secure those rights and the expression rights of others. We hope you’ll join us in cele- brating those triumphs. This year, in our “Front Lines” sec- tion, three writers consider challenges to our freedom to read and our freedom to report the news. Todd Kyle exam- ines the latest censorship challenges to publications and services in Canada’s libraries (page 6). Grant Buckler become North America’s oldest champion of free expression, reviews recounts the protracted legal struggles LGBTQ bookstore (page 12). Claws of the Panda, Jonathan of Justin Brake, a reporter who was In our “Perspectives” section, five Manthorpe’s newest book, which charged with three offences in Labrador writers share their views about various focuses on the threat that the Chinese in 2016 after he had covered a protest challenges to our freedom to read, communist state poses to Canada and (page 8). Mark Lindenberg explains write and publish. David Alexander the expression rights of Chinese people the significance of a ruling of Quebec’s Robertson , a Cree author, writes about in Canada (page 20). Court of Appeal for news agencies that the educational authorities in Alberta In our “Get Involved” section, which post their stories online (page 9). who advised against the use of some begins on page 21, we suggest 21 things In our “Spotlight” section, of his books in public schools (page that you can do during Canada’s Free- Mark Leiren-Young profiles David 14). Charles Montpetit summarizes dom to Read Week in February 2020. Eby, the attorney general of British the battles—many of them legal—over We list numerous challenged books and Columbia, who persuaded B.C.’s expression in Quebec in 2019 (page magazines. And we show how you can legislature to pass the Protection 15). Vickery Bowles , the city librarian reach us during Freedom to Read Week of Public Participation Act in 2019. of the Toronto Public Library, identifies or any other time of the year. Thanks to Mr. Eby, British Colum- threats to intellectual freedom in the Finally, we’d like to thank bians who speak up about public issues public libraries and suggests ways to Boyd Gordon and Gil Martinez for enjoy more protection from vindictive, cope with them (page 16). their impressive designs this year. Mr. meritless lawsuits that are intended to Jaclyn Law , Freedom to Read’s Gordon designed the pages that you see silence their voices (page 10). Then a editor, interviews Danielle S. in Freedom to Read, and Mr. Martinez trio of writers— Marcus McCann , McLaughlin, the author of Freedom of created this year’s beautiful cover art Jearld F. Moldenhauer and Expression: Deal with It Before and Freedom to Read Week poster. We Dominique Bernier-Cormier — You Are Censored. Together they hope you admire their artistry as much presents the 50-year history of explore free expression in schools, as we do. Toronto’s Glad Day Bookshop. It common myths and more (page 18). Enjoy reading Freedom to Read, and
ILLUSTRATION (DETAIL): GIL MARTINEZ, 2019 MARTINEZ, GIL (DETAIL): ILLUSTRATION survived several censorship battles to Then Franklin Carter , our 2019 have a happy Freedom to Read Week!
freedomtoread.ca Freedom to Read 2020 1 THE BOOK AND PERIODICAL COUNCIL (BPC) THANKS THE FOLLOWING FOR THEIR GENEROUS SPONSORSHIP OF FREEDOM TO READ WEEK 2020:
THE CANADIAN URBAN LIBRARIES COUNCIL (CULC) MADE A SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION “IN HONOUR OF THE GREAT CAREERS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF BILL PTACEK (CALGARY), REBECCA RAVEN (BRAMPTON), LOUISE PROCTER MAIO (RICHMOND HILL), PATRICIA ENRIGHT (KINGSTON) AND SUSANNAH HUBBARD KRIMMER (LONDON). GREAT CHAMPIONS OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM.”
THE BPC ALSO THANKS ITS MEMBERS AND THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS AND COMPANIES FOR THEIR SUPPORT AND IN-KIND DONATIONS:
thenewuarterly C A N A D I A N W R I T E R S & W R I T I N G
The following people contributed an incredible amount of time and energy producing the review and poster and maintaining our website: Michelle Arbuckle, Dominique Bernier-Cormier, Franklin Carter, Sandy Crawley, Boyd Gordon, Jaclyn Law, Gil Martinez, Anne McClelland, Scott Mitchell, Marg Anne Morrison, Sandra Richmond, Reanna Sartoretto and Brandi Tanner. The BPC, along with the Freedom of Expression Committee, thanks all writers, photographers, fact checkers and illustrators for their contributions to the 2020 Freedom to Read review and poster.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts. Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien.
© Book and Periodical Council 2019 Please send your comments and ideas for future No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or issues of Freedom to Read to the Book and Periodical Council, 192 Spadina Avenue, transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the BPC Suite 107, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2C2. or, in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). Phone 416-975-9366 Fax 416-975-1839 Please credit the Book and Periodical Council on any copies of review materials. Email [email protected] The opinions expressed in Freedom to Read 2020 do not necessarily reflect the Visit freedomtoread.ca for more information. official views of the BPC or its member associations. If you require an accessible format of this review, ISSN 1711-9367 please email [email protected]. 2020 CONTENTS FREEDOMTOREAD 1 Foreword EDITOR 5 In the News Jaclyn Law By Franklin Carter CONSULTING EDITOR Franklin Carter front lines DESIGN, boydgordon.design Boyd Gordon, Designer 6 Inclusion v. Censorship: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BPC Looking at Challenges to Canadian Libraries in 2018–19 Anne McClelland By Todd Kyle CONTRIBUTORS Dominique Bernier-Cormier, Vickery Bowles, 8 Still Fighting for Press Freedom: Grant Buckler, Franklin Carter, Rina Hadziev, Justin Brake’s Legal Battle Enters Its Fourth Year Todd Kyle, Jaclyn Law, Mark Leiren-Young, By Grant Buckler Mark Lindenberg, Marcus McCann, Anne McClelland, Jearld F. Moldenhauer, 9 “An Insurmountable Obstacle”: Charles Montpetit, David Alexander Robertson, A Quebec Court Interprets the Province’s Press Act Brandi Tanner By Mark Lindenberg FACT CHECKERS Jaclyn Law, Reanna Sartoretto spotlight LAWYER Sandra Richmond 10 Champion of Free Expression: David Eby on Stohn Hay Cafazzo Dembroski Richmond LLP British Columbia’s New Anti-SLAPP Law FREEDOM of EXPRESSION COMMITTEE By Mark Leiren-Young Katrina Afonso, Michelle Arbuckle (co-chair), Ron Brown, Franklin Carter, Cailin Cooper, 12 Fifty Years of Defending Queer Expression: Sandy Crawley, Teri Degler, Phil Dwyer, Glad Day Bookshop Celebrates a Milestone Anniversary Kate Edwards, Lesley Fletcher, Emma Hunter, Mark Leiren-Young, Anne McClelland, By Marcus McCann Marg Anne Morrison (co-chair) perspectives
14 “Not Recommended”: What It’s Like When a School Board Rejects Your Work By David Alexander Robertson
15 Meanwhile in Quebec: The Quebecor Year By Charles Montpetit
16 Public Libraries Rise to Meet 21st-Century Challenges By Vickery Bowles 18 Kids Have Freedom of Expression Rights Too! Q&A with Author Danielle S. McLaughlin By Jaclyn Law 20 Book Profile: Claws of the Panda: Beijing’s Campaign of POSTER and COVER ILLUSTRATION Influence and Intimidation in Canada Gil Martinez, 2019 By Franklin Carter Gil Martinez (bigguystudio.ca) has more than two decades of design experience and has worked for publishers throughout North America. He has been a member of the get involved Association of Registered Graphic Designers since 2004, and his duties there include portfolio reviews for junior 21 21 Things You Can Do designers. Gil has received the HOW International Design Award, the SoGood Design Award, the Canadian Business 22 Challenged Books and Magazines Media Award and other awards. He writes about branding and design for financial magazines and wrote a book about 24 Join the Conversation: calligraphy and typography. How to Reach Us During Freedom to Read Week freedomtoread.ca Freedom to Read 2020 3 Position Statement thebpc FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND FREEDOM TO READ A statement of the basic tenets of the Freedom of Expression Committee BOOK AND PERIODICAL COUNCIL of the Book and Periodical Council The Book and Periodical Council (BPC) is the umbrella organization for Canadian Everyone has the following fundamental associations that are or whose members freedoms… thought, belief, opinion, and are primarily involved with the writing, editing, translating, publishing, producing, expression. —Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms distributing, lending, marketing, reading and selling of written words. REEDOM OF EXPRESSION IS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT OF ALL Canadians, and freedom to read is part of that precious heritage. Our MEMBERS 2019–20 FCommittee, representing member organizations and associations of the › Access Copyright Book and Periodical Council, reaffirms its support of this vital principle and › Alberta Magazine Publishers Association opposes all efforts to suppress writing and silence writers. Words and images › Association of Book Publishers of British in their myriad configurations are the substance of free expression. Columbia The freedom to choose what we read does not, however, include the free- › Association of Canadian Publishers dom to choose for others. We accept that courts alone have the authority to › Association of Manitoba Book Publishers restrict reading material, a prerogative that cannot be delegated or appro- › Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association priated. Prior restraint demeans individual responsibility; it is anathema to › BookNet Canada freedom and democracy. › Book Publishers Association of Alberta As writers, editors, publishers, book manufacturers, distributors, retail- › Canadian Authors Association ers and librarians, we abhor arbitrary interpretations of the law and other › Canadian Children’s Book Centre attempts to limit freedom of expression. › Canadian Copyright Institute We recognize court judgements; otherwise, we oppose the detention, › Canadian Publishers’ Council seizure, destruction or banning of books and periodicals—indeed, any effort › Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, to deny, repress or sanitize. Censorship does not protect society; it smothers Illustrators and Performers creativity and precludes open debate of controversial issues. › Canadian Urban Libraries Council Endorsed by the Book and Periodical Council › Editors Canada February 5, 1997. Reaffirmed on February 28, 2017. › Indexing Society of Canada › League of Canadian Poets BIENVENUE AUX FRANCOPHONES! › Literary Press Group of Canada Sur notre site Internet, vous trouverez plusieurs documents qui complètent la › Ontario Book Publishers Organization présente publication : › Ontario Library Association • une liste d’ouvrages en français traitant de la censure canadienne; › The Word on the Street Toronto • une étude bilingue des 58 733 oeuvres retenues aux douanes et des 19 437 inter- › The Writers’ Union of Canada dictions décrétées par l’Unité des importations prohibées de 1985 à 2018; › Writers’ Trust of Canada • une chronologie, divers essais et une compilation de plus de 650 victimes de censure, ainsi que de quelque 1250 titres disponibles en français qui leur ont valu AFFILIATES 2019–20 des attaques depuis 1625 au Canada — l’écrivain Charles Montpetit, lui-même › Accompass frappé de maintes interdictions, relate les faits saillants entourant chacun de ces › Calyx Ground Transportation Solutions cas, et invite le public à lui signaler d’autres incidents en prévision d’éventuelles › Canpar Courier mises à jour. › Fraser Direct Distribution Services Tous ces documents sont accessibles grâce aux liens fournis sur notre page d’accueil › Georgetown Terminal Warehouses (freedomtoread.ca), et peuvent être téléchargés sans frais. Bonne lecture! › Marquis Book Printing Inc. › Universal Logistics To Order Reviews and Posters The Freedom to Read kit (review plus folded poster) may be ordered from the Book and BPC EXECUTIVE Periodical Council for $12.50 plus shipping, handling and HST. Orders for 10 kits or more, › Interim Chair: Sandy Crawley shipped to a single address, receive a 20% discount and may be accompanied by a purchase › Vice-Chair: Marg Anne Morrison order. Flat, rolled, full-colour posters are available for $12.00 plus shipping, handling and HST › Past Chair: Anita Purcell (GST/HST#R106801889). All orders are non-refundable. › Treasurer: Marg Anne Morrison Book and Periodical Council 192 Spadina Avenue, Suite 107, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2C2 BPC STAFF Phone 416-975-9366 | Fax 416-975-1839 › Executive Director: Anne McClelland Email [email protected] | Web freedomtoread.ca | theBPC.ca
4 Freedom to Read 2020 @FreedomToReadWeek @Freedom_to_Read In the News True Stories About the Freedom to Speak, Read and Write by Franklin Carter
