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CURRENT ISSUES IN FreedomtoReadWeek FREEDOMTOREAD BOOK AND PERIODICAL COUNCIL 2013 volume 29

Ron Deibert Global Security Sleuth

Targeting LGBT Lit Canada’s History of Discrimination Classroom Conversation Ottawa’s Engaging Boys with Content Challenged Books Control Mark Bourrie Dissident on the Hill Artist’s Comeback Franke James’s Sidewalk Show PLUS Prose in the Pen Get Involved An Inmate’s Journey Ideas for Educators e EVERYONE freedomhas the right to OPINION of

AND expression ; this right includes FREEDOM to hold

without interference

and to SEEK, RECEIVE and IMPART

INFORMATION AND ideas through anymedia and regardless of frontiers. e Article 19 U.N. Universal Declaration of Human FREEDOMTOREAD2013 There are worse crimes than burning books,” said the Russian poet Joseph Brodsky. “One of them is not reading them.” Freedom to Read 2013 includes stories about both crimes: Lawrence Hill reflects on the threat to burn his Book of Negroes and I.M. GreNãda writes about the challenge of getting books into prisons. Freedom to Read 2013 explores the shifting forces that threaten our free expression and ❝celebrates those who defend our rights. Ron Deibert discusses his tireless work championing freedom of expression online. Anne Jayne writes about the showdown between the University of and twin brothers who wrote disparaging remarks about their professor on . And Mark Bourrie reveals how journalists have diminishing access to Parliament Hill. Brenda Cossman charts the tradition of censoring lesbian and gay literature in Canada. Charles Montpetit shares the story of Canadian artist and writer Franke James who took her message to the streets (and ) of Ottawa after the federal government denied her arts funding for criticizing Canada’s environmental record. Freedom to Read 2013 also travels the world. Exiled Iranian author Ava Homa shares her story about the perils of being a journalist in Iran. And our “Global View” highlights some of the world’s worst Internet censors. There is much more, including a roundup of current issues in the news, Hilary McLaughlin’s incisive look at Nick Cohen’s You Can’t Read This Book, and our “Get Involved” section which encourages you to celebrate and defend your freedom to read. Josh Bloch, Editor

Please send your comments and ideas for future issues of Freedom to Read to the Book and Periodical Council, Suite 107, 192 Spadina Avenue, , Ontario M5T 2C2. Phone: (416) 975-9366 Fax: (416) 975-1839 E-mail: [email protected] Visit www.freedomtoread.ca for more information. Book and Periodical Council THE BOOK AND PERIODICAL COUNCIL (BPC) WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING FOR THEIR GENEROUS SPONSORSHIP OF FREEDOM TO READ WEEK 2013:

Canadian Library Association

THE BPC WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS FOR THEIR SUPPORT AND IN-KIND DONATIONS:

Nunavut Public Manitoba Library Association Library Services

reva pomer design

THE BPC THANKS THE FOLLOWING FOR THEIR SPONSORSHIP: LINDA CAMERON, CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS, CANADIAN LITERATURE, FELICITER, THE FIDDLEHEAD, GROUNDWOOD BOOKS, HOUSE OF ANANSI PRESS, THE INTERNATIONAL FREE EXPRESSION REVIEW, QUILL AND QUIRE, STUDIES IN CANADIAN LITERATURE AND THE WRITERS’ UNION OF CANADA.

THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE CONTRIBUTED AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF TIME AND ENERGY PRODUCING THE KIT AND POSTER AND MAINTAINING THE WEBSITE: JOSH BLOCH, FRANKLIN CARTER, ANNE MCCLELLAND, PEGGY MCKEE, SCOTT MITCHELL, MARG ANNE MORRISON, REVA POMER, SANDRA RICHMOND, ERIN STROPES AND DAVID WYMAN. WE ALSO THANK THE MEMBERS OF THE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION COMMITTEE: RON BROWN, FRANKLIN CARTER, SANDY CRAWLEY, BRENDAN DE CAIRES, TERI DEGLER, BRIANNE DIANGELO, KATE EDWARDS, AMANDA HOPKINS, DAVID KENT, MARK LEIREN-YOUNG, ANNE MCCLELLAND, MARG ANNE MORRISON (CHAIR), REVA POMER, JANE PYPER, ALVIN SCHRADER AND ERIN STROPES. THE BPC, ALONG WITH THE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION COMMITTEE, THANKS ALL WRITERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS AND ILLUSTRATORS FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE 2013 FREEDOM TO READ KIT. THE BPC GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES THE SUPPORT OF ITS MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS AND THE CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS.

94 ™ 2013 THE BOOK AND PERIODICAL COUNCIL (BPC) WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING FREEDOMTOREAD Contents FOR THEIR GENEROUS SPONSORSHIP OF FREEDOM TO READ WEEK 2013: EDITOR Josh Bloch CONSULTING EDITOR Franklin Carter CREATIVE DIRECTOR Reva Pomer PRODUCTION MANAGER Anne McClelland POSTER DESIGN David Wyman

CONTRIBUTORS Mark Bourrie, Donna Bowman, Ron Brown, Lis Clemens, Brenda Cossman, From left: Ron Deibert, The Body Politic (No.11, 1974) and Ava Homa Teri Degler, Charles Foran, I.M. GreNãda, Lawrence Hill, Ava Homa, Amanda 4 Position Statement: Freedom of 30 Meanwhile in … Hopkins, Anne Jayne, Graeme Lottering, Expression and Freedom to Read By Charles Montpetit Hilary McLaughlin, Charles Montpetit, 4 Book and Periodical Council 32 2012 Awards Alvin M. Schrader, Erin Stropes Members 2012–13 © Book and Periodical Council 2012 34 Challenges to Materials and No part of this publication may be reproduced, 5 NewsBytes Policies in Canadian Libraries stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in By Franklin Carter in 2011 any form or by any means without prior written permission of the Book and Periodical Council or, 8 Cyberspace Visionary: By Donna Bowman and in the case of photocopying or other reprographic Ron Deibert in Conversation Alvin M. Schrader copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright By Josh Bloch Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). 38 Speaking Up for Transparency Please credit the Book and Periodical Council on 11 Leave It to Readers By Charlie Foran any copies of kit materials. Forward all suggestions By Lawrence Hill for future Freedom to Read kits to the Book and 39 Looking Back: A Report from Periodical Council in Toronto. 12 Marginalizing the Media the Writers’ Union of Canada The opinions expressed in Freedom to Read 2013 do not necessarily reflect the official on Parliament Hill By Ron Brown views of the Book and Periodical Council or By Mark Bourrie its member associations. 40 Book Profile: Access Controlled ISBN 978-0-9739099-8-2 15 Unsuitable: Challenging By Graeme Lottering LGBT Censorship By Brenda Cossman 41 Book Profile: Finding the Words By Teri Degler 18 Return of the Blacklist By Charles Montpetit 42 Book Profile: You Can’t Read This Book 20 Echoes from Exile By Hilary McLaughlin By Ava Homa 43 Freedom to Read Week Activities 22 Boys and the Banned and Events Across Canada 2012 By Lis Clemens

24 The Global View: Cyber Censorship in 2012 Get Involved

26 When Students Don’t “Like” 46 Ideas for Educators Professors on Facebook By Anne Jayne 46 Freedom to Read 2013 Quiz

28 Embracing Serendipity in 47 Speak Out for the Freedom the Big House Stacks to Read COVER IMAGE By I.M. GreNãda 48 Freedom to Read Word Search Jaume Plensa, Nomade, 2007 29 Josef Škvorecký (1924–2012) (detail). Promised gift of John and Mary By Amanda Hopkins 48 Challenged Authors Word Search Pappajohn to the Des Moines Art Center. Photo © Rich Sanders 2012 Position Statement thebpc FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND FREEDOM TO READ BOOK AND PERIODICAL COUNCIL A statement of the basic tenets of the Freedom of Expression Committee of the Book and Periodical Council The Book and Periodical Council is the umbrella organization for associations involved in the writing, editing, publishing, “Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms . . . manufacturing, distributing, selling and thought, belief, opinion, and expression.” lending of books and periodicals in Canada. — Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms MEMBERS 2012–13 FULL MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS Freedom of expression is a fundamental right of all Canadians, and freedom to read Access Copyright is part of that precious heritage. Our Committee, representing member organizations Association of Canadian Publishers and associations of the Book and Periodical Council, reaffirms its support of this Canadian Authors Association vital principle and opposes all efforts to suppress writing and silence writers. Words Canadian Library Association and images in their myriad configurations are the substance of free expression. Canadian Publishers’ Council Editors’ Association of Canada The freedom to choose what we read does not, however, include the freedom to League of Canadian Poets choose for others. We accept that courts alone have the authority to restrict reading Literary Press Group of Canada material, a prerogative that cannot be delegated or appropriated. Magazines Canada demeans individual responsibility; it is anathema to freedom and democracy. Periodical Marketers of Canada As writers, editors, publishers, book manufacturers, distributors, retailers and Professional Writers Association of Canada librarians, we abhor arbitrary interpretations of the and other attempts to limit The Writers’ Union of Canada freedom of expression. ASSOCIATE MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS We recognize court judgements; otherwise, we oppose the detention, seizure, Association of Book Publishers of British destruction or banning of books and periodicals—indeed, any effort to deny, repress Columbia or sanitize. Censorship does not protect society; it smothers creativity and precludes Association of Manitoba Book Publishers open debate of controversial issues. Book Publishers Association of Alberta BookNet Canada Endorsed by the Book and Periodical Council Canadian Children’s Book Centre February 5, 1997 Canadian Copyright Institute Ontario Library Association Organization of Book Publishers of Ontario PEN Canada The Word on the Street The Writers’ Trust of Canada AFFILIATES Calyx Ground Transportation Solutions Canpar Transport LP Disticor Magazine Distribution Services Fraser Direct Distribution Services Georgetown Terminal Warehouses Ltd. Pal Benefits Inc. Sameday Worldwide Universal Logistics Inc. BPC EXECUTIVE To Order Kits and Posters Co-Chair: Anita Purcell Freedom to Read kits may be ordered from the Book and Periodical Council for (Canadian Authors Association) $16.50 plus shipping, handling and HST. Orders for 10 kits or more, shipped to Vice Chair: Jack Illingworth a single address, receive a 20 per cent discount and may be accompanied by a (Literary Press Group of Canada) purchase order. Flat, rolled, full-colour posters are available for $10 plus shipping, Past Chair: Stephanie Fysh handling and HST. (GST/HST#R106801889). All orders are non-refundable. (Editors’ Association of Canada) Book and Periodical Council Treasurer: Joanna Poblocka 192 Spadina Avenue, Suite 107, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2C2 (League of Canadian Poets) Phone: (416) 975-9366 | Fax: (416) 975-1839 | E-mail: [email protected] BPC STAFF www.freedomtoread.ca | www.theBPC.ca Executive Director: Anne McClelland facebook.com/FreedomToReadWeek  | .com/Freedom_to_Read Program Co-ordinator: Erin Stropes