Speaker Attracts Noisy Protest in Toronto Nova Scotia Seeks to Build Commercial charter to counter online hate speech, Website in the People’s Republic of China When Meghan Murphy delivered a misinformation and interference with speech in a Toronto library, hundreds of In 2019, while courting greater trade democratic elections. He spoke at people showed up to protest the event. between Nova Scotia and the People’s VivaTech, a conference of the world’s Murphy, the founder and editor of Republic of China, Nova Scotia’s gov- technology leaders. Feminist Current, spoke to an audience ernment announced a plan to build a On May 29, while attending the inside a branch of the Toronto Public “100% China-friendly” website in China. Open Government Partnership Sum- Library (TPL) on October 29, 2019. On August 9, Nova Scotia Business mit in Ottawa, Mr. She talked about the impact of gender Inc. (NSBI), a government agency, Trudeau talked identity politics on the law, society and asked web designers to submit propos- about the dangers especially women. als to build the website. NSBI wants of regulating social Outside the library, demonstra- it to attract Chinese investors to Nova media. Government tors—including many members of Scotia and find sales opportunities in regulation should sexual minorities—protested Murphy’s China for Nova Scotia’s businesses. be the last resort, he views about transgender women and The website also had to comply with said. Instead, gov- the TPL’s decision to give Murphy a Chinese government censorship. NSBI ernments should place to speak. required web designers to have the work with tech- Murphy’s critics accused her of pro- “expertise to navigate China’s digital nology firms and moting transphobia and hate speech. restrictions.” The website had to be citizens to curtail She denied the accusations. free of links to blocked websites. the worst aspects of Prime Minister The TPL, which had faced pressure to Chinese government censors block social media. Justin Trudeau of Canada cancel the event, found no legal reason foreign websites that criticize the U.S. Library Association Names to cancel and allowed Murphy to speak. People’s Republic. They include the Most Challenged Book websites of Western news agencies. Ontario Court Shuts Down Radical Paper Nova Scotia hoped to launch its In 2018, the most frequently chal- In Toronto, a judge in the Ontario website in early November 2019. lenged book in U.S. public libraries Court of Justice sentenced two men was Alex Gino’s George, reported the Prime Minister Trudeau for wilfully promoting hatred against American Library Association (ALA). Addresses Internet Threats women and Jews. This children’s book tells the fictional On August 29, 2019, Justice Richard In May 2019, Prime Minister Justin story of Melissa, a transgender girl, Blouin sentenced LeRoy St. Germaine, Trudeau spoke about the need to whom the world sees as George. the publisher of Toronto’s Your Ward counter online threats to society. Americans who sought to ban News, to 12 months of strict house arrest. Earlier in the year, on March 15, George believed the book encouraged A week earlier, on August 22, Jus- an Australian gunman murdered 51 children to clear their browser histor- tice Blouin sentenced James Sears, the people and injured dozens more in two ies and use hormones to change their paper’s editor, to one year in prison. He mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. bodies. Other objections included was released on bail. The gunman also transmitted video of references to “dirty magazines,” male St. Germaine and Sears, who had his attack in real time on Facebook. anatomy and a transgender character.
been convicted of promoting hatred in On May 15, Mr. Trudeau, Prime Min- George appeared on the ALA’s list SOURCE: ADAM BY PHOTO SCOTTI. PROVIDED PHOTO THE BY OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER. © HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN RIGHT OF CANADA, 2019 January, appealed. ister Ardern of New Zealand, President of most frequently challenged books in Your Ward News, which billed itself Macron of France and other leaders met 2017 and 2016 too, although the book as “the world’s largest anti-Marxist in Paris, France, where they announced didn’t occupy the top spot. publication,” routinely mocked pol- the Christchurch Call to Action. They In 2018, the ALA’s Office for Intellec- itical correctness, ethnic and sexual “pledged to eliminate terrorist and vio- tual Freedom tracked 347 challenges to minorities, human rights commissions lent extremist content online” but also library, school and university materials and public figures such as Prime Minis- to maintain “fundamental freedoms, and services. A few challenges entailed ter Justin Trudeau. including freedom of expression.” requests to restrict or remove many The paper has ceased publication. On May 16, while still in Paris, Mr. titles. Throughout the year, 483 books Most of its online content has Trudeau announced the Canadian were reported challenged or banned in disappeared. government’s plan to introduce a U.S. public libraries, the ALA said. freedomtoread.ca Freedom to Read 2020 5 front lines Inclusion v. Censorship Looking at Challenges to Canadian Libraries in 2018–19 by Todd Kyle
IBRARIES CONTINUE TO RECEIVE CHALLENGES TO MATERIALS THAT material, program or policy, and in- some patrons think depict excessive violence or are sexually explicit, formed the complainant. Other actions L inaccurate or inappropriate for children. People are also concerned about included relocating or restricting an sensitive issues such as racism and sexual assault, and many want libraries to fol- item or changing a policy. low suit—even if it means denying fellow users access to different viewpoints. The reasons for the challenges reflect interesting changes in contem- This lesson is what we learned from media. Many people opposed speakers porary Canadians’ views and recent the most recent Annual Challenges at public libraries. Although 115 titles, social trends. Survey, a project of the Canadian services and policies were challenged, On the more conservative side, Federation of Library Associations– the number of individual complainants interesting examples of challenges Fédération canadienne des associations exceeded 700. include two objections to library events de bibliothèques (CFLA–FCAB). For For 2018–19, libraries reported a total featuring drag queens reading stories to the 13th consecutive year, libraries re- of 96 challenges to 69 titles, services young children. This type of program ported challenges that were submitted and policies. Unlike challenges in 2017, has become common across North or expressed by people in their com- challenges in 2018–19 were largely made America in recent years. It has been munities to particular library materi- through informal complaints to staff lauded for promoting inclusion and di- als, services or policies. In most cases, or formal request-for-reconsideration versity, but it has also sparked vehement complainants requested that libraries submissions. A large portion (62.5%) objections from citizens and politicians, remove, restrict or prevent access to were challenges to materials, includ- particularly in the United States. certain resources. ing books, movies and magazines. A One complainant stated that the The survey covered the period from smaller portion (37.5%) were chal- programs were “introducing a diver- January 2018 to July 2019. (In 2019, the lenges concerning library services gent sexual lifestyle to impressionable CFLA–FCAB’s Intellectual Freedom (including programs and a room rent- children in the guise of reading with a Committee changed the collection al policy), Internet access and user princess.” The same patron said, “Drag period from the calendar year to the privacy concerns. queens belong in nightclubs, not public school year.) Participation in the sur- Most challenges were filed by indi- libraries.” Another challenge, received vey is voluntary, and the results should vidual patrons, but a few were submit- from a politician, likened the program not be considered comprehensive. ted by library staff and local groups. to “child abuse.” The programs were Nevertheless, they provide an inter- One was filed by a politician, and one not cancelled. esting reflection of social trends and was even filed by the library itself. (It A speaker at a public library event Canadians’ changing views. felt that a program planned in part- was the subject of negative Facebook While many challenges reflected nership with a community group did comments and one email complaint. relatively conservative views and not provide balanced viewpoints.) As Anita Sarkeesian is a feminist who conveyed objections to sexual or in 2017, public libraries were the main has received considerable harassment violent content, an increasing number target of challenges; more than 98% of online for her critique of video game of challenges seemed to come from a complaints occurred there. culture. One comment even used the desire for equity, diversity and inclu- The actions requested by complain- emoji for vomiting. The program went sion. Content viewed as racist, hateful ants and the responses of the libraries ahead as scheduled. or insufficiently sympathetic toward a bear examination. Most complaints On the other side of the culture marginalized group—and, in particu- requested the removal of the material wars, challenges came from more liber- lar, content viewed as perpetuating or cancellation of the program in ques- al, equity-oriented viewpoints. stereotypes of Indigenous peoples— tion, but some requested relocation A French-language children’s was the subject of roughly 12 challen- of, restriction of, or warnings on the picture book, Les papas de Violette by ges. The survey results reflect a degree material. Other complaints requested Émilie Chazerand, was challenged of political polarization; you could say changes to policy. While the survey because, in the complainant’s opinion, that libraries are not untouched by the did not ask libraries to indicate their it was not progressive enough in its ongoing culture wars. responses, 14 shared this information. depiction of a family with two fathers. As reported in last year’s Freedom to The most common action was no A library patron challenged the book Read review, the 2017 survey featured action: libraries, usually after pro- It IS About Islam: Exposing the Truth many challenges received via social fessional consideration, retained the About ISIS, Al Qaeda, Iran, and the
6 Freedom to Read 2020 @FreedomToReadWeek @Freedom_to_Read front lines
complainant indicated that the book contained inaccurate scientific infor- mation. In another challenge, a library patron felt that the magazine China Today was biased, giving an almost propagandized view of modern China. In both challenges, the patrons wanted the materials removed from the library. In a reflection of a recent push for “the right to be forgotten” and more online privacy, a patron asked that her birth announcement, which contained her date of birth and her parents’ names, be removed from a digitized page of the local newspaper that the
PHOTO: CHRISPHOTO: CHAN PHOTOGRAPHY library had made available online. In January 2018, Anita Sarkeesian spoke at the Edmonton Public Library about online harassment. Finally, in a reflection of increasing demands for sensitivity toward sacred Caliphate by conservative commentator pretending to scalp another charac- practices, a religious group requested Glenn Beck because the patron felt the ter. The Disney DVDPocahontas was the removal of the Guru Granth Sahib, content was Islamophobic. Another challenged; the complainant said it the Sikh holy book, because it could patron challenged The God Delusion was “inappropriate as it relates to the not be treated with proper respect in a by atheist Richard Dawkins because, depiction of Indigenous people.” library setting. the patron claimed, the author had The charge of racism—in this case Although we don’t have complete elsewhere expressed objectionable anti-Black—was also levelled against a data about how libraries responded to views on other topics. An even broader library screening of the film To Kill a the complaints that they reported, we challenge (one of two likely inspired by Mockingbird. The complainant pointed may reasonably presume that libraries the #MeToo movement) demanded that out that several schools have stopped continue to try to be as inclusive as all material written or performed by using the book that the film is based on. possible. They rarely remove a chal- comedian Bill Cosby, who had recently Speaker challenges were relatively lenged item or cancel a challenged been convicted of sexual assault, be infrequent, but a significant one—likely event, and only sometimes restrict removed because he was a “serial rap- prompted by the #MeToo movement— or relocate materials to give users ist.” All three incidents reflect a trend occurred. A library received two more guidance. Ideally, libraries take to challenge materials not so much for emailed complaints about an event that challenges as opportunities to open their content but for the actions and featured defence lawyer Marie Henein. a dialogue with their patrons about reputation of their creators. The complainants objected to Henein’s diversity and the role of libraries and to Charges of racism against In- defence of disgraced former broadcast- communicate how intellectual freedom digenous people were levelled in five er Jian Ghomeshi; they didn’t want her benefits everyone. Many libraries also complaints; they may reflect growing made into an inappropriate “source of take the opportunity to reconsider public awareness of Indigenous issues. forward thinking, specifically in regard challenged materials in light of their In all cases, the challenged materials to victims of sexual abuse.” collection or programming policies. were for children, and the complaints Some challenges raised questions In the future, the balance between focused on images that were said to that parallel other trends and contro- including a broad set of viewpoints— perpetuate stereotypes. For example, versies in Canadian society. A chal- including those that might be the picture book A Time to Keep by lenge was mounted against the book controversial or unpopular—and Tasha Tudor (published in 1977) was The Unvaccinated Child: A Treatment ensuring that patrons do not feel challenged because of an image of a Guide for Parents and Caregivers by their human rights are diminished will child dressed as an Indigenous person Judith Thompson and others; the present a challenge to libraries in Canada.
Find More Survey Results Todd Kyle is the vice-chair of the CFLA–FCAB. Results of the Annual Challenges Survey dating back to 2006 are available on Email him at [email protected]. the website of the Canadian Federation of Library Associations–Fédération canadienne des associations de bibliothèques (CFLA–FCAB). Visit Special thanks go to Rina Hadziev, the cfla-fcab.ca/en/programs/intellectual-freedom-challenges-survey/. executive director of the Centre for Equitable You can also email [email protected]. Library Access, for compiling and analyzing the survey results.
freedomtoread.ca Freedom to Read 2020 7 front lines Still Fighting for Press Freedom Journalist Justin Brake’s Legal Battle Enters Its Fourth Year by Grant Buckler
N OCTOBER 22, 2016, JUSTIN after the civil charge disappeared, the Even if Brake is ultimately acquitted, Brake was covering protests at criminal charges would follow. It wasn’t she said, “the fact that the charges were Othe Muskrat Falls hydroelec- that easy. In September, Brake’s lawyer even brought against him certainly has tric project in Labrador for the online filed a challenge under the Charter of a chilling effect on other journalists.” news agency The Independent. When Rights and Freedoms, asking for both Pugliese—who was for a time protesters broke a lock and entered the charges to be dropped. In early Novem- Brake’s boss after he moved from The property of provincial Crown corpora- ber, the Crown dropped the charge of Independent to the Aboriginal Peoples tion Nalcor Energy, Brake followed his disobeying a court order, but Provincial Television Network, where she was story, entering with the protesters. Court Judge Phyllis Harris reserved executive director of news and current A previous court order already judgment on Brake’s lawyer’s request to affairs until August 2019—said that barred protesters from the site, but drop the mischief charge. A decision is effect has already happened. Speaking three days later, a provincial Supreme expected in December 2019. of her time at APTN, she said, “things Court judge issued another, nam- Commenting in August, before one my reporters were doing every single ing Brake as well as the protesters. criminal charge was dropped, Peter day were suddenly changed.” The order did not identify Brake as a Jacobsen, a Toronto media lawyer and And Brake’s case isn’t the only one. journalist. He left the site that day. But chair of Canadian Journalists for Free “We have been noticing a pattern Brake’s departure didn’t stop him from Expression’s Canadian Issues Commit- of police pushing on access,” said facing criminal charges of mischief and tee, said it was “very hard to under- Pugliese. For example, John Hueston disobeying a court order and a civil stand” the Crown’s decision to proceed and Brett Hueston, publisher and editor contempt charge. with criminal charges in light of the respectively of the Aylmer Express, an Three years later, one criminal Court of Appeal’s decision. Jacobsen Ontario community newspaper, were charge remains outstanding—even added that Brake “was exercising his arrested and charged while on the scene though the Newfoundland and constitutional right, as a journalist,” to of a car accident in June 2017. They were Labrador Court of Appeal dismissed cover a conflict between Indigenous investigating the possibility that the ac- the civil charge in March 2019. The people and the Crown. cident had resulted from a police chase. court ruled that Brake was doing his That’s why the case is so important, They were acquitted in October 2018. job and added that historic under- said Karyn Pugliese, national director And Thomas Rohner, an Iqaluit representation of Indigenous people in and president of the Canadian Asso- journalist, was banned from visiting the news media—most of the protesters ciation of Journalists, in an interview. jails in Nunavut in December 2018 were Indigenous—made media free- “We’ve got to be able to be present, and after writing critical stories about the dom to cover Indigenous land issues we’ve got to be able to report.” Baffin Correctional Centre. The ban especially important. When he arrived with the protest- was lifted in May. Press freedom and media groups ers, Brake said, Nalcor workers were on In those cases, attempts to use the hailed the decision. Many believed that the site. Some media outlets reported law to curb journalistic access ultim- concerns voiced by Nalcor about its ately failed. Brake hopes for the same workers’ safety. Brake reported from result. He is optimistic that the dis- inside that—despite some workers’ missal of the civil charge and its strong concerns about losing work and pay— statement of the importance of press the scene was peaceful, even friendly. freedom will be the case’s lasting legacy. He added that his presence could have “I know that what I did was jour- helped keep it that way. “We know nalism, and if anyone wants to try to from history that when there aren’t criminalize that journalism, then that’s journalists present, police have actually not good for democracy,” Brake said. shot and killed Indigenous protesters.” “But I also think they’re going to come “He should absolutely not be treat- out on the wrong side of history.” ed as a criminal for doing his job,” said Daphne Pellegrino, North America Grant Buckler is a retired journalist who advocacy manager for Reporters volunteers for Canadian Journalists for Free Without Borders in Washington, D.C., Expression and J-Source. He lives in Justin Brake
PHOTO: JAMIE PASHAGUMSKUM/APTN JAMIE PHOTO: in an interview. Kingston, Ont.
8 Freedom to Read 2020 @FreedomToReadWeek @Freedom_to_Read front lines “An Insurmountable Obstacle” A Quebec Court Interprets the Province’s Press Act by Mark Lindenberg
ARLY IN 2019, QUEBEC’S newspaper and who wishes to claim contains, would distort the legislators’ Court of Appeal ruled unani- damages” the ability to sue, as long as intention, she wrote in the ruling. Emously that the Quebec Press Act, the plaintiff does so “within the three The Court of Appeal decided that which was written in 1929 to protect months following the publication of the Press Act (and its three-month the reputations of citizens and the free- such article” or up to three months after deadline) applied to the newspaper but dom of newspapers, does not protect becoming aware of the article and as not to online news. articles published on the Internet. long as damages are claimed within one Because publications on the Inter- On February 18, the court’s judg- year following the article’s publication. net remain more easily accessible than es—Allan R. Hilton, Simon Ruel Claiming that the 2012 article those in print, “plaintiffs would now and Suzanne Gagné—rendered their “contained defamatory statements, have up to a year, [after gaining] know- verdict on a dispute named Guimont misinformation and, on the whole, ledge of the article, to sue,” said Mark v. Bussières. The ruling surprised some even incited hatred toward the plain- Bantey, a lawyer based in Montreal. observers who noted that the courts of tiffs,” Roch and Constance Guimont Bantey noted that, because of the appeal in Ontario and Prince Edward sued Gesca—the owners of lapresse.ca ruling, the “protections set out in Island had ruled to extend the protec- —as well as Le Soleil and reporter Ian Sections 3, 4 and 8 would no longer tion of their press acts to news articles Bussières for $500,000 in Quebec’s be available [to news articles on the on the Internet. Superior Court. Internet].” Respectively, these allow How did Quebec’s Court of Appeal They argued that Section 9 of the the “newspaper to rectify or retract the reach its conclusion? act applied: “No newspaper may avail article complained of,” address the lim- itself of the provisions of its of liability and permit the injured
[the] Act … when the party party to exercise the right to reply to
who deems himself injured is any retraction. accused by the newspaper of Peter Black—a newspaper colum- a criminal offence.” The judge nist, former CBC journalist and Quebec rejected the suit because he City resident—expressed surprise that could find no such accusation the legislature had not debated and up- in the article and because the dated the Press Act earlier. “The digital PHOTO: SYLVAINBROUSSEAU SYLVAINBROUSSEAU PHOTO: COMMONS WIKIMEDIA VIA (LICENSED UNDER 3.0) CC BY-SA claim fell under Section 2 of shift [from television and printed news the Press Act. The Guimonts to the Internet] has been happening for appealed. at least 20 years,” he said. “This is clear- In the Court of Appeal, Jus- ly an example of law needing to catch tice Suzanne Gagné rejected up with the rapidly changing reality of the appeal. “Does the Press Act digital media.” apply to an article published Justice Gagné and her colleagues, on a 24-hour news website?” aware of the limits of the law, say: “In Quebec’s Court of Appeal ruled on she wrote. “One must conclude the digital and social media era, the the dispute in Quebec City. that it does not. The definition Press Act and the Newspaper Declara- In 2012, Quebec City’s Le Soleil of the word ‘newspaper’… [is] an insur- tion Act no doubt need an update, but it newspaper published an article, writ- mountable obstacle.” is up to legislators to see to that” and to ten by Ian Bussières, about the rejec- In the Newspaper Declaration Act, “decide what protection to grant digital tion of a $1 million lawsuit that Roch a “newspaper” must be “in detached media and to stipulate the procedures Guimont brought against Quebec City pieces.” The paper medium is im- necessary for its implementation.” in 2011. Four years and nine months portant to the legal definition and the In the meantime, the only way to after the article’s publication, in June court’s decision. contest the ruling is by appealing 2016, Guimont and his mother, Were the Press Act of 1929 to apply to the Supreme Court of Canada, Constance Guimont, discovered the to 24-hour news websites, Justice Ga- Bantey said. article online, at lapresse.ca. gné wrote, it could enable radio or tele- Section 2 of the Press Act affords vision stations to avail themselves of Mark Lindenberg is a writer, translator and “[e]very person who deems himself the act’s provisions. Giving such a wide editor based in Quebec. Visit injured by an article published in a scope to the act, and the protections it LindenbergInk.com.