4 | FREEDOM TO READ 2013 newsbytes By Franklin Carter Canada

FEDERAL BUDGET CUTS AFFECT LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA In 2012, the Canadian government enacted a budget that reduces the number of librarians and eliminates interlibrary loans at Library and Archives Canada. Approximately 20 per cent of the 500 people who work at Library and Archives Canada will lose their jobs. The layoffs will also close libraries in the immigration, transport and public works departments. Malala Yousafzai, a teenaged girl who The book provides a critical look at On Dec. 11, 2012, Library and was shot in Pakistan for encouraging the way mining companies and the Archives Canada stopped interlibrary girls to read and write. government behave in Canada. loans of books and other resources. The students want to honour the Talonbooks had originally sched- The interlibrary loan program Pakistani activist who stood up for uled publication for May 2010. But on officially ends in February 2013. children’s education. Feb. 12, 2010, the publisher received a The budget cuts have alarmed Two students in Milton—Zainab letter from the lawyers who represent librarians and academics. Azim and Arial Gladwish—got the Barrick Gold . “This is seen as something that just idea after they returned from a class The letter demanded “a copy of affects historians, but it’s much more trip to the United Nations where they any portion of the manuscript or text far-reaching than that,” said W. Craig had learned about Yousafzai. They of Imperial Canada Inc. that makes Heron, a professor of history at York asked friends and family to urge the direct or indirect reference to Barrick, University in Toronto. “This will affect Halton District School Board to name Sutton Resources Ltd., or to any of students, teachers, genealogists, a school after her. their past or present subsidiaries, artists and anyone with a keen The students’ campaign to honour affiliates, directors or officers.” The interest in research or history.” Yousafzai is part of a bigger, world- letter promised legal action to protect But a spokeswoman for the wide trend. In November, all four of Barrick’s reputation if Talonbooks Department of Canadian Heritage Canada’s political leaders signed a failed to comply. said Library and Archives Canada that expresses their desire to Talonbooks considered cancelling still has enough money to fulfill its see the Nobel Peace Prize bestowed publication of the book to avoid a mandate. on Yousafzai in 2013. Similar costly lawsuit but eventu- “Library and Archives Canada is exist in other countries. ally let Barrick’s lawyers vet the man- working to digitize its collection,” uscript so that the published book said Jessica Fletcher. “Canadians in LEGALLY SENSITIVE BOOK ABOUT does not damage Barrick’s reputation. all regions of the country will have MINING PUBLISHED access to our history, at less cost to In the autumn of 2012, a B.C. AUTHOR OF ANTI-GAY LETTER taxpayers.” publisher released a book about WINS BATTLE IN COURT mining in Canada after a two-and- On Oct. 17, 2012, the Court of Appeal MILTON STUDENTS SEEK TO a-half year delay. in Alberta ruled on a 10-year-old HONOUR PAKISTANI ACTIVIST Talonbooks published Imperial dispute over the publication of an In November 2012, elementary Canada Inc.: Legal Haven of Choice anti-gay letter in a small-town students in Milton, Ont., campaigned for the World’s Mining Industries by newspaper. to have a public school named after Alain Deneault and William Sacher. NEWSBYTES CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 5 NEWSBYTES

NEWSBYTES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 The U.N.’s Human Rights Council All Conservatives present in the The court unanimously ruled in periodically reviews the human House voted for the bill. Only one favour of the letter’s author, Stephen rights records of U.N. member states. opposition MP—Scott Simms, a Boissoin, and against the man who Canada’s record is scheduled for Liberal—voted for the bill. Prime complained about the letter, Darren review in 2013. Minister and a few Lund. The brief—which is entitled other MPs were not present for the In 2002, Boissoin—a Christian Submission to the 16th Session of the vote. youth pastor—sent the letter to the Universal Periodic Review on the State The bill, which was named C-304, Red Deer Advocate. He attacked of Freedom of Expression in Canada— was sponsored by Conservative gay-friendly policies in public is posted on the Internet. MP Brian Storseth. On June 7, schools. Lund, a teacher, complained he described the vote as “a really to the Alberta Human Rights and CONRAD BLACK SUES BOOK important step for freedom of Citizenship Commission (AHRCC). PUBLISHER FOR DEFAMATION expression in our country.” In 2007, a panel of the AHRCC ruled In June 2012, Conrad Black filed a Storseth said section 13 is a “vague that the letter was likely to expose $1.25 million defamation lawsuit and highly subjective law” that gays and lesbians to hatred or con- against the publisher and author human rights tribunals have been tempt. In 2008, the panel ordered of a book about financial crimes in using to suppress Canadians’ right to Boissoin to pay a $5,000 fine and to Canada. free expression. He said the courts are stop disparaging gays and lesbians. The book is called Thieves of better equipped to enforce the still- Citing his freedom of expression Bay Street: How Banks, Brokerages existing ban on hateful expression in and religion rights, Boissoin appealed and the Wealthy Steal Billions from the Criminal Code. the ruling. In 2009, Alberta’s Court of Canadians. Written by Bruce Livesey, Queen’s Bench overturned the ruling. the book was published by Random International The panel had committed legal errors House of Canada in 2012. and had violated Boissoin’s rights, the Black—a former press baron— IRANIAN AUTHORS judge said. filed the lawsuit in Ontario’s Superior Lund appealed to the Court of Court of Justice against Random More than 100 Iranian authors have Appeal to overturn the ruling of House of Canada, Livesey, publisher called for an end to book censorship the Court of Queen’s Bench, but his Anne Collins and two editors. Black in the Islamic Republic of Iran. appeal failed. objects to his portrayal in four Their demand appeared on Dec. 2, passages in the book. 2012, in an open letter posted on the CANADIANS SUBMIT CONCERNS His statement of claim says that the Pendar website. Signatories include ABOUT EXPRESSION RIGHTS TO book has exposed Black to “hatred, Simin Behbahani, Mohammad Ghaed UNITED NATIONS ridicule and contempt in Canada.” and Farkhondeh Hajizadeh. In October 2012, five Canadian Random House of Canada says In Iran, authors must receive organizations expressed their con- that it “stands behind our author formal permission from the ministry cerns to the United Nations about and his right to report on matters of culture before their works can be freedom of expression in Canada. of fundamental public interest.” legally published. The organizations—Canadian But important officials in Iran, such Journalists for Free Expression, the HOUSE OF COMMONS REPEALS as Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Centre for Law and Democracy, A BAN ON the supreme leader of the republic, Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, PEN On June 6, 2012, the House of support censorship. Canada and the B.C. Freedom of Commons voted for a bill that repeals Khamenei has criticized books that Information and Privacy Association— the clauses in the Canadian Human convey “hidden political motives.” In submitted an 11-page brief to the Rights Act that ban the spread of 2011, he said that “harmful books” U.N.’s Human Rights Council. hateful messages. should not enter Iran’s book market. The brief identifies “significant Members of Parliament (MPs) shortcomings” in the Canadian voted 153 to 136 to repeal sections NOBEL PRIZE WINNER DEFENDS and policies that affect access to gov- 13 and 54 of the act. Section 13 bans CENSORSHIP ernment information, whistleblower the transmission of hateful messages In 2012, the Swedish Academy award- protection, defamation lawsuits, First against identifiable minorities by ed the Nobel Prize for literature to Mo Nations’ access to the Internet and telephone or on the Internet. Section Yan, a Chinese communist author even . 54 lists penalties such as fines. who publicly defends state censorship.

6 | FREEDOM TO READ 2013 On Dec. 6, at a news conference in Stockholm, Mo likened censorship to airport security checks. He also suggested that a principled censor- ship would suppress rumours and defamation but not the truth. Mo is the author of many novels, short stories and essays. His best- known work outside is Red Sorghum which was published in 1987 and made into a movie. He is the vice-president of China’s official writers’ association. Several authors criticized the Swedish Academy for bestowing the prize on Mo. Herta Müller—a refugee IRSHAD MANJI Photo by Jimmy Jeong from Romanian communism and win- of Allah, and Love is not just ner of the Nobel Prize for literature in AUTHOR GETS HOSTILE a disappointment; it is an insult to a 2009—said the decision was a “catas- RECEPTION IN ASIA new generation of Malaysians,” said trophe.” described In 2012, while promoting her Manji in a statement. “Censorship Mo as “a patsy” of China’s regime. new book Allah, Liberty and Love treats citizens like children. Censor- in Southeast Asia, Irshad Manji ship denies human beings their free MYANMAR ABOLISHES encountered threats of . In will to think for themselves.” PRE-PUBLICATION CENSORSHIP one country, her book was banned. Manji’s publisher in Malaysia In August 2012, the Ministry of Manji favours the reform of Islam. appealed the ban in court. Information in Myanmar (Burma) She frequently receives death threats abolished pre-publication censorship. from orthodox Muslims who accuse AMERICAN LIBRARY Authors, journalists, poets, illus- her of promoting homosexuality. ASSOCIATION NAMES MOST trators and photographers were On May 4, Manji arrived in Jakarta, CHALLENGED BOOKS no longer required to submit their Indonesia. Police cut short her first In 2011, the most frequently chal- work to the ministry’s Press Scrutiny appearance—at a cultural centre— lenged books in U.S. public libraries and Registration Division (PSRD) to when angry members of the Islamic belonged to a series of young-adult receive permission to publish. Defenders Front gathered outside novels written by Lauren Myracle, “Censorship began on 6 August the building. A few days later, secu- announced the American Library 1964 and ended 48 years and two rity threats prompted Gadjah Mada Association (ALA). weeks later,” said Tint Swe, the PSRD’s University to cancel an event. The three novels—ttyl (Talk to You chief censor. On May 9, Indonesian Muslims Later), ttfn (Ta Ta for Now) and l8r, g8r Myanmar’s civilian government, attacked a book chat with shouts of (Later, Gator)—were written entirely which recently replaced a military “Where is Manji?” People shielded in the style of instant text messages. dictatorship, has been easing restric- Manji from the attackers, but a col- The books tell the stories of fictional tions on the population since 2011. league—Emily Rees—was struck on teenaged girls. But the government has not entirely the arm by a metal bar and rushed to Americans who sought to have abandoned censorship. hospital. Two other people suffered these books removed from libraries Newspapers and magazines must head injuries. objected to “offensive language” and still obtain licences to publish. Later in May, Manji visited Malaysia. “sexually explicit” references. They Journalists may be legally punished In Kuala Lumpur, government officials claimed the series was unsuited to if they publish stories that anger or raided bookstores to confiscate copies the intended readers’ age group. offend government officials. of Allah, Liberty and Love. Then, on In 2011, the ALA’s Office for The government also lifted May 24, after receiving a critical report received 326 restrictions on approximately 30,000 from the Department of Islamic reports of challenges to materials (i.e., Internet sites and granted readers Development, Malaysia’s Ministry of books, magazines, DVDs) in U.S. pub- access to online political content for Home Affairs banned the book. lic libraries. In 2010, the number of the first time. “The Malaysian government’s ban reported challenges was 348. 

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 7 perspectives

Cyberspace Visionary RON DEIBERT Photo by Nicolett Jakab

 Ron Deibert is one of the most important and prominent figures defending human rights and free expression in the rapidly

shifting frontier of media and technology.

8 | FREEDOM TO READ 2013 ftr 2013

He is the director of the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies and the Citizen Lab research centre at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. Deibert has written numerous articles and books on technology and world politics including Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering (2008), Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights, and Rule in Cyberspace (2010) and Access Contested: Security, Identity, and Resistance in Asian Cyberspace (2011). Josh Bloch spoke with Deibert in June 2012. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Ron Deibert in Conversation with Josh Bloch

J.B. How did you first get involved in freedom of expression been a traditional academic who tended to work in a silo and human rights? as a lone academic. R.D. I’ve always been pretty passionate about free J.B. That was back in 2001, and Citizen Lab seemed to expression and access to information and privacy. But it was quickly gain momentum. What was that process like for you? only in the course of my research into what content govern- R.D. I am not so sure it was quick. At the beginning of Citizen ments can control online—a very practical and empirical Lab, we asked, “How do we exploit these new technologies question—did I begin to understand that the space which to mobilize citizens to exercise their human rights?” But we call “cyberspace” is becoming an object of intense then we started getting into this almost forensic research. struggle. And the human rights which we take for granted The people who came to the lab came with computer and online—which we think are kind of magically connected to networking skills, and I had an interest in security issues, the technology—are very fragile and under threat. especially in information technology and J.B. What made you decide to create the Citizen Lab at the signals intelligence. We married those things through col- University of Toronto? laborative partnerships with other universities to build a R.D. The aim of the Citizen Lab was to bring together research program on what I have described as lifting the lid researchers who had different skill sets from different dis- on the Internet. ciplines to work on common projects under the rubric J.B. When did your focus turn to international issues? of human rights and cyberspace and global security. It R.D. There were a couple key touchstones. One would be was my first attempt to do something collaborative and the founding of the OpenNet Initiative which I helped build practical and interdisciplinary. Up until that point, I had RON DEIBERT CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 9 perspectives

RON DEIBERT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 and defending a vision of global cyberspace that protects and create in 2002. The aim of that project was to document human rights. patterns of worldwide. That’s when we J.B. Is the biggest threat to cybersecurity coming from started doing our first reports on China and Saudi Arabia governments or ? and Iran. I think the next big area for us was when we started R.D. When it comes to threats, I’m not sure how one would exploring the tools that people use to get around Internet weigh one institution against another. But we are delegating censorship. We developed a software called Psiphon which control over a large volume of personal data to private was released in December 2006. And shortly thereafter we companies. [The situation] today is fundamentally different released Everyone’s Guide to By-Passing Internet Censorship than it was five or 10 years ago. This very phone call we which was translated into different languages. Those, I are having is likely being stored and recorded somewhere. think, put us on the media radar. However long it is archived really depends on the private J.B. How has the battle to protect free expression and company and its terms of service. human rights online changed over the past decade? So our experiences are mediated by the private sector R.D. The context has changed dramatically just in the last which owns the vast majority of cyberspace. If they don’t few years. Many more governments are now cognizant of properly secure their networks, our private information cyberspace; they have cybersecurity strategies. Within the could be vulnerable. But more importantly, if they are armed forces, they are maybe developing capabilities to required to retain and share that information with law equip themselves to fight and win wars through the medium enforcement intelligence without proper oversight, our of cyberspace. The cybercrime underworld has exploded basic freedoms are put at peril. I think we have to very care- because so many more people are sharing information and fully understand the ecosystem that we have created and using new modes of communicating—such as cloud com- that we have consented to and that we participate in. puting and social networking and mobile—that only three J.B. What are you doing next? or four years ago were barely noticeable. All of that together R.D. We just finished a workshop in Latin America. That was has really changed the dynamics of cyberspace. eyeopening for us because the context and the challenges in Latin America for human rights are very different. I can’t On top of that, you have a really concerted debate on the say it’s exciting. It’s horrific in some respects because the governance of cyberspace that is much more intense now violence in that part of the world is so endemic. The threats than it was even two or three years ago. I think we are at a to free expression in that part of the world—especially in watershed moment when the rules of the road of cyberspace Mexico and Honduras—don’t come from the government or are being written. I fear that we may look back 10 years from the private sector; they come from organized crime. That’s a now and say there was a brief moment when we had this new challenge that we’re going to have to deal with. open global platform for citizen-to-citizen communication, J.B. How is Internet freedom an issue of freedom of and it became progressively territorialized and nationalized. expression and freedom to read? J.B. What is the Canadian government’s role in this shift? R.D. Whatever vehicle we use to communicate to exchange R.D. I think the Canadian government is slow to develop information or deliberate, we need to ensure that it is a comprehensive approach to cyberspace. We are not properly structured and monitored in a way that creates among the countries that are aggressively defending the greatest latitude for free expression. The challenges and debating a vision of cyberspace as an open and secure are constantly changing. So in the environment that we commons of information. It’s unfortunate because I think live in today, where the primary means of communicating as a country we have a long historical experience with information are online and mediated by third parties now communications and telecommunications and communi- subject to greater government control, it’s essential that we cations theory. It goes back to Harold Innis and Marshall try our best to monitor what is going on and then protect McLuhan and William Gibson—the father of cyberspace. and preserve a vision of cyberspace that is decentralized So it’s unfortunate that we are not more assertively defining and distributed as a bulwark for human rights worldwide.

10 | FREEDOM TO READ 2013 ftr 2013 Leave It to Readers

In 2011, a group in Amsterdam named the Foundation to Honour and Restore Payments to the Victims of Slavery in Suriname burned the cover of the Dutch edition of The Book of Negroes by the award-winning Canadian author Lawrence Hill. The group objected to the novel’s title.

In April 2012, Lawrence Hill delivered From a practical standpoint, book Het negerboek by Lawrence Hill. Translated by Ineke Willems (Amsterdam: Ailantus, 2011) the Henry Kreisel Commemorative censorship seems ludicrous. You Lecture at the University of Alberta in can find all manner of violence, hate, appalled if I found a Grade 1 teacher Edmonton. The lecture was entitled and filth on the Internet, reading racist literature to his or “Burn It: On Banning, Burning and and on television, and in film. We her six-year-old charges. I’m sure I Other Inspired Responses to Books.” don’t seem to get too exercised about would have some questions to ask. I The following is an excerpt. that. Many or most young people in would make sure to speak to my own Canada have access to the Net and to children—although mine are now We can hate them, dissect them, television, and a great many of them well past that age—about the book, learn from them or praise them, but have unrestricted access. Between the and its bias, and its limitations in my we need to leave books alone and let Net and television and film, there is view. This is my right as a parent. But, readers come to terms with them. We something in the palette of colours unless the book violated our hate can teach young people to be aware to meet virtually every definition of laws or some other Canadian law, I and critical thinkers. But to believe gross, and to offend virtually every don’t believe that I could argue that it that we can protect young people person on the planet. But heaven should be removed entirely from the from the ideas in literature is self- forbid that our children read a book school library, or made inaccessible to delusional, in the extreme. In today’s about gay penguins in the Central children who wanted to read it. Even electronic age, dissidents who are Park Zoo! It seems misplaced, and a when we are dealing with children prosecuted and persecuted in a coun- case of taking colossally unfair aim and their reading choices, we need to try such as China are more likely to be at literature, to scream so loudly over be aware that it is hypocritical to say: bloggers than novelists. Still, even in the perceived offensiveness in I can read this and handle it but the year 2012, the book holds a special literature alone. others must be protected from it. place in the world of argument. To Now, let’s consider the thornier Books are expressions of human those who would ban them and to problem of grossly hateful or offen- thought. If they are published, then those who would defend them, books sive material in the schools. What do they are legitimate targets of criticism remain symbols of ideas, defiance, we do about it? . . . and . But I just don’t think originality and individuality—loved I openly admit that in the neigh- we should be burning or banning by some for the very same reasons bourhood of Hamilton, where I live them or choosing to make them that they are despised by others. with my wife and children, I would be inaccessible. 