freedomtoread.ca Freedom to Read 2020 9 spotlight Champion of Free Expression David Eby on British Columbia’s New Anti-SLAPP Law by Mark Leiren-Young
N 2005, DAVID EBY WAS STARTING matter of public interest.” The deter- Eby’s impending fatherhood, and he his legal career when he was threat- rent in SLAPPs usually has less to do backed John Horgan for the job. When Iened with a lawsuit over comments with the chance of losing the lawsuit Horgan became premier in 2017, Eby that he’d made about a death. The than the cost of fighting it. was named attorney general. police were involved. Eby was working In British Columbia, environment- Eby is originally from Kitchener, for the Pivot Legal Society— al groups and activists are regularly Ont. His mother was a teacher and his a Vancouver-based organization threatened with SLAPPs—or hit with father was a personal injury lawyer. formed to use legal means “to address SLAPP suits—for challenging projects At a university protest, Eby watched the root causes of poverty and social such as pipelines, mines and fish farms. lawyers teach activists how to deal exclusion”—and he was certain his Leaning back in a chair at the head with being arrested and was inspired to comments were true. “I got a defam- of a boardroom table in the B.C. gov- go to law school. He was also inspired ation threat from the police commis- ernment’s cabinet office overlooking to write The Arrest Handbook: A Guide sioner and withdrew my comments, but the Vancouver waterfront, the lanky to Your Rights. refused to apologize.” (six foot seven inch) 43-year-old smiles Eby studied law at Dalhousie Eby learned two vital lessons. and laughs often as he talks about his University in Nova Scotia before he “One was positive in that I learned history with free expression issues. worked for Pivot from 2003 to 2008. to be extremely careful to back up Eby is one of British Columbia’s He was called to the bar in 2005. After everything that I said 100% with docu- brightest political stars. When the B.C. leaving Pivot, Eby spent four years mentary proof,” says Eby. “The second NDP was looking for a new leader after as executive director of the British piece that I took away from it was wow: an unexpected election loss in 2013, Columbia Civil Liberties Association it was remarkably easy for that office to Eby was considered the top contender. (BCCLA), where he worked on numer- shut down our comment.” The leadership race coincided with ous freedom of expression cases. Eby is now British The organization was on Columbia’s attorney gener- the front lines of censorship al, and the Book and Period- battles between Canada ical Council has named him Customs and Little Sister’s its 2020 champion of free Book and Art Emporium, expression for passing a law Vancouver’s gay and lesbian that will make it a lot harder bookstore. The BCCLA and to shut down those types Little Sister’s fought their of comments. first court battle to stop gov- One of the most effect- ernment book seizures at the ive and insidious forms of border in 1994. censorship is making it im- Eby was also at the possible to tell a story. The BCCLA for some strange free threat of suing for defama- expression fights that took tion is often enough to scare place during the Vancouver off journalists—or their 2010 Olympics. employers—before they’ve “We did a lot of work published a word. around the Olympics and These threats—which are free expression—in particu- also used to silence non- lar anti-Olympic speech—so governmental organiza- people wouldn’t be subject to tions, advocacy groups and trademark litigation or threats activists—are known as stra- because they had a restaurant tegic lawsuits against public that was called Olympic Pizza participation (SLAPPs). or they used the Olympic rings Eby explains the concept: in their protest signs,” he says. “It’s a lawsuit that’s filed to While at the BCCLA,
silence somebody on a COURTESYPHOTO OF THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Eby fielded so many requests
10 Freedom to Read 2020 @FreedomToReadWeek @Freedom_to_Read spotlight
media and truthiness is defining jour- nalism. “There’s nothing in the act that says this has to be a capital J journalist and a capital P publication,” says Eby.
“There is a lot of free speech in Canada, but this defamation piece was a notable exception. People with means, who are motivated, could really shut down negative news stories or people who were saying things that they didn’t like about them on the Internet,” says Eby. There wasn’t “any kind of counterbalance.” But things have changed. “[We can] say, ‘Hold on a sec. Is this a proper use of the courts to shut down this kind of speech?’ I think we’ve got that now.”
PHOTO © PROVINCEPHOTO OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION OF THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Mark Leiren-Young (leiren-young.com) is an author, playwright, satirist and host of to fight SLAPPs that the association The new law allows journalists to the Skaana podcast about ocean issues. His began championing the creation of argue that they are speaking out on a most recent book is Orcas Everywhere. Mark anti-SLAPP legislation. matter of public importance and that the first joined the Book and Periodical B.C.’s NDP government passed harm in allowing a lawsuit to go ahead Council’s Freedom of Expression Committee Canada’s original anti-SLAPP law in outweighs the benefit to the public. to represent the Playwrights Union of 2001. After the party was ousted from The court is supposed to look at a Canada in 1999. He now represents the government later that year, the B.C. question, Eby says. “Is this journalism, Writers’ Union of Canada. Liberals overturned the legislation. or is this just an expletive-laden blog Eby says the 2001 law was flawed. “You post that has no reasonable chance had to actually show that the person of being true, or is this speech that B.C.’s Protection of who was suing you had a bad motive … should be protected against these which is obviously a very difficult thing kinds of lawsuits?” Public Participation to prove.” The law doesn’t consider whether a Act In 2019, Eby’s Protection of Public story is true or defamatory. Participation Act addressed that flaw. “The idea is to re-weight the scales Under the law, which received He used older, related legislation in to say, We think it’s more important royal assent on March 25, Ontario as a guideline. that there be free and open discourse 2019, a defendant may apply In 2019, B.C.’s legislature unani- about these things—even if it means to the court to dismiss a lawsuit mously passed Eby’s law. This achieve- that someone’s reputation is briefly or because it impinges on the ment is almost unheard of in British slightly or temporarily or even perma- defendant’s ability to speak Columbia, where it’s challenging to nently affected by it—because it’s more freely on a matter of public get the opposing parties to agree on important to have freewheeling debate interest. the weather. than it is to restrict people in advance If the court agrees, then it It likely helped that several of of speaking about important issues in a will dismiss the lawsuit, unless Canada’s most eminent jurists— democracy,” Eby says. the plaintiff can satisfy the court including two former federal Supreme Often the threat of a lawsuit is just that the harm that the plaintiff Court justices—wrote an open letter a threat, but the targeted person or would likely suffer as a result of advocating anti-SLAPP legislation. group can’t afford the cost of calling Another open letter which supported the bluff. “The reality is a lot of let- the defendant’s speech would the legislation was signed by writers’ ters get written and very few lawsuits outweigh the public interest in organizations such as PEN Canada actually get filed,” says Eby. “My hope protecting it. and the Writers’ Union of Canada, is that the legislation gives some more The act further protects more than two dozen environmental confidence to people who receive these public participation by allowing groups, the BCCLA, Amnesty Inter- threatening letters.” the court to fully indemnify the national Canada and the Union of One challenge for any law dealing defendants for costs. British Columbia Indian Chiefs. with journalism in the age of social
freedomtoread.ca Freedom to Read 2020 11 spotlight Fifty Years of Defending Queer Expression Glad Day Bookshop Celebrates a Milestone Anniversary by Marcus McCann
This article was adapted from a speech that Marcus McCann gave at Glad Day to watch anything and everything. Bookshop in Toronto on February 27, 2019, during Freedom to Read Week. Only the public wasn’t allowed to. A second lesson: we cannot care LAD DAY IS AN INTERESTING books bound for gay and lesbian book- about the passage of books but not place to talk about censorship. stores in 1990 were detained. people at the border. The border GThree of its staff have been con- Glad Day challenged these confis- continues to be a site of terror and victed of criminal obscenity for stock- cations in what became a 20-year legal torment for many: transgender and ing queer material. The first was Kevin battle. In 1987, the bookstore success- non-binary, non-status, Muslim and Orr in 1983. Orr was charged with fully challenged the seizure of The Joy HIV-positive people. Border reform is possession of obscene material—two of Gay Sex. The District Court of urgently needed. magazines named The Leathermen and Ontario Finally, these battles highlight the Come Watch—for the purpose of sale. found that fact that sexuality is an important part He was found guilty on March 4, 1983, anal sex was of expression that is often censored. and granted a conditional discharge integral to Sexual expression, especially queer with two years’ probation. gay men’s expression, can break down the sexual John Scythes and Thomas Frank Iv- sex. Judge monolith, provide examples of benign ison, Glad Day’s owner and manager, Bruce sexual variation and alleviate the lone- respectively, were later convicted in Hawkins liness of desire. Sexual expression is an the 1990s for distributing Bad Atti- wrote: “To integral part of human flourishing. This tude, a lesbian erotic magazine with write about is the unfinished business of decisions BDSM themes. homosexual like the Bad Attitude case. However, Glad Day did not set out to Image courtesy of practices Approximately half of the most PUBLISHED FIRESIDE/SIMON BY AND SCHUSTER, 1978 be a hero of freedom of expression. The Jearld F. Moldenhauer without often challenged books in Canadian li- battles came to the bookstore, not the dealing with anal intercourse would be braries are non-sexual LGBTQ-themed other way around. equivalent to writing a history of music books: children’s books with queer and A police officer came to Glad Day and omitting Mozart.” trans characters or themes. For me, to rifle through its wares. In the case Another area where Glad Day had a this lays it bare: any idea that LGBTQ of Bad Attitude, the police confiscated legal impact was film censorship. Glad people can “clean up,” presenting only the magazine on site and then waited Day successfully challenged a section of non-sexual images and being safe from almost a month to return and lay char- the Theatres Act which required films censorship, is bogus. Our lives continue ges. Scythes, Ivison and Glad Day were to be submitted to the censor board be- to be so offensive that any depiction of charged on April 30, 1992, and all were fore they could be shown or distributed them is still worthy of censorship. convicted on February 16, 1993. There in Ontario. The Ontario Superior Court I take this history as a call to vig- was no jail time, but the store was fined of Justice found that it was incredibly orously defend queer expression from $200 and got a criminal record. invasive to require folks to show their state oppression: the seizure of books, Another important site of resist- films to the government before they magazines and films; fines; and the risk ance, from a legal standpoint, was could be released. of jail time. We must defend freedom the Canadian border. Once again, One lesson of these legal battles is that of expression, but note: such a defence Glad Day did not seek a fight over censorship is never about whether any- does not mean that we owe our adver- the seizure of imported books. Can- one should be able to read or see some- saries a platform to attack us, and we ada Customs had a watch list which thing. It’s about who can read or see it. need not refrain from criticizing them included many gay and lesbian book- Customs officials: yes. Willing audience: when they say stupid things in public. stores. During the 1980s, there were no. Judges and lawyers: yes. Public: no. I have no doubt that Glad Day will con- 400 to 500 seizures at the border. Tom A poignant example: under the tinue to be a part of this vital story. Warner, author of Never Going Back: Theatres Act, films had to be vetted. The A History of Queer Activism in Canada government had to set up a whole office Marcus McCann is an employment and hu- and a former Ontario human rights of bureaucrats who watched films all man rights lawyer who owns part of Glad Day