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 11 perspectives Marginalizing the

on Parliament Hill By Mark Bourrie

In October 2007, Toronto Star reporter Tonda MacCharles received plans for a $2-million media briefing room that would be controlled by the Prime Minister’s Office. The proposal, which was code-named the Shoe Store Project, was for a government-controlled TV studio and press conference centre that would replace the National Press Theatre, which is run by Parliament Hill media.

he government planned to convert an empty shoe if Harper’s communications department revives the plan, store on Ottawa’s Sparks Street Mall into a media which was supposedly shelved after MacCharles’s story came centre to circumvent the Canadian Parliamentary out. The Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery, which has Press Gallery’s control of important press confer- been battered by years of struggle against Harper’s erosion Tences. The Shoe Store Project would give Prime Minister of its ability to gather information and by waves of cuts to Stephen Harper’s political staff the power to determine its membership, is not in much of a position to fight back which reporters would be allowed into the new centre and against the government’s communication machine. who would be allowed to ask questions. They would even use The Shoe Store Project hardly came as a surprise to the built-in cameras to control the images of the prime minister Ottawa media. Since the 2006 election, Harper’s staffers had and edit the film doled out to the major networks. drastically reduced media access to the prime minister and There is little doubt that the national media will swallow members of cabinet. whatever pride they have left and use the new media theatre Harper stopped holding regular Thursday cabinet meetings

12 | FREEDOM TO READ 2013 ftr 2013 Marginalizing the Media

on the third floor of the Centre Block. Traditionally, cabinet access to information requests by designating some requests ministers answered reporters’ questions as they left the for special handling. Former Information Commissioner Thursday meeting. Now, the time and location of cabinet Robert Marleau found that bureaucrats put “amber lighting” meetings are secret. on selected information requests. These requests came from Scrums—the interviews of ministers as they leave the journalists, parliamentarians and immigration lawyers. House of Commons after question period—were also scaled The Canadian Newspaper Association found that “more back. Ministers who faced tough questions in the House than one in four of all requests designated for special now left the chamber by the back door, and reporters were handling comes from media requesters, even though fewer forbidden to stake out those exits. Stephen Harper, who had than one in six requests overall come from the media. In fact, been known for his long scrums when he was an opposition media requests are about twice as likely to get the tougher MP, simply ignores the media. treatment as requests overall.” There’s not much that members of the press gallery can do. MARGINALIZING THE MEDIA CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 They have tried to negotiate with Harper’s communications directors, apparently in the hope that familiarity will create some common ground. That hasn’t worked. Harper’s marginalization of the media is a continuation of a trend that began under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. In   the years leading up to Harper’s first minority win in 2006, the of reporters on Parliament Hill was sharply restricted. Many of the Hill’s journalists are experts in the operation of the public service, access to information, parliamen- tary procedure, policy development and the workings of the Freedom Supreme Court. Each year, more jobs die. The sick state of commercial media has also played into of the press is more than the hands of those who want to control news coverage and delegitimize the role of journalists in the political system. Media managers have helped smother the ability of voters to just the liberty to print follow national politics and to know about the work of their own MPs. and broadcast the news. Once elected, Harper’s government tried to screw down the lid on information collected and used by public servants. His government slowed down the flow of material released under

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 13 perspectives

MARGINALIZING THE MEDIA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 problems faced by its own reporters who had tried to write Reporters who try to cover national affairs are up against about Canadian science policies. Since President George W. approximately 3,000 media relations staffers in the Ottawa Bush had left office, the had reversed many bureaucracy, along with the communications staff of lobby of the restraints on government-employed scientists. At the firms that often have a vested interest in killing stories and same time, Canada had tightened them. undermining the credibility of journalists. “The Harper government’s poor record on openness has Even Harper supporters have not been immune to their been raised by this publication before . . . and Nature’s leader’s thirst for control: Tom Flanagan, Harper’s political news reporters, who have an obvious interest in access to and academic mentor, was driven out when he wrote Harper’s scientific information and expert opinion, have experienced Team without clearing the book with the boss. The prime directly the cumbersome approval process that stalls or minister had tried to talk Flanagan into killing the book, prevents meaningful contact with Canada’s publicly funded which had very little controversial material. scientists,” the editorial said. Flanagan later told author Lawrence Martin that Harper In July, more than 3,000 scientists marched on Parliament didn’t want Flanagan to write any book, no matter how sup- Hill, demanding the right to speak and be quoted. They portive it might be. should also demand that the owners of the media employ The Prime Minister’s Office has crafted an information journalists who understand what they have to say. control system that ensures no one in the government speaks Very few of the surviving journalists have beats. There without permission. Tory politicians and public servants in aren’t enough bodies around, even in the bureaus of the CBC the bureaucracy can’t do media interviews unless the Prime and the big Toronto newspapers, for reporters to be able to Minister’s Office approves the “message event proposals” devote their days to specialized reporting. With fewer people that lay out the content of the interview, the length, and the to write hard copy, prepare web content and file film clips for visuals that may be used. web pages, most Hill reporters can’t take chances on stories Scientists say these rules have muzzled them. Their com- that may not pan out. Investigative reporting, when it’s done plaints began when Environment Canada climatologist at all, is something that happens when reporters have filed Mark Tushingham booked the National Press Club for the their quota of stories. launch of his novel Hotter Than Hell. Harper’s officials is more than just the liberty to print told Tushingham to cancel the event, even though Hotter and broadcast the news. People have the right to know how Than Hell is a work of fiction. Scientists across the civil important national decisions are being made. They also service claim the Harper government tries to muzzle them to have the right to be heard by those who govern them. But in prevent informed national discussions on issues such as Ottawa, information has become a commodity in the hands climate change. of a very small number of partisans. In March 2012, the journal Nature, one of the world’s most The lifeblood of democracy is being bled dry.  prestigious science publications, came down on the side of Mark Bourrie is the author of The Fog of War: Censorship of the muzzled scientists. In an editorial, Nature told of the Canada’s Media in World War Two. It was published in 2011.

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able By Brenda Cossman challengingLGBTcensrship Canada has a long, illustrious history of censorship. Since 1867, it would seem that a defining characteristic of Canadian national identity has been to censor, particularly at our borders, to make sure that material that would “deprave and corrupt” was not permitted entry into our country.

he censorship of gay and lesbian materials is more of Émile Zola, Guy de Maupassant and Honoré de Balzac recent, largely paralleling the rise of the gay and at the turn of the century to those of James Joyce and D.H. lesbian liberation movement in the 1970s. Not that Lawrence in the 1920s to pulp novels in the 1950s. gay- and lesbian-themed material wasn’t censored There were some gay- and lesbian-themed titles among the Tbefore the 1970s; it was. But the heyday of LGBT censorship banned books: Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness made follows the emergence of gay and lesbian liberation in the the list in 1928, and Jean Genet’s The Thief’s Journal made 1970s and 1980s. The story of censorship is a story of LGBT the list in 1959. Pulp novels with gay and lesbian themes were liberation and the struggle for equality rights. also stopped in the 1950s. But these were relatively isolated Since the nineteenth century, customs officials have rou- events, as there simply wasn’t that much explicitly gay and tinely scrutinized, seized and destroyed printed materials lesbian literature out there. at Canada’s borders. The targets changed from the novels CHALLENGING LGBT CENSORSHIP CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 15 perspectives