commissioner, estimates that 75% of day. They were allowed, even required, Bookshop. Visit gladdaybookshop.com. TIMELINE
12 Freedom to Read 2020 @FreedomToReadWeek @Freedom_to_Read spotlight
A Message from Glad Day’s Founder
Glad Day Bookshop, as well as all other gay and lesbian bookshops, helped create a community. As homosexuals, most of us grew up as isolated individuals, without the support of family or like-minded people. Literature, therefore, played a unique role in connecting us to each other and giving us a voice in society. Together we have been able to change our circumstances and alter the course of political and social evolution in the societies where we have been able to organize. For about a decade, the Canadian gov- ernment sought to destroy Glad Day and the other gay and lesbian bookshops by banning much of our literature and seizing, even de- stroying, thousands of gay books, magazines, films and greeting cards. At the time, I called it cultural genocide. The terminology shocked many who didn’t understand how literature played a major role in not only bringing us together as a community, but in helping PHOTO: JACLYNPHOTO: LAW us forge the political muscle necessary to change laws and bring about greater social distributing a film that had not been approved 1970 Jearld Moldenhauer founds Glad Day equality. In addition, gay studies have given by the Ontario Film Review Board. because of the lack of gay literature in Toronto us depth and perspective in understanding bookstores. He initially sells books out of his April 30, 2004 Scythes and Glad Day the forces behind our oppression as well as backpack. Moldenhauer eventually sets up successfully appeal their conviction. Justice the history of countless individual gays and shop in an apartment at 65 Kendal Avenue. Russell Juriansz of the Ontario Superior Court lesbians and their contributions to society. 1981 Glad Day moves to 598A Yonge Street, of Justice finds that “the statutory scheme that Glad Day may have begun out of a where patrons must walk up a flight of stairs to requires the Board’s approval before films can backpack full of books carried on a bicycle, reach the second-storey retail space. be distributed or exhibited in Ontario violates but it was my dream to one day be able to April 21, 1982 Kevin Orr, a young employ- the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom’s purchase a building to help give the book- ee, is charged by a senior morality officer [sic] guarantee of freedom of expression.” store more permanence. That dream was with possession of obscene material—two shattered by the censorship wars set into March 29, 2009 When New York City’s magazines named The Leathermen and motion by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney Come Watch—for the purpose of sale. Orr is Oscar Wilde Bookshop closes, Glad Day and his notorious Memorandum D9-1-1.* convicted later of criminal obscenity, but the becomes the oldest surviving LGBTQ book- It is nothing short of an amazing dream decision is overturned on appeal. store in North America. that Glad Day has survived to celebrate its March 5, 1986 Canadian customs officials 2011 Faced with declining sales, Scythes 50th birthday. This incredible endurance seize and detain The Joy of Gay Sex, which Glad puts Glad Day up for sale. In February 2012, a and ability to adapt proves, more than Day was importing from the United States. group of 22 community members purchases anything, its importance to Toronto’s lesbian Officials say the book is obscene according to the store to save it from going under. and gay communities. Section 159(8) of the Criminal Code. My congratulations to all who have July 2016 Glad Day moves to a bright, March 20, 1987 Glad Day successfully helped make this possible! wheelchair-accessible space in Toronto’s appeals the seizure of The Joy of Gay Sex. Judge Jearld F. Moldenhauer Bruce Hawkins rules that the book is not Church-Wellesley Village. The store also func- obscene under the law. tions as a café, bar and events venue. *Memorandum D9-1-1 is a Canadian government 1991 Moldenhauer sells Glad Day to John 2019 Glad Day celebrates its 50th anniversary. document. It explains a section of the Customs Tariff. Customs officers use the memorandum to Scythes. —Dominique Bernier-Cormier determine which imported publications are ob- April 30, 1992 Almost a month after seizing scene and illegal. For many years, the memorandum the lesbian magazine Bad Attitude from Glad prohibited publications with homosexual themes. Day, police charge owner John Scythes, man- ager Thomas Frank Ivison and Glad Day itself with possession and sale of obscene material. February 16, 1993 Scythes, Ivison and Glad Further Reading
Day are found guilty by Justice C.H. Paris of , 2017 the Ontario Court. The store is fined $200. Bad Attitude/s on Trial: Pornography, Feminism, and the Butler March 1, 1996 Breaking the Surface, Decision by Brenda Cossman, Shannon Bell, Lise Gotell the autobiography of Olympic diver Greg and Becki L. Ross examines conflicts over pornography Louganis, becomes the first gay book on the within Canadian feminism as well as the growing public and bestseller list of The New York Times. Former legal influence of anti-pornography feminism. Originally Glad Day manager Scott Dagostino recalls that the bookstore was “selling cartons of it.” published in 1997, it was reprinted in 2017 as part of the University of Toronto Press’s Canada 150 Collection. January 21, 2002 Scythes and Glad Day UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS TIMELINE are convicted under the Theatres Act for
freedomtoread.ca Freedom to Read 2020 13 perspectives “Not Recommended” What It’s Like When a School Board Rejects Your Work by David Alexander Robertson
AYBE I’D BEEN SPOILED. Plains Cree Saga—a four-part epic that in comics could be boiled down to For 10 years, my books follows one Cree family over three cen- stereotypes perpetuated by popular Musually avoided controversy, turies—along with several other books culture. The Dead Indian. The Noble although some of them dealt with were “not recommended” for use. For 7 Savage. The Savage Indian. These rep- heavy subjects. My picture book, Generations, the reviewers had multiple resentations influenced perceptions, graphic novels and young-adult novels concerns: “The graphic novel series and they still exist today. The most met kids at their level because I worked contains sensitive subject matter and effective response is making accurate with educators, Indigenous Elders and visual inferencing of abuse regarding depictions available. Representations cultural advisers to ensure the content residential schools. These titles are not of truth were not readily available was accurate, age appropriate and independent reads as they require pre- when I was a kid. They are now, and culturally sensitive. and post-conversations with students we need to give them to, not take them My books are used in classrooms regarding the legacy of residential away from, children of all ages. and school libraries across Canada. schools and therefore Edmonton Public My picture book and graphic novels not recommended.” Schools took the list get the most use, and that was always A growing number down due to public the plan. Images and words make a of Indigenous creators pressure. It felt like a powerful team that allows students to are writing important small victory, but it draw meaning and generate empathy. own voices stories that was just a band-aid on That’s important in this business of help make a teacher’s AMBERPHOTO: GREEN a gaping wound. It’s reconciliation between Indigenous and job (for example, said that overcoming non-Indigenous peoples. having pre- and the impact of historical In the fall of 2018, I learned of a post-conversations trauma, as it pertains book review website created by with students) a bit to the treatment of Edmonton Public Schools. The website easier. Own voices Indigenous people, listed books to weed out of school li- refers to marginalized will take seven genera- braries and classrooms. The books were characters who are tions. Because we still primarily by Indigenous writers. My written by authors live in colonial Canada, graphic novel series 7 Generations: A from the marginalized group; they have the clock has yet to start. A gaping lived experience. It’s counterproductive wound needs time to heal. And there is to have administrative bodies ostensibly more work to do than take a list down. take these valuable resources away. This work needs to happen at the While Edmonton Public Schools didn’t grassroots by Canadians who recog- intend to suggest these books be made nize that they have a role in reconcili- unavailable, that’s what happened. One ation and take meaningful action to- teacher who asked to remain anonym- ward collective healing. This can be as ous messaged me. He was told to stop simple as placing an own voices book teaching Betty: The Helen Betty Osborne in the hands of kids and showing them Story, another book of mine, because truths that have long been ignored, so it appeared on a similar list created by they can make better decisions for us Alberta Education, the provincial min- in the future. istry of education. It would’ve been easy to get upset, David A. Robertson (darobertson.ca) is but I’ve been doing this work long the author of books for young readers. enough to know the reason these They include When We Were Alone, which things happen. I, and others, have won a 2017 Governor General’s Literary more work to do. It’s a question of Award and was nominated for the TD readiness, and the answer can be found Canadian Children’s Literature Award. A in the history of representation. sought-after speaker and educator, David is a When I was a kid, I read comics. member of Norway House Cree Nation and
HIGHWATER PRESS, 2012 Historically, Indigenous representation lives in Winnipeg.