CHALLENGING LGBT CENSORSHIP CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 In 1985, the customs law—which allowed the censorship That began to change in the 1970s. By this time, porno- of material that was “immoral or indecent”—was found graphy had become the major target of customs censorship, unconstitutional. But it was quickly replaced with a new and increasingly large amounts of material were seized at the law, prohibiting the importation of material that would border. The 1970s also witnessed the proliferation of gay and be considered obscene under the Criminal Code. The lesbian presses, magazines, books, poetry and pornography. federal government introduced guidelines—the notorious As gay and lesbian liberation became more visible, so too did Memorandum D9-1-1—which were intended to help cus- efforts by the government to censor this material, both at our toms agents determine whether materials were obscene. borders and in our courts. One provision targeted anal sex, prohibiting “depictions or Nothing highlights this trend better than the criminal descriptions of anal penetration.” While the section applied prosecutions of The Body Politic, founded in 1971 to gay and straight depictions alike, the provision was and described as Canada’s gay newspaper used with gusto to seize and destroy gay of record. The Body Politic was twice materials, particularly those headed to charged with publishing obscene gay and lesbian bookstores. Glad Day materials. First it was charged Bookshop in Toronto, Androgyne in 1977 for publishing Gerald in and Little Sister’s in Hannon’s “Men Loving Boys The criminal were all targets of Loving Men” article. The prosecutions against customs censorship. Body Politic was acquitted Little Sister’s first tried at trial, but the govern- The Body Politic to challenge the targeting ment appealed and a new of gay and lesbian materi- trial was ordered. Just are hard to see as anything als by Canada Customs weeks before the news- following the seizure paper went back to trial other than government of The Advocate—a gay in May 1982, Toronto’s news magazine—in 1987. morality squad raided its persecution of a leading Two weeks before the offices again, and a second voice in this emerging trial, where Little Sister’s set of charges was laid, this was also going to challenge time for an article about fist- movement. the constitutionality of the ing entitled “Lust with a Very law—Canada Customs did an Proper Stranger.” about-face and decided that the The Body Politic was acquit- magazines were not obscene. But, ted on both charges. But these were oops, they had already destroyed the costly, protracted legal affairs. And they were copies. directed at the major gay and lesbian newspaper in LGBT censorship—and resistance—seemed to Canada: a newspaper that was at the forefront of gay and les- reach its peak in the 1990s. , another hub bian liberation. Presses and bookstores, bars and bathhouses of gay and lesbian organizing, spent decades fighting censor- were proliferating. And so was their surveillance. ship. Shipments of gay and lesbian material were routinely In an infamous Toronto police raid in 1981, approximately seized en route to the store. Several times, Glad Day chal- 300 men were arrested at four bathhouses. The Body Politic lenged these seizures in court. And several times, they lost. was hardly a neutral observer, bearing witness to the vio- In a 1992 case, an Ontario court upheld the seizures, lence done that night and mobilizing the political and legal finding each and every gay magazine, story and comic to be resistance that followed. The criminal prosecutions against obscene. The reasoning was a journey in unsubtle homopho- The Body Politic are hard to see as anything other than bia, where the mere representation of gay sex was “degrading government persecution of a leading voice in this emerging and dehumanizing.” movement. That same year, Glad Day came under criminal scrutiny. In The Body Politic won. But the censorship of gay and les- April 1992, the Toronto police seized Bad Attitude—a maga- bian material was hardly over. Rather, much of the targeting zine of lesbian erotic fiction—and charged the store and its shifted to bookstores, and Canada Customs played a heavy owner with . The trial focused primarily on the fic- hand. tional articles containing accounts of lesbian sadomasochist

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sex. The court found the material to be obscene. It insisted and destruction of the materials en route to the bookstore. obscenity had nothing to do with sexual orientation, saying The targeting continued. In 2002, Little Sister’s filed a third that if one of the women were replaced with a man, every- case against Canada Customs’s seizure of two collections of one would agree the material would present a risk of harm gay adult comics. This time, the bookstore tried a special (defined in obscenity law as harm toward women). procedure that would force the government to pay the This move—which I have described elsewhere as hetero- bookstore’s costs in advance. In 2007, the Supreme Court switching—was a remarkable attempt to erase the specificity of Canada rejected the request. Little Sister’s lost. And this of lesbian representations. Glad Day was guilty as charged. time, no funding meant no challenge. Little Sister’s waved And despite the court’s attempted insistence that sexual the white flag in the face of ongoing harassment and orientation was not a factor, it was more than a little bit discrimination. apparent that heterosexual pornography was rarely if Today, we hear less about the censorship of gay and ever criminally prosecuted. lesbian materials at our borders or in our Glad Day was not alone. In the 1990s, courts. Law enforcement has moved in the face of continued targeting of to newer pastures, and far more gay and lesbian materials en route attention is directed at child to their store, Little Sister’s tried pornography. With the perva- again to challenge the law. In siveness of pornography on 1994, just before the trial, the Internet—every depic- the government revised tion imaginable only two Memorandum D9-1-1, or three clicks away—the removing the anal pen- idea of censoring gay and etration provisions. But lesbian sexually explicit according to Little Sister’s materials may seem like not much changed. Now a relic of the late twenti- the gay sexual represen- eth century. tations were just deemed Although the LGBT by Canada Customs to be movement has been “degrading and dehuman- remarkably successful, at izing.” They were seized. And least in establishing formal destroyed. equality rights for gay men At trial, the court upheld the and lesbians, homophobia and law, but found that Canada Customs censorship have not disappeared. had discriminated against gay and The Canada Border Services Agency lesbian Canadians by blocking gay publica- (CBSA), as it is now called, still sees fit to tions at the border. An appeal worked its way to the stop gay titles. Gay fetish material continues to be , which agreed with the trial court: a favourite. Officials have detained films with gay themes on the law was perfectly constitutional, but Canada Customs the way to gay film festivals, including a PG-rated film about had unfairly targeted gay and lesbian materials. gay adoption (Patrik, Age 1.5). They seize personal computers Then the court pulled its punch: it gave no remedy. Canada because of gay porn. Customs claimed to have made lots of changes to its admin- Battles continue at more local levels. Schools and libraries istration in the intervening time. In the absence of more ban gay- and lesbian-themed books, and printers refuse evidence, the court was not prepared to conclude that the to publish gay-themed publications. And the front lines of changes were inadequate. The court told Little Sister’s that it LGBT censorship may have shifted once more. Now social could always launch another action if necessary. media giants, such as Facebook and YouTube, remove LGBT After 15 years and a court record that Canada Customs sexual content from their sites over and over again. had engaged in overzealous, targeted discrimination against On the censorship front we have won many battles, but it gay and lesbian materials, Little Sister’s was told to just trust still ain’t over.  Canada Customs. If customs agents didn’t clean up their Brenda Cossman is a professor of law at the University of act, well, the little bookstore could bring a third legal action. Toronto and the author of Sexual Citizens: The Legal and Which doesn’t come cheap. Or fast. Or stop the seizures Cultural Regulation of Sex and Belonging.

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 17 perspectives

Return f the Blacklist By Charles Montpetit or most creators, a touring exhibition in Europe might seem like a pipe dream. Yet in the spring of 2011, that’s exactly what the Croatian Forganization Nektarina Non Profit offered Torontonian Franke James, who had penned and illustrated the award-winning books Bothered by My Green Conscience and Dear Office Politics. In addition to purchasing the displayed artwork, Nektarina would even organize seminars pertaining to James’s social concerns. But there was a rub: James had posted on her website a “visual essay” entitled Dear Prime Minister, which asked why Stephen Harper’s stance against penalizing ecological offend- ers was “making us choose between the economy and the environment.” FRANKE JAMES IN OTTAWA Photo by Billiam James It also pointed out that tar sands were had pledged $75,000 in funding was two entire pages to it—and then Canada’s “fastest growing source of soon persuaded to do the same. In spread to international venues such pollution” and queried, “Why are we the end, the group had to cancel the as the India Times, the Brazilian giving the oil industry a free ride?” entire project. Estadão and . This kind of irreverence didn’t Franke James was aghast. The James also hit Foreign Affairs with go unnoticed, and an embassy problem wasn’t the loss of a token an access to information request that official informed Nektarina’s exhibi- government grant, she wrote in her yielded no fewer than 1,500 pages tion organizer, Sandra Antonovic, blog. The deeper issue was tolerance of internal documents about her, that “this artist speaks against the of dissent in a democracy: “I thought including one which contradicted the Canadian government” (even though the Canadian embassies were there department’s denial of interference the offending essay wasn’t part of the to help all Canadians. . . . The govern- and traced the funding cancellation show). Meanwhile, the Department ment should not be telling anyone back to one Jeremy Wallace, deputy of Foreign Affairs and International not to exhibit my art, just because I director for Climate Change. Trade vetoed a $5,000 grant which disagree with unethical oil.” Things did not stop there either. had been in the pipeline to support Fighting Back That summer, the artist was referred the tour, arguing that “funding was She first vented on Twitter, which led to San Francisco’s Colin Mutchler, co- never withdrawn nor was it guaran- to significant coverage on the websites founder of the crowd-funded media- teed.” Canadian embassies through- of Greenpeace, Care2 and The Tyee, buying platform LoudSauce.com, out Europe cut off communications B.C.’s online news journal. The story primed for its first foray on Canadian with the author and, according to snowballed to dozens of Canadian soil. He suggested using either a bill- Nektarina, a corporate sponsor who dailies—Montreal’s La Presse devoted board or street-level ads to showcase

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James’s banned works in the national of “Three Women Who Fought Back of the International Centre for capital. “Wouldn’t it be funny to put Against the Conservatives” in a year- Human Rights and Democratic your art in Ottawa,” he told her, “right end review. Development, accused of improper where the prime minister can see it?” “One Voice” management and linked to terror- James had to laugh at the simple The Tories may not be the only ist factions but entirely exonerated audacity of the concept. LoudSauce’s politicians who try to silence dissent, after his death in January of 2010; forum enables anyone to submit a but they certainly covered a lot of • Marty Cheliak, RCMP chief project description, complete with ground in this respect when they superintendent and longtime the amount of money needed and a rose to power. Among other things, supporter of Canada’s long-gun deadline by which the sum has to be they implemented a 2007 protocol registry, removed from his post in raised. Visitors respond with micro- forbidding Environment Canada August of 2010, a few weeks before pledges of support, and in return, the employees from speaking to the Parliament started its drive to creator can offer rewards to match media without prior approval from abolish said registry; and each donation level—say, signed experts—“one • Sean Bruyea, Gulf War officer, books or lithographs. The pledges are department, one voice,” they argued. journalist and veterans’ advocate, only cashed in (and the incentives They kept so many researchers from accused of mental illness after delivered) if the stated goal is reached publishing data that the coverage private medical information was when the deadline rolls around. of climate change fell by over 80 illegally accessed, which got him to Once again, the combined mobiliz- per cent, according to their own sue the government and win a rare ing powers of the social networks, the numbers (Science Magazine, February apology in November of 2010. blogosphere and the press coverage 2012). This prompted protesters to Voices-voix hasn’t been the sole