14 Freedom to Read 2020 @FreedomToReadWeek @Freedom_to_Read perspectives
by Charles Montpetit
HIS IS ODD: EVERY ITEM OF then claims that Quebecor’s move is our 2019 roundup is tied to media part of a defamation campaign and The True Horror of Tempire Quebecor, whose flag- sues for $150 million in compensation. Horror Fiction ships are the daily Journal de Montréal Quebecor calls this action a strategic In March 2019, the author of the and the TVA network. It all makes for lawsuit against public participation a wild, irony-riddled ride, so hey, let’s (SLAPP) and an attack on its “right to Aurora Award–nominated horror jump right in. expression.” novel Hansel et Gretel, Yvan God- bout, is arrested, along with his April Le Journal de Montréal’s May Another controversial Journal publisher at Éditions AdA, Nycolas long-running lawsuit against the par- de Montréal contributor, Richard Doucet, because the police be- ody website Journal de Mourréal ends Martineau, drops his own $350,000 lieve that Godbout’s book is juven- when the court orders the site to shed SLAPP suit against the parody ile pornography. The entire stock its name and turn over its ad revenues. website Ricochet, which had published is seized, and stores are urged to In September, Mourréal founder Jan- a mock obituary about him, along stop selling it. ick Murray-Hall is allowed to appeal with cartoons depicting dogs peeing News items mention that the the decision, but he nevertheless shuts on his grave and God throwing the novel contains a “very explicit” down his operations. columnist’s body into heaven’s trash assault on a nine-year-old, but the bin. Martineau explains that he’s April The Montreal bookstore Le backing off to avoid stoking the scene is in fact limited to a single port de tête cancels a public discussion “polarized climate.” paragraph, which commenters with controversial Journal de Montréal deem tamer than other authors’ columnist Mathieu Bock-Côté because July Quebecor owner Pierre Karl writings. In this instance, most of of online chatter about “disrupting” Péladeau sues rival news site La Presse the page focuses on the narrator’s the performance. The event is even- and its columnist Hugo Dumas for outrage, and the perpetrator is tually held, undisturbed, in another $500,000 over a story which stated that immediately punished. Clearly, the bookstore. Bock-Côté uses the oppor- the mogul’s ex-wife, Julie Snyder, had book does not advocate sex with tunity to promote his book L’empire du been fired as host of the hit show a child or depict such acts as its politiquement correct (The Empire of Star académie on TVA. Péladeau dominant feature (either of which the Politically Correct). argues that her contract had simply is a requirement for a conviction). not been renewed. La Presse issues a More to the point, the affair April Minutes before the NHL play- correction and apologizes. offs begin, Quebecor cuts the feed of is reminiscent of the 2012 case the TVA Sports channel to its rival August When six failing dailies file which the Crown failed to make— Bell TV, depriving the latter’s cus- for creditor protection, Péladeau offers at great cost to taxpayers—against tomers of their hockey fix. Bell gets an to buy them all, but he is criticized by special-effects artist Rémy Cou- injunction to restore the signal; Bell MNA Catherine Dorion for attempting ture. Both accusations stemmed to create a near-monopoly of outlets from a single complaint, and no that will promote his many business actual person was harmed in ventures. In the following weeks, either instance. As some have many of Quebecor’s current colum- observed, the current prosecu- nists take turns ridiculing her, thereby tion is akin to arresting Game of proving her point about the perils of Thrones author George R.R. Martin convergence. for murder. Aaaand we’re outta room, folks. We’ll try for diversity next year, I Despite the police’s best efforts promise. to contain distribution, at least 33 copies of Godbout’s book remain Charles Montpetit is the Book and Periodical available to the citizenry—in Council’s champion of free expression Quebec’s public libraries.
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK f o r 2017.
freedomtoread.ca Freedom to Read 2020 15 perspectives Public Libraries Rise to Meet
21st-Century Challenges by Vickery Bowles
This article was adapted from a speech that Vickery Bowles gave at Glad Day professor Eric Klinenberg recogniz- Bookshop in Toronto on February 27, 2019, during Freedom to Read Week. es the important role of libraries as a shared, equitable public space that bridges divides and promotes civic To the Members of the Toronto Public Library Board: engagement. “The accessible physic- In our annual report of a year ago we presented a statement of al space of the library is not the only our faith in the public library as the pivot of democracy. That faith factor that makes it work well as remains. It can be restated by saying that if a community is permitted social infrastructure. The institution’s to think (and democracy rests its case on this) it must have books; extensive programming, organized by professional staff that upholds the and books mean libraries; and libraries, for most of us, mean public principled commitment to openness libraries. We still believe with full sincerity that the job of book and inclusivity, fosters social cohesion provision for the fundamental purpose of making it possible for among clients who might otherwise ourselves to think, to think with intellectual honesty, to think with keep to themselves,” he writes. informed minds, remains the primary job of public libraries—even in Challenges to intellectual freedom war time. Without this the rest becomes futility. are on the rise. They happen not only on university campuses, where con- —Charles R. Sanderson, Reading in Toronto 1942: Being the troversial speakers are challenged, but Fifty-ninth Annual Report of the Toronto Public Library Board also to journalists who face opposition for the Year 1942 to a free press and to the users of social media platforms that collect and use personal data. Libraries also regularly N THE MIDST OF A WORLD WAR intellectual freedom challenges. face intellectual freedom challenges. being fought to protect democratic Public libraries are well positioned They affect not just physical books Ifreedoms, Chief Librarian Charles to provide leadership in their com- and other materials in our collections, Sanderson wrote about the enduring munities and beyond because they where libraries historically have faced role of public libraries as the pivot of help democratize the modern world, the most challenges. Challenges also democracy. In 1942, making books support literacy and a literate popula- affect meeting spaces rented by outside freely available supported intellectual tion, and offer free and open access to groups to host controversial speakers freedom. So much has changed be- diverse information and ideas. To walk and events, library programs whose tween then and now. In the fast-paced into a public space—to freely attend a speakers or topics some find offensive, world of the 21st century, intellectual program, use a computer, use the study and content found on the Internet on freedom becomes even more complex. and lounge space, borrow a book or library computers. While books are still essential, the conduct research on any topic with the Added to this complexity is a Internet offers a wealth of information, support of professional staff—is one of different kind of challenge to the core the media deliver news as it happens, the most significant acts of intellectual principles of intellectual freedom: the publishers and producers of content freedom imaginable. proliferation of misinformation that is proliferate, and algorithms segment In his book Palaces for the People: so easily distributed on digital plat- and filter people’s online experiences. How Social Infrastructure Can Help forms. Perhaps an even more signifi- And with this complexity, more chal- Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the cant threat is artificial intelligence; its lenges to our democratic values appear Decline of Civic Life, sociology machine-learning algorithms shape not throughout the world. Sanderson speaks to the important role of public libraries in making it In the digital age, public libraries have core possible for us to think with intellec- tual honesty and informed minds, capabilities and responsibilities to respond even in wartime. In the digital age, to intellectual freedom challenges. public libraries have core capabilities and responsibilities to respond to
16 Freedom to Read 2020 @FreedomToReadWeek @Freedom_to_Read perspectives only people’s online experiences but also opinions, beliefs, judgments and— perhaps—even election results. So how do public libraries respond? They review policies that support intel- lectual freedom within the context of the freedom of expression provisions in Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The public li- braries also review the policies to make it clear to the public that
• objections from customers about news or magazine articles that are part of an online subscription cannot be considered; instead, library staff may inform the publisher of the concerns or consider a different sub- scription service;
• the Internet is unregulated; it conveys SUSANPHOTO: YIN, UNSPLASH information and opinions that range from reliable and authoritative to con- Libraries also develop programs Public libraries are also expand- troversial or extremely offensive; and that address the importance of civil ing their digital literacy offerings to debate in a democratic society. At the respond to developments in artificial • challenges to library programs and Toronto Public Library, we talk about intelligence and machine learning to community room bookings are cov- the library as a civic commons where help people understand how algo- ered by the same intellectual freedom people may come together as rithms shape their digital privacy, principles that cover collections. Torontonians, but also as global online experiences and access to infor- citizens, to discuss and debate issues. mation. Public libraries are a trusted Protection of data privacy is an issue We have, for example, developed an community resource, so they are everywhere. Public library leaders 18-month series of programs called On ideally placed to give judgment-free focus attention on data privacy and Civil Society. We challenge partici- guidance on the evolving complexity cybersecurity in public libraries to pro- pants to get out of their bubbles to of digital environments. tect library data as well as teach data think about and explore issues from These activities and approaches are privacy as part of digital literacy. others’ perspectives. not what many people think of when they consider the public libraries’ support of intellectual freedom. In Sanderson’s day, the job meant making books freely available to all. In the 21st century, the job is more complex. It is even more critical for all of us to stand up for intellectual freedom in other ways. We must maintain our faith in the core values of free expression and personal privacy.
Vickery Bowles is the city librarian of the Toronto Public Library. She is also the board chair for the Urban Libraries Council which has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. She has defended intellectual freedom while re- sponding to challenges to collections, room bookings and programs. In 2018, she was awarded the Ontario Library Association’s
PHOTO: BOYDPHOTO: GORDON Les Fowlie Intellectual Freedom Award.
freedomtoread.ca Freedom to Read 2020 17 perspectives Kids Have Freedom of Expression Rights Too!
Q&A with Author Danielle S. McLaughlin by Jaclyn Law
What is your right to freedom of expression, and how is it limited by laws, people are so polarized, they have no rules and customs? Danielle S. McLaughlin, civil liberties advocate and opportunity to listen to what others former director of education for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association think. We have to be prepared to listen, and Canadian Civil Liberties Education Trust, explores these questions even at a very young age, to ideas that in her new kids’ book, Freedom of Expression: Deal with It Before You Are don’t necessarily resonate with us. Censored (James Lorimer & Company, 2019). We talked to McLaughlin When we give everyone a chance to about free expression in schools, common myths and more. express what they think, there may be something that surprises you.
How did this book come For example, cellphone bans in In Freedom of Expression, Q about? schools: that’s very much a freedom of Q you explore three view- expression issue in schools. Why do it? points: “The Censor,” “The Deal with It! is a series that helps To prevent distraction and cyberbully- Speechmaker” and “The A young people with topics like ing. Will that work? Some jurisdic- Witness.” Why did you follow bullying and racism and resolving con- tions that have these bans have had to this structure? flicts. Jim Turk, director of Ryerson rescind them, because the amount of University’s Centre for Free Expres- time teachers spent on trying to con- sion [in Toronto], recommended me to trol cellphone use was eating into class All the books in the series have the publisher. time. Cyberbullying happens mostly A this structure, and I think these outside of school, so banning phones are the primary roles in any conflict. Are you concerned about in class doesn’t help. And kids who use Q free expression in schools? their phones [to cope with] learning disabilities have had to out themselves Absolutely. Many students and to get an exemption. Not everyone is A teachers have faced consequences, comfortable with explaining what sort without good reason, for expressing of disability they live with. Cellphone their views or creating art or wearing bans are an example of the overreach certain clothing. Schools, in particu- we see so often in schools.
lar, feel they can handle controversial MCLAUGHLIN REUBEN PHOTO: issues by banning something. If we say That’s Not Fair! is a book nobody gets to do such and such, it may Q and video series for kids look like it could solve the problem, but aged seven to 11. Why is it im- it rarely does anything like it, and often portant to learn about expression it makes things significantly worse. rights so early? In my first book,That’s Not Fair! Getting to Know Your Rights and As soon as a kid says, “That’s Freedoms, I discussed three questions A not fair,” which happens around people should ask whenever they are age two and a half, we have a prime thinking about creating a restriction, opportunity to get them involved in particularly on expression: Why are democratic action. At that age, kids you doing it? If you don’t have a good will say “that’s not fair” for virtually purpose, forget it. Will your restric- anything, but if they understand that tion actually achieve your purpose? people have different views on fairness, Frequently, it doesn’t. And, most I think, over a long period of time, we important, what else will it do—what could avoid the kind of thing we’re are the side effects? seeing, specifically in the United States:
18 Freedom to Read 2020 @FreedomToReadWeek @Freedom_to_Read perspectives
see an offensive image, you should be able to call the police. That’s a misconception. Another myth—one I find very troubling—is what Alan Borovoy used to call “naive cynicism.” People believe you can’t do anything anyway; there’s no point in protesting because it’s never done any good. On the whole, if you speak to kids, teachers, almost anybody, they think protest never changed anything. But if you look at history, it’s one of the few things that ever did. And, of course, there’s the opposite view: I can say anything I want to, there are no restrictions, we live in a free country. That’s not true, either.
What’s your next Q project? I’d like to speak in public librar- A ies about freedom of expression, particularly freedom to read. Many people think freedom of expression has one direction—you get to say whatever you want—but what comes into you is also part of it. If somebody bans a book and you don’t get to read it, your free-
JAMES LORIMER 2019 & COMPANY, dom of expression has been limited. Kids need to understand that. It’s vital that, from a very young age, The censor wants everybody to be nice or the bystander, is often the one who kids start understanding that they have and argues that if we stop any expres- doesn’t know what to do. rights. Those rights don’t kick in when sion that’s controversial or could offend they turn 18: they are born with those somebody, everything will be peace- You also discuss myths rights and they include freedom of ful and fine, and we know that’s not Q about free expression. expression. While they will be limited true. The speechmaker doesn’t think What are some common ones? depending on circumstances of where, carefully before opening their mouth. when and how, kids have the same Just because you have the right of Many kids think you can go to rights as adults, with the exception of freedom of expression doesn’t mean it’s A jail for saying bad stuff— the right to vote. always a good idea. You need to think for swearing or being racist. critically about what you say, and when People also think that if you hear This interview has been edited for length and where you say it. And the witness, someone make a racist joke, or you and clarity.
We have to be prepared to listen, even at a very young age, to ideas that don’t necessarily resonate with us. When we give everyone a chance to express what they think, there may be something that surprises you.
freedomtoread.ca Freedom to Read 2020 19 perspectives
Book Profile Claws of the Panda: Beijing’s Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada By Jonathan Manthorpe (Cormorant Books, 2019) Reviewed by Franklin Carter
he panda in the title of Jonathan Chinese launder their money in Canada worked for New Tang Dynasty TV in Manthorpe’s book is the People’s through real estate purchases. The Vancouver, told The Vancouver Sun TRepublic of China. When viewed book also explains how the CCP has that he had received phone calls from uncritically, the country looks benign. spread propaganda, spied on people state security officials in China. They But China is a mature totalitarian soci- and tried to influence politicians. ordered him to stop his “illegal activ- ety of 1.4 billion people. The Chinese The CCP takes a special interest ities” in Canada. When Wang ignored Communist Party (CCP) has governed in the Chinese diaspora. Fifty mil- them, state security shut down his the nation for 70 years, and China’s lion Chinese emigrants and foreign medical equipment business in China. military force is one of the largest in residents live outside China, and 1.56 But threats, a whitewashed the world. This panda has claws. It can million of them live in Canada. The Chinese-language media and the in- be dangerous. CCP sees this population “as an asset ducements of the OCAO fail to secure Just how much of a danger the com- to be marshalled in the promotion of the loyalty or compliance of many munist Chinese pose to Canadians— China’s political interests,” Manthorpe Chinese people—and Tibetans and including Canadians of Chinese ances- writes. But the CCP also knows that Uighurs—in Canada. Some join asso- try—is the theme of Claws of the Panda. many people in the diaspora oppose ciations that promote political reform Manthorpe is qualified to assess the China’s regime, so the CCP tries to and human rights in China. The CCP danger. He worked as a foreign corres- bring them into line. regards these activists as enemies. pondent for almost four decades. In The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office In fact, the CCP refers to them as 1993, he went to Hong Kong to cover (OCAO) of the State Council fosters the “five poisonous groups”: the advo- Asian affairs. In 2005, he published a closer ties between China and Chinese cates of independence for Tibet and book—Forbidden Nation: A History of people in Canada through trade and Xinjiang (home of the Uighurs), the Taiwan—about the small non- membership in Chinese cultural and defenders of an independent Taiwan, communist Chinese state. While pre- hometown associations. The CCP and the advocates of democratic reform paring Claws, he consulted more than the OCAO want the Chinese in Canada in China and, finally, the adherents 30 scholarly books, diplomats’ memoirs to trust and support China’s regime. of Falun Gong, a spiritual group. The and government reports about China. The CCP also seeks to promote a CCP seeks to identify and silence as Claws covers the most important positive image of China through the many activists as possible. political and economic aspects of the Chinese-language media. The China In Canada, the Chinese regime’s relationship between China and Canada. Press, a newspaper that the CCP found- critics and opponents are followed and The book also shows how Chinese ed in New York, sells in Vancouver, watched. They receive abusive late- “agents of influence” have infiltrated Toronto and Montreal. Manthorpe night phone calls and malware on their Canadian universities and how wealthy describes these newspapers as “cheer- computers. They are defamed on social leaders for the CCP regime.” Cable media and misrepresented in fake letters and digital outlets transmit Chinese sent to MPs. They are harassed at uni- state TV and radio into the homes of versities and anti-CCP demonstrations. Chinese people in Canada. Their relatives in China are threatened. The CCP also tries to influence Manthorpe reports the stories of news and opinions in the privately a few activists—Sheng Xue, Mehmet owned Chinese-language media in Tohti, Anastasia Lin and Xie Weidong— Canada. Manthorpe writes: “The who, despite the pressure, refused to CCP has found that publishers of back down. Chinese-language media can easily be Claws of the Panda appeared in encouraged to self-censor. This is done bookstores in February 2019, just by either offering business advantages weeks after the Meng Wanzhou affair in China or, if the publisher proves instigated a deterioration in govern- recalcitrant, threatening harm to his or ment relations between China and her businesses in Canada and China or Canada. The publication of this im- to relatives in China.” portant book couldn’t be timelier. Reporters receive threats too.
ARCHETYPE DESIGN/CORMORANT BOOKS INC. BOOKS DESIGN/CORMORANT ARCHETYPE In 2010, Tao Wang, a reporter who Franklin Carter is an editor in Toronto.
20 Freedom to Read 2020 @FreedomToReadWeek @Freedom_to_Read get involved 21 Things You Can Do
HIS YEAR, FREEDOM TO READ WEEK (FTRW) RUNS FROM February 23 to 29. How will you celebrate your freedom to read? TWhether you’re a teacher, librarian, student, bookseller or lover of the written word, try these ideas for activities in your classroom or community.