“Come and see what the government didn’t want the world to see.” Green Party leader ELIZABETH MAY did not disappoint: a few weeks later, hold a mock funeral for the “body of chronicler of the rise in enough people had chipped in to rent evidence” on Parliament Hill in July practices. Over at the Council of six backlit sidewalk display cases for 2012. Canadians, Murray Dobbin collated the entire month of November on Similar policies were enforced in the extensive dossier Stephen Harper’s Ottawa’s Bank Street, thereby generat- other domains as well, and applied to Hitlist: Power, Process and the Assault ing still more articles, interviews and regular citizens in addition to govern- on Democracy in April of 2010 (www. letters to the editors. “Franke James’s ment employees. The bilingual web- canadians.org/democracy/). And commitment to art, free expression site Voices-voix.ca documents such reporter Mark Kennedy chimed in and political commentary put her in instances in painstaking detail. The with “Harper’s Growing ‘Black List’ the cross-hairs of the Harper govern- list of targeted groups and individuals a Threat to Democracy: Critics” ment,” stated Green Party leader includes the following cases: (Vancouver Sun, August 18, 2010). Elizabeth May in the event’s press • Linda Keen, president of the The irony is that the government’s release. “Come and see what the gov- Canadian Nuclear Safety efforts to control its image may actu- ernment didn’t want the world to see.” Commission, fired in January of ally erode it. Just as we’ve become a Since most reports reproduced 2008 just before she testified in “rogue state” on the environmental significant excerpts from Dear Prime front of a parliamentary commit- scene (to quote Steven Guilbeault of Minister (or provided links to the tee, in spite of assurances that her Équiterre), our nice-guy reputation entire series of essays on frankejames. office would be free from political suffers every time we resort to bully- com), it could be argued that, as interference; ing tactics. As Franke James says, we is often the case with censorship • the Sierra Club of British Columbia, should “never tell people to shut up— attempts, the author’s message ended a non-profit environmental organ- because that’s just not Canadian.”  up reaching a far greater number of ization, kept in September of 2008 Charles Montpetit is the freedom people than the original workshops from getting a $100,000 grant that of expression co-ordinator for the would have, at a fraction of the cost. had been formally approved and Union des écrivaines et des écrivains Impressed with this network savvy, contractually signed; québécois (UNEQ). E-mail him at Toronto’s Star featured James as one • Rémy Beauregard, president [email protected].

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 19 perspectives echoes from exile I grew up seeing whiplash scars on my father’s back. I was a toddler when he was incarcerated and tortured. Why? For possessing banned books, for being Kurdish, for not approving of the nefarious Iranian government.

Since the only documents against him were his books, he the Mujahideen-e Khalq Organization, an Islamic group that wasn’t executed; rather, he was left to deteriorate gradually, opposes the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). left to struggle with the incurable and invisible traces of I had only translated the news and had no say about what torture. would be published. But the editors were arrested and the The abhorrence he felt toward the injustice consumed my computers confiscated, and I knew that the English version father; the damage turned him into a person he wouldn’t like of the news was saved under my name in the intranet. had he met him before the imprisonment—irascible, reclu- Arrests continued and I fled Tehran for the distant city of sive, insufferable. Unless one has been tortured for one’s Zanjan. The government of Iran was so busy censoring other beliefs and stayed the same person as before that incident, newspapers and arresting more journalists that it did not one is not in any position to judge my father. have the time or a plan to track down every single person In 2003, I was a correspondent for Asia News, the only working in every single newspaper. bilingual (English and Farsi) newspaper of Tehran. The After almost a month, I returned to Tehran to catch up with paper was shut down for publishing the news of Maryam school, but that was a time when dormitories were raided Rajavi’s release from a prison in France. She is the head of and students were beaten up by unidentifiable religious

20 | FREEDOM TO READ 2013 ftr 2013 echoes from exile By Ava Homa e groups of men who were twice the size of ally, living with the inevitable horrors of an average Iranian man. These combat- arrest, torture and potential invasion by ants were specially picked and trained the United States, I fled the country in by the government to beat up protestors. which I was born and raised. It was the IRI’s way of quelling the stu- With a dial-up, slow and filtered dents’ movement. Internet, I searched for ways to get into For years, university students have Canada, grateful that my English allowed been subtly but strongly resisting dicta- me to rummage independently around torship; thus, they have to be punished the Net. I worked arduously and secretly every now and then. Thanks to “Islam,” for the two years that it took me to female residents were unscathed but find a university, prepare and afford the that did not mean they did not spend required documents, translate and mail every night living in fear. them, get admission, win a scholarship Literature, music and art were my and—most difficult of all—obtain a stu- friends and shelters, my hope and my dent visa. I hoped for a deep breath, one salve. The rebellious poetry of Ahmad deep breath. I would run to anywhere Shamlou and Forough Farokhzad, the that wasn’t here. mystical writings of classic Persian poets That’s how in 2007 I packed my life Rumi and Hafez, and the enchanting into two suitcases, left all my dear books,

short stories of Hedayat, Choubak and Echoes from the Other Land by Ava Homa journals, and photo albums behind and Golshiri healed me. The classic Persian (TSAR Publications, 2010) flew away to a land that I didn’t know music of Nazeri and Kamgarha helped me feel less bitter and anything about and where I didn’t know a single person. I did isolated and more forgiving and compassionate. Writing was not shed one tear and did not let anyone else do so either, and is a necessity of my life. More than theme and content, but as soon as my passport was stamped and I touched the beauty and uplifting nature of literature, its power to my boarding pass, as soon as I was behind the glass where humanize, mattered to me. Writing was also a haven, a type nobody could reach me anymore, perspiration covering my of therapy. It gave meaning to my existence; it was a means face, my heart palpitating and throat constricted—worn out, of reflection, discovery and joy. dying and reviving at the same time—I looked up at the high While I was studying for my master’s degree in English roof of the airport, sighed and said out loud, “It’s over!” language and literature, I attended many fiction and screen- After two years, I defended my master’s thesis in English play writing workshops. After two years of weekly writing, and creative writing at my beloved University of Windsor. when my knowledgeable, charming but picky instructor, Echoes from the Other Land, my collection of short stories Siamak Golshiri, singled me out to say that I had a gift for on modern Iranian women—the generation born and raised crafting fiction and that if I continued working at it, I would after the 1979 Islamic Revolution—was published in 2010 by make it big one day—that day was a turning point in my TSAR Publications in Toronto. Echoes from the Other Land life. I felt blessed. was nominated for the 2011 Frank O’Connor International In Iran, my stories were considered publishable for their Short Story Award and brought me joy and pride. sophistication but unpublishable due to censorship: the Canada, my treasured country, generously allowed me to forbidden topics of desire and the subtle criticism of politics experience what it means to be terror-free, to breathe, to meant that I received many rejections. By the time I left Iran, write freely, to laugh, to let my scalp feel the breeze—to live. I did manage to get one book and five stories published, but In this country, I met the love of my life, and I have been I had two unpublished books and ten unpublished stories. living with him for three happy years now.  Living in a condition of censorship and suffocation, Ava Homa is a writer in Canada. Echoes from the Other trapped in an abusive relationship where I had no rights as Land placed sixth in the top 10 winners of the CBC readers’ a woman, being harassed socially, politically and emotion- choice contest for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 21 perspectives Boys Bannedand the By Lis Clemens

The average adolescent boy’s notion

of freedom is that he doesn’t have any. Celebrating Freedom to Read Week provides a chance to move boys from this narrow definition of personal freedom to a larger view of freedom within their society.

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Rules are one thing adolescents have very strong ideas about, and discussing banned and challenged books strikes a real chord. The boys and I also function within the Anglo minority in Quebec, a group that many Canadians outside the province see as severely restricted in their freedom.

iscussing freedom to read with my students Chocolate War, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, gives me a chance to point out the freedom Of Mice and Men, the Harry Potter series and The Hunger they have in Quebec compared to the freedom Games. in other provinces and the USA. The discussion The discussion turns to who has objected to these books, Dis easy to start. For months I have had a display on the wall and why they have been challenged. As might be expected, of dust jackets that have a banned or challenged banner my students are both amused and insulted by the reasons crossing them. For weeks the boys given for the challenges. have been asking, “Miss, why does “Miss, someone thinks I’m going To Kill a Mockingbird have a banned to believe in witchcraft or want to sign? What about Harry Potter and become a wizard just because I read The Giver? We read those at school.” the Harry Potter series? Like that’s To introduce the topic, I read And going to happen!” Tango Makes Three. As this is a pic- We move from their pride in hav- ture book and my group is Grade 7 ing free access to so many books and 8, a little ground work is neces- that have been challenged elsewhere sary so that the book gets an honest to an awareness of what censorship hearing and my audience doesn’t means. The discussion heats up start nervous sniggering. But it takes when we talk about who has the surprisingly little effort to get my right to decide what they read. They students to listen critically and, as grudgingly accept that maybe their I tell the story, you can see growing parents can have some input on an understanding appear on their faces. individual level. But they cheer when As I finish, I am faced with a forest they hear that some Canadian school of hands and boys bursting to tell boards have stated that individual me why this children’s story about parents can have a say in what their two male penguins who bring up a own children can read but cannot penguin chick remains one of the interfere with the freedom of others. most challenged books ever in the The discussion about the pros United States. Given the close rela- and cons of censorship (e.g., hate tionship adolescent boys have with homophobic put-downs literature v. Harry Potter), and whether you can have partial and teasing, it is interesting to listen to their scorn at the idea censorship, continues with heated views being expressed. that reading And Tango Makes Three would encourage little As the class time comes to an end, the boys leave still children toward a homosexual way of life. discussing the books and censorship. Once again the topic Then we consider the challenged books and magazines of freedom to read has provided all of us, librarian and boys, list on the Freedom to Read website and similar lists on with one of the more interesting and dynamic discussions the American Library Association’s website. The boys start we will have this year.  counting the books they have read (or will be reading) which Lis Clemens is a librarian in an independent boys’ school in appear on these lists: Bridge to Terabithia, The Giver, The Montreal.