GET SOCIAL PLAN AN EVENT DIY TWEET: Tweet out one challenged POP-UP READINGS: Set up a speaker GUESS THE BOOK CONTEST: Wrap book or magazine a day and include podium where people can read aloud books in brown paper, write a clue on the hashtag #FTRWeek. from censored materials. Broadcast the the paper, and have people guess which event on Facebook Live, YouTube Live book it is. You can also photocopy a BOOKSTAGRAM YOUR or another app to spread the word. few pages of each book, cut the copies INSTAGRAM: Create beautiful into strips and place them in a jar for themed photos of your favourite DISPLAY BOOKS: Organize a book people to draw and guess. challenged books and share with the display by genre or theme. You could hashtag #bookstagram. Don’t forget have a display of censored young-adult HOST A PAINTING CLASS: Provide to follow and tag us fiction or books challenged for offen- a selection of challenged books and @bookandperiodicalcouncil! sive language. painting supplies. Let the covers be the inspiration for the art. FACEBOOK PROFILE FRAME: Add INVITE SPEAKERS: Invite an author, our custom Freedom to Read Week librarian, publisher, lawyer, journalist CAGED BOOKS: Create a frame to your Facebook profile photo or teacher to speak about freedom cage using chicken wire and to show everyone you’re celebrating. of expression. Prepare questions caution tape, and display Simply go to facebook.com/ for the guest. challenged books and maga- profilepicframes and search for Free- zines inside. FREEDOM TO READ TRIVIA: Host dom to Read Week. a trivia event at your school, library or GET CAUGHT READING: Create a SPREAD THE WORD: Get in home. Head to freedomtoread.ca/ mugshot backdrop. Library patrons can touch with other libraries, links-and-resources for ideas to help have their picture taken with a banned schools, bookstores and you create questions about censorship or challenged book or magazine. organizations to help and challenged works. BLACKOUT POETRY: Photocopy a promote their MOVIE NIGHT: Many challenged page from your favourite challenged FTRW events and books have been made into movies, book or magazine. Then strike out some activities. Share and many have been challenged. Invite of the text with a black marker to make them online and on friends to get together and watch one. a poem from the remaining visible text. our freedomtoread.ca events page. SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS: CREATE A DIGITAL MAP: Create Teachers, have your students read an interactive map that highlights HOLD A PHOTO CONTEST: Invite short passages from their favourite where books and magazines have been people to submit a photo with the challenged books during morning censored. Check out our map of 30 theme of Freedom to Read Week on announcements throughout Freedom challenged publications at social media. A banned-book bundle to Read Week. freedomtoread.ca/censorship- makes a great prize! in-canada/30-challenged- HOST A LIVE PODCAST: Invite an BECOME A FRIEND OF FTRW: Head publications for inspiration. audience to participate in an inter- to change.org/p/support-freedom- active discussion about the importance MAKE A TIMELINE: Show the history to-read to sign our Friend of FTRW of freedom of expression. Share the of book challenges or book burnings. statement and pledge your commitment recorded podcast on social media. Your timeline could be a poster, a to every Canadian’s freedom to read. banner or a chalk drawing on pave- ATTEND AN FTRW EVENT: Go off- ment. View our “35 Years of Freedom line and check out your local libraries of Expression in Canada” timeline at and community spaces to participate in freedomtoread.ca/links-and- their Freedom to Read Week activities. resources/timeline. ILLUSTRATIONS (DETAILS): GIL MARTINEZ, 2019 MARTINEZ, GIL (DETAILS): ILLUSTRATIONS
freedomtoread.ca Freedom to Read 2020 21 get involved Challenged Books and Magazines
HIS LIST FEATURES SELECTED TITLES THAT HAVE BEEN CHALLENGED Underground to Canada Barbara Smucker
in Canada over the past six decades. The information was voluntarily sub- When Everything Feels Like the Movies5 Tmitted by publicly funded libraries and acquired through our own research. Raziel Reid We’ve also included Canadian titles that have been challenged in other countries. Wherever Nina Lies Lynn Weingarten To find even more challenged titles and learn why they were challenged, please see the challenged works list at freedomtoread.ca and the intellectual freedom Graphic Novels challenges surveys at cfla-fcab.ca. Battling Boy Paul Pope Children’s Books Sleeping Dragons All Around Sheree Fitch, illustrator Michele Nidenoff Alligators All Around: An Alphabet Maurice Sendak Spooky ABC Eve Merriam, illustrator Lane Smith And Tango Makes Three Justin Richardson 10,000 Dresses Marcus Ewert, a n d Peter Parnell, illustrator Rex Ray illustrator Henry Cole
Asha’s Mums Rosamund Elwin The Travels of Babar Jean de Brunhoff a n d Michele Paulse, Two Dumb Ducks Maxwell Eaton III illustrator Dawn Lee The Waiting Dog Carolyn Beck, and Battle Bunny Jon Scieszka Mac Barnett, illustrator Andrew Beck illustrator Matthew Myers Zeke Pippin William Steig Bedtime for Frances Russell Hoban, illustrator Garth Williams Young-Adult Books Bone Dog Eric Rohmann As She Grows Lesley Anne Cowan Christmas Tapestry Patricia Polacco Boy O’Boy Brian Doyle Danny and the Dinosaur Syd Hoff Bridge to Terabithia Katherine Paterson Donovan’s Big Day Lesléa Newman, illustrator Mike Dutton The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
The Dumb Bunnies Go to the Zoo Daniel Half Human David Chotjewitz, HIGHWATER PRESS, 2015 Sue Denim, translator Doris Orgel illustrator Dav Pilkey Docteur Dog Babette Cole BETTY: THE HELEN BETTY OSBORNE STORY Girls’ Life Head-to-Toe Guide to You Fear Street series R.L. Stein e d i t o r s Sarah Wassner Flynn By David Alexander Robertson a n d Karen Bokram Goosebumps series R.L. Stein Illustrated by Scott B. Henderson 1 Good Families Don’t Robert Munsch, The Harry Potter series J.K. Rowling Written for students in grades 9–12, illustrator Alan Daniel His Dark Materials series Philip Pullman Betty recounts the true story of a young Cree woman who was murdered in Hop on Pop Dr. Seuss The Lesser Blessed Richard Van Camp Manitoba in 1971. Lizzy’s Lion Dennis Lee The Perks of Being a Wallflower In 2018, Betty’s author, David Matthew and the Midnight Flood Stephen Chbosky Alexander Robertson, learned that his Allen Morgan graphic novel was on a list of books that Power Play Eric Walters were “not recommended” by Alberta’s Maxine’s Tree Diane Léger, La première fois e d i t o r Charles Montpetit ministry of education. Betty had been illustrator Dar Churcher read in classrooms for a while. The Shepherd’s Granddaughter Tim Beiser, Some of Robertson’s other books Miss Mousie’s Blind Date Anne Laurel Carter illustrator Rachel Berman have faced school-board challenges as Summer Moon Jan DeLima well. Turn to page 14 for details. Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress2 Christine Baldacchino, Three Wishes: Palestinian and illustrator Isabelle Malenfant Israeli Children Speak Deborah Ellis
My First Ramadan Karen Katz To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee Blankets Craig Thompson
The Sissy Duckling Harvey Fierstein, Trouble Is a Friend of Mine Cage of Eden series, vols. 4 & 5 illustrator Henry Cole Stephanie Tromly Yoshinobu Yamada
22 Freedom to Read 2020 @FreedomToReadWeek @Freedom_to_Read get involved
Graphic Novels (continued) The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas, Non-Fiction a d a p t e d b y Morvan, Dufranne, Darth Maul: Sith Apprentice Rubén a n d Galopin Caring for Your Baby and Young Child Steven P. Shelov Jo Casey a n d Catherine Saunders
Fiction Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul American Gods Neil Gaiman Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Heather McNamara The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz Mordecai Richler Deadly Sins Thomas Pynchon and others
Arvida Samuel Archibald Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the The Book of Negroes4 Lawrence Hill Human Race Jon Stewart
Canadian Poetry: The Modern Era The Facts on Halloween John Ankerberg, e d i t o r John Newlove John Weldon a n d Dillon Burroughs
Claim Me (The Stark Trilogy, Book 2) Fifty Mighty Men Grant MacEwan J. Kenner The Joy of Gay Sex Dr. Charles Silverstein
Close Range: Wyoming Stories Annie Proulx a n d Edmund White
Contes pour buveurs attardés A Practical Guide to Children’s Health Michel Tremblay Kate Tietje The Diviners Margaret Laurence Pride: Celebrating Diversity & Community Fire and Ice Anne Stuart Robin Stevenson Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang Rise to Greatness: The History of Canada Joyce Carol Oates GRAPHIX, 2012 from the Vikings to the Present The Giver Lois Lowry Conrad Black DRAMA By Raina Telgemeier Go the F**k to Sleep Adam Mansbach, Robert Mapplethorpe: The Photographs illustrator Ricardo Cortés Paul Martineau a n d Britt Salvesen In this award-winning graphic novel The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood for tweens, a middle-school class puts The Way I Am Eminem on a theatre production. The storyline How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets What I Meant to Say: The Private includes same-sex crushes and an Garth Stein Lives of Men e d i t o r Ian Brown onstage kiss between two boys. Lady Chatterley’s Lover D.H. Lawrence In January 2019, the Ottawa Catholic School Board removed Drama from its Lives of Girls and Women Alice Munro Magazines elementary school libraries. The board Lolita Vladimir Nabokov had received complaints from parents Allure NOW about the LGBTQ content. Maria Monk Sylvie Ouellette Cosmopolitan Rolling Stone Drama is also one of the books most Marvel’s The Avengers Encyclopedia frequently banned in the United States. Details Self Matt Forbeck and Daniel Wallace Esquire Seventeen Murphy’s Law Colin Bateman Glamour The Graveyard Book, vols. 1 & 2 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck Sports Neil Gaiman, Illustrated Roger Sudden Thomas H. Raddall GQ illustrator P. Craig Russell The Satanic Verses Salman Rushdie Health Teen Vogue Love & Rockets series Gilbert Hernandez 3 a n d Jaime Hernandez Such a Long Journey Rohinton Mistry Maclean’s US Weekly
Les Nombrils Marc Delafontaine Such Is My Beloved Morley Callaghan Men’s Fitness Women’s Health and Maryse Dubuc Three Day Road Joseph Boyden Path of the Warrior Richard Van Camp Canadian Publications The Three Incestuous Sisters 1challenged in the United States and Canada 7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga series Audrey Niffenegger 2challenged in the United States David Alexander Robertson, 3 The Troop: A Novel of Terror Nick Cutter challenged in India illustrator Scott B. Henderson 4challenged in the Netherlands Warlord Ted Bell 5 Tales from the Farm Jeff Lemire The author received a Governor General’s Literary Award for this book. The award, not The Wars Timothy Findley This One Summer2 Mariko Tamaki, the book, was challenged. illustrator Jillian Tamaki The Young in One Another’s Arms Jane Rule freedomtoread.ca Freedom to Read 2020 23 get involved Join the Conversation How to Reach Us During Freedom to Read Week
We keep the conversation going about Freedom to Read Week through our website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Hold an Event
Anyone can host a Freedom to Read Week event! VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOLLOW US ON TWITTER Visit our website at Our website at freedomtoread.ca Year round, the @Freedom_to_Read freedomtoread.ca/events includes a list of challenged materials, Twitter account is your best source to find ideas and information news stories about censorship, clip for news about freedom of expression art and banners, an interactive events and censorship issues in Canada and about events across Canada. A page, resources for educators and abroad. Use the hashtags #FTRWeek great way to start your event is by even more ideas for participating in and #FreedomToRead to have your say! reading this welcome message: Freedom to Read Week. This event is part of Freedom to Read Week, an annual program of the Book and Periodical Council. Freedom to Read Week celebrates intellectual freedom, TAG US ON INSTAGRAM raises awareness of censorship SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER We love to see what you’re up to during and promotes access to books, Once a month, we email a newsletter Freedom to Read Week. Don’t forget to magazines and information in that includes stories about censorship, take lots of photos and follow and tag Canada. To find more information, ideas for getting involved with us @bookandperiodicalcouncil. Freedom to Read Week and a list of visit freedomtoread.ca or follow events and campaigns in your area. @Freedom_to_Read on Twitter. To subscribe, visit our website or Facebook page. Support Freedom to Read
Donate to the Book and Periodical ASK US A QUESTION Council at freedomtoread.ca/ support-freedom-to-read. Your If you have any questions about Freedom to Read Week or freedom of donation makes it possible for the expression in Canada, please email us BPC to publicize free expression LIKE US ON FACEBOOK at [email protected]. issues, promote Freedom to Our Facebook page includes news Read Week and publish our about censorship and challenged books as well as ideas for the defence of the resource kit, campaign poster and freedom to read. Like our page at bookmark. facebook.com/FreedomToReadWeek. Send us news stories and updates Please note: we thank all donors for their about what’s happening in your contributions, but we are unable to give neighbourhood, and we’ll post them charitable tax receipts.
on our timeline. 2019 MARTINEZ, GIL (DETAILS): ILLUSTRATIONS
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Freedom to Read Week: February 23–29, 2020 freedomtoread.ca
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