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 23 perspectives

THE GLOBAL VIEW Cyber Censorship in 2012

Canada In June, the House of Commons voted to repeal sections 13 and 54 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. Section 13 banned the transmission of hateful messages against identifiable minorities by telephone or on the Internet. Section 54 listed penalties such as fines.Source: Postmedia News

Ireland Despite spirited online opposition, the government amended the na- United States tion’s copyright law in February. Seán In August and September, Sherlock, the minister for research both houses of Congress passed and innovation, said the new law resolutions that urge President would protect copyrights. He denied Obama to fight efforts to give that the law could be used to block the United Nations more control major websites such as YouTube. over the Internet. At the time, Source: (U.K.) the U.N.’s International Hungary Telecommunication Union was In October, Britain’s Foreign Secretary scheduled to meet in Dubai William Hague said that democracies in December to discuss global must protect Internet freedom, even telecommunication standards when they find offensive content online. and development. Sources: TPM; The Hill He added: “We believe that efforts to suppress the Internet are wrong and are United States bound to fail over time.” Hague spoke at In 2011, Congress considered two bills that an international conference in Budapest. aimed at stopping the trade in stolen U.S. Source: The Guardian (U.K.) properties on the Internet. The bills—which became known by the acronyms SOPA and PIPA—provoked a backlash from Americans who feared Internet censorship. Both bills died in January 2012. Source: Wikipedia Eritrea The dictatorship of President Isaias Cuba Afewerki maintains tight control over The communist government prevents most Cubans from the Internet and other media. All ISPs using the Internet. But a few dissident bloggers—such must connect to the web through as Yoani Sanchez—found ways to circumvent censorship government-operated EriTel. The and criticize the government. Pro-government bloggers regime also wages online accused them of being the “cyber-mercenaries” of a campaigns and cyberattacks against hostile United States. Source: RWB its critics who live outside Eritrea. Sources: CPJ; RWB Ecuador In July, the National Telecommunications Council declared Swaziland that ISPs had to turn over Internet Protocol addresses when- In March, the government began ever officials demanded them. The data identifies individual finalizing a bill that would ban any Internet users. In August, Anonymous—a shadowy group of criticism of King Mswati III on the hackers—protested by disrupting 45 websites that belong Internet. Justice Minister Mgwagwa to government officials.Source: Fundamedios Gamedze said: “We will be tough on those who write bad things about the king on Twitter and Facebook.” The Brazil king, an absolutist monarch, is one In September, federal police detained and questioned Fabio of the wealthiest men in Africa. José Silva Coelho, the president of Brazil, after the Source: The Guardian (U.K.) company failed to take down a YouTube video that criticized a mayoral candidate. A state court in São Paulo also ordered Google Brazil to take down the video trailer for a film called Innocence of Muslims. Source: The Guardian (U.K.)

24 | FREEDOM TO READ 2013 ftr 2013 Turkmenistan Russia The regime rigorously monitors and censors the In July, parliament unanimously voted for a bill that enhances state Internet, even though only 2.2 per cent of the control over the Internet. The bill aims to shut down sites that country’s 5 million people have access. Facebook, promote narcotics, feature and encourage teen YouTube, Gmail and Twitter are blocked. The regime suicide. But spokespersons for Russia’s leading websites—Yandex, even limits the number of satellite TV dishes, LiveJournal and Wikipedia—warned that the bill would create a although some people Russian version of China’s great firewall. Source: The Guardian (U.K.) do have mobile phones. Source: RWB

North Korea The communist regime closely monitors and severely censors all electronic communications. Few North Koreans can even gain access to the country's intranet. However, North Koreans who live near the Chinese border can illegally gain access to Chinese mobile networks and news. Source: RWB

China After the outbreak of the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street in 2011, China’s dictatorship began censoring Iran online references to these events. The Islamist regime Officials shut down blogs and banned filters and monitors the keywords such as “jasmine” and “Egypt.” Internet. Dissidents who But the state still struggles to control used the Internet remain in prison, untold millions of microblogs. Source: RWB including Canadian citizen Hossein Derakhshan. Saeed Malekpour, a computer programmer who lived in Canada, is on death row because he was convicted of enabling access to online pornography in Iran. Sources: RWB; Toronto Star Australia The national government Saudi Arabia still hopes to establish After the outbreak of protest in Egypt and Tunisia in 2011, mandatory web filtering the regime blocked many websites such as Dawlaty.info and but lacks the necessary Saudireform.com. Officials cracked down on Internet forums political support. At the and social networking sites such as the Revolutionary instigation of the Nostalgia page on Facebook to stifle domestic protest. government, privately Source: RWB owned ISPs such as Telstra, Optus and Bahrain Primus block the domain In February 2012, on the eve of the first anniversary names and URLs of, for of a popular uprising, the regime blocked independent example, child news sites—especially streaming websites—and slowed pornography down bandwidth speeds. Numerous dissident bloggers sites. remain in prison and at least one—Zakariya Rashid Source: RWB Hassan—died there in 2011. Source: RWB Malawi The government proposed a bill, known as the “E-Bill,” to regulate ABBREVIATIONS MISA: Media Institute of Southern Africa and promote information communication technologies. The bill CPJ: Committee to Protect Journalists RWB: Reporters Without Borders would authorize inspectors to monitor online activity. Editors of Fundamedios: Andean Foundation for TPM: Talking Points Memo online publications would be required to make known their names, Media Observation and Study U.K.: United Kingdom ISPs: Internet service providers URL: uniform resource locator domiciles, and telephone and registration numbers. Source: MISA

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 25 perspectives

When Students Don’t “Like” Professors on Facebook I NO Longer Fear Hell, I Took a Course with Aruna Mitra. —Thomas Strangward, University of Calgary student, on Facebook

By Anne Jayne After receiving a complaint from does not matter whether it is true or o students have the right to Ms. Mitra, Dean Tettey, interim dean false, popular or unpopular. use social media to criticize of the faculty, called the students in The university contended that the Dtheir professors? the Facebook group to a meeting. All students’ Charter right to freedom Some dissatisfied students in an students in the group, including those of expression was not violated. The introductory Law and Society course who had not posted any comments, Charter applies to government, and at the University of Calgary thought were eventually found guilty of non- the university is not a government so. They criticized their instructor academic misconduct. institution, the university argued. The Aruna Mitra publicly on Facebook. Keith was notified that he had been disciplinary process is an internal Some students described her as placed on 24 months’ probation, that procedure. “awful,” “inept,” “illogically abrasive” he was required to write an unquali- The university pointed to a decision and “inconsistent.” One student said fied letter of apology to Ms. Mitra and of the Supreme Court of Canada in that she should be “drawn and quar- that he was prohibited from posting 1990. The University of Guelph’s man- tered during a special presentation at anything that could defame Ms. Mitra datory retirement policy had been Mac Hall.” or could unjustifiably bring the uni- challenged as age discrimination that Twins Keith and Steven Pridgen, versity into disrepute. Steven received violated the Charter. The Supreme both students in the course, each the same letter, but he was not placed Court ruled that the Charter did not posted one comment. on probation at that time. Later, on apply to the university. Seeking advice on how to appeal a appeal, he was placed on probation. After carefully considering the mark, Steven wrote, “Some how I think The dean said that Keith was not case law, Judge Strekaf said that the she just got lazy and gave everybody being sanctioned for expressing his Charter may apply to a university a 65.” He did appeal and—like all the opinions on Facebook. “You are at in some situations, such as when it students who did—got a higher mark. liberty to do so,” he wrote, but warned implements a government policy. After the course ended, another Keith not to make assertions injurious University discipline can limit or even student said the new term was going to individuals or institutions. prevent a student’s participation in well, and the “best part is NO MITRA.” After the Pridgens unsuccessfully post-secondary education, which the Keith commented: “Hey fellow appealed to the General Faculties Alberta government seeks to make LWSO homees .. So I am quite sure Council’s Review Committee, they accessible. Mitra is NO LONGER TEACHING went to the Court of Queen’s Bench The university is not a Charter-free ANY COURSES WITH THE U OF C!!!!! of Alberta, saying that the university zone in these disciplinary proceed- Remember when she told us she was had infringed their right to freedom of ings, she ruled. a long-term professor? Well actually expression. They also questioned the The university noted that defama- she was only sessional and picked up fairness of the disciplinary process at tion is not protected speech, so speech our class at the last moment because the University of Calgary. that is harmful to someone’s reputa- another prof wasn’t able to do it ... What is meant by “freedom of tion should not be protected either. lucky us. Well anyways I think we expression” in the Canadian Charter The instructor had civil remedies should all congratulate ourselves for of Rights and Freedoms? If an activ- available if she wished to sue the stu- leaving a Mitra-free legacy for future ity conveys or attempts to convey a dents for defamation, but she chose L.W.S.O. students!” meaning, it has expressive content. It not to, Judge Strekaf observed.

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The university also contended that it needed to maintain a learning environment with respect and dignity “As an educational institution, the University should for all and that it wanted to protect the university’s reputation. expect and encourage frank and critical discussion Judge Strekaf saw it differently: “As an educational institution, the regarding the teaching ability of professors amongst University should expect and encour- age frank and critical discussion regarding the teaching ability of students, even in instances where the comments professors amongst students, even exchanged are unfavourable.” in instances where the comments —Judge Strekaf exchanged are unfavourable.” The Facebook comments had expressive content and conveyed meaning, the judge concluded. The students’ Charter rights in mind. agreed that the students should university infringed the students’ The university also argued that not have been disciplined for their Charter right by disciplining them protecting the Facebook activity, they differed on the and prohibiting them from publicly of faculty required some limitations legal reasons for that decision. stating their criticism of the instruc- on student speech. Madam Justice Even though the Court of Appeal tor, and was not justified in doing so. Paperny disagreed, saying that both did not provide a unified message Judge Strekaf said that the students’ involve freedom of expression. Should about a student’s Charter rights in the Facebook participation was not non- they ever collide, the university can use of social media, the decision is academic misconduct, and quashed balance the two sides then. important for Alberta’s universities. the university’s decision. The justice took issue with the No doubt students, faculty and The university appealed the court’s university’s portrayal of the institution administrators elsewhere in Canada decision to the Alberta Court of as an isolated community of scholars. have taken note as well. While the Appeal, where a panel of three justices The university can respect the Charter Supreme Court of Canada has not heard the appeal. The university rights of students without losing its settled this question definitively, again argued that a university is a independence or diminishing the these Alberta jurists have offered the Charter-free zone, but it did not chal- academic freedom of the faculty. following insights to the academic lenge Judge Strekaf’s conclusion that Mr. Justice O’Ferrall based his community: it had infringed the students’ right to decision not on the Charter but on • A university should not assume that freedom of expression. Canadian law that protected civil it is a Charter-free zone. The Court of Appeal ruled in favour even before the Charter, such • A university should take a student’s of the students and against the as the Alberta Bill of Rights. right to freedom of expression university. While the three justices The review committee should have into account, balancing that right agreed on the outcome, their reasons considered the students’ rights to against other factors if need be, differed. freedom of expression and freedom of but not overlooking it. Madam Justice Paperny said that association, and balanced those rights • Student discussion of the educa- the Charter may indeed apply to with the concerns about the Facebook tional experience can benefit the a university in some situations. page. Since the review committee university and other students, Discipline is not just an internal failed to take those rights into account, even when the criticism is neither matter; there is a public aspect when its decision was unreasonable, he said. gracious nor mature. discipline affects access to post- Mr. Justice McDonald based his • Yes, students do have a right to use secondary education. decision on a lack of fairness in the social media when criticizing their While the university has the author- disciplinary process in this case, not university.  ity to discipline students, it must on the Charter. Anne Jayne is a member of the Calgary apply the misconduct rules with the While the three appellate justices Freedom to Read Week committee.

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 27 perspectives Embracing Serendipity in the Big House Stacks By I.M. GreNãda murders, suicides—and every other form of media that could reason- f Tomorrow Comes—that was human darkness—have coloured ably “undermine a person’s sense of my first treasure from a pris- those decades behind bars. But so personal dignity—by demeaning, on library. I was 17 years old have trips to Africa, and the Arctic causing humiliation or embarrass- (by a hair) and the twenty- Circle. And the worlds of Frank ment to a person, on the basis of sex, something in the cell next to Herbert. race, national or ethnic origin, colour me had sworn that the novel Through the pages of books, I have or religion.” In other words, with few was “fuckin’ excellent”— come into intimate acquaintance with exceptions, if it flies in a public library probably the best book review you’ll those from whom a life of legal lep- (or over CRTC-approved airwaves), it Iget in the clink. He wasn’t wrong. rosy has severed me—Mississippian also flies in the pen. And it would lead me to many more housemaids, Russian astronauts, Of course, due diligence is never visits with Sidney Sheldon, and the African economists, and even the passé. The recent passage of the airless basement book vault in British God of the Israelites. Without excep- government’s omnibus crime bill has Columbia’s infamous Oakalla jail. tion, the relationships I have formed brought about fundamental changes Oakalla is a buried memory now, through reading have greatly greased to the Corrections Act—changes that replaced in the mid-90s by numerous my journey from anti-social egomani- give prison authorities the power to leaky condos. But my love affair with ac to dignified human being. For this circumscribe almost any feature of reading has remained as rooted as I owe a great debt to the Corrections a prisoner’s life, as long as doing so the steel bars and razor wire that still and Conditional Release Act. is “necessary and proportionate to surrounds me 28 years later. That’s In Canada, the act governs almost attaining the purposes of the Act.” one hard stack of calendars. Riots, everything about a federal prisoner’s What a prison guard believes to be life: from where you’ll do your time, “necessary and proportionate” in the to whom you’ll have contact with, and treatment of prisoners is anyone’s The Value of even what you can read, listen to on guess. your Walkman or watch on TV. The One clue may come from the Prison Libraries restrictions on the latter are surpris- Conservatives’ new omnibus “It has been noted on a ingly sparse. Federal prisoners nor- budget bill—and its cross-country mally have access to “material that is elimination of prison librarians. How number of occasions, legally available on the open market, prisoners will now purchase books, when prison riots occur, adheres to the limitations and licens- magazines and newspapers remains a that the library and the ing requirements of the Copyright Act, big question mark in most of Canada’s and does not jeopardize the security 44 penitentiaries—a censorship by school are left alone and of the institution or the safety of service cuts. not trashed. I believe that persons.” Not that I’m going on a hunger As you might imagine, that last strike yet. While I may be missing this shows that these caveat rules out The Anarchist the latest blah, blah, blah on Syria entities are seen as highly Cookbook (though not The Girl and Greece, I still have the complete valuable resources even Who Played with Fire). It also covers works of Asimov, and Heinlein. That material that promotes genocide or should keep me going for another 20 by a rampaging clientele.” the hatred of any identifiable group, years.  —Kim Rempel, librarian with as well as sexual material involving I.M. GreNãda is the pen name of a Correctional Service Canada, William violence or any other criminal act. Canadian prisoner who is serving Head Institution, Victoria, B.C. (2010) And for greater certainty, wardens a life sentence. He blogs at have the legal right to restrict any theincarceratedinkwell.ca.

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Josef Škvorecký (1924–2012) By Amanda Hopkins celebrated émigré author who faced censorship publication was The Tank Battalion. Over the next 23 years, in his native Czechoslovakia, Josef Škvorecký was the house released more than 200 books by writers such as a champion for dissident writers as a publisher in Bohumil Hrabal, Milan Kundera and Václav Havel, the play- his adopted home of Canada. wright who became the first president of the Czech Republic. ABorn in 1924 in the northern Czech town of Nâchod, Of the couple’s work, Havel wrote: “By publishing in Škvorecký lived during the Nazi German and our own language books that cannot be published in our the subsequent communist era. A pas- motherland, you are in fact helping sionate reader from a young age, he read to preserve the spiritual identity and translations of famed Western writers continuity of our nation.” Ernest Thompson Seton, Mark Twain 68 Publishers provided books for and Ernest Hemingway. Czech speakers around the world in At the age of 10, he wrote a conclusion their native language and translated to James Oliver Curwood’s unfinished those works into English for interna- trilogy set in the Canadian north. The tional readers. Many manuscripts by manuscript, called The Mysterious Cave, dissident writers were smuggled out is today housed in the Thomas Fisher of Czechoslovakia on microfiche, and Rare Book Library at the University of the finished books, published by 68 Toronto. Publishers, were brought back into He received a doctorate in philosophy their country of origin. from Charles University in Prague in In his own writing, Škvorecký con- 1951, and taught at a girls’ school before tinued to explore recurring themes being drafted into military service. After of the dangers of absolutism and two years in the army, he had completed repression of the masses. His novel several draft manuscripts. The Engineer of Human Souls, a darkly Škvorecký first encountered state comic account of totalitarianism, won censorship upon the publication of his the Governor General’s Literary Award debut novel, The Cowards, in 1958. The JOSEF ŠKVORECKÝ for fiction in 1984. For his body of work was condemned by critics; one called him a “mangy work, he won the Neustadt International Prize for Literature pussycat.” The book, which describes the atmosphere in and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Škvorecký’s hometown during its liberation from Nazism in Škvorecký and Salivarová chose to remain in Canada after 1945, was banned because it was “Titoist and Zionist” and 1989, when the Velvet Revolution restored democracy in challenged the image of communist glory promoted by the Czechoslovakia. state. During his years in Canada, Škvorecký’s literary output Further confrontations with censors followed, including was astounding. He wrote more than a dozen novels, includ- the halting of a film adaption of The Cowards by authorities ing many murder mysteries co-authored with his wife. He in the state-run film industry. also wrote short stories, non-fiction, literary criticism and In 1968, the brief period of liberalization known as the screenplays for film and television. Prague Spring was suppressed by an armed Soviet inva- In his 2008 Margaret Laurence Lecture at Trent University, sion, and Škvorecký’s soon-to-be-released novel The Tank Škvorecký wrote of his adopted country: “In Canada, I didn’t Battalion was pulped by communist authorities. have to factor censorship into my writing; I simply wrote.” Life in Czechoslovakia became unbearable for Škvorecký Škvorecký died at the age of 87 in January 2012. He is and his wife, writer and actress Zdena Salivarová. Together, survived by his wife and leaves a legacy of defiance in the they went into exile in Canada, where Škvorecký was offered face of censorship.  a teaching position at the University of Toronto. Amanda Hopkins is the program co-ordinator of the Writers’ The couple founded 68 Publishers in 1971, and their first Trust of Canada.

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 29 perspectives

Meanwhile in Quebec ... By Charles Montpetit Canadian Law Blog Award but was itself put on hold when the provincial tudent marches against government threatened reprisals tuition fee hikes dominated against those who challenged its the news for most of 2012 special law.) Or look up Art/Crime, a and became a free speech film about Couture which was voted issue when the police either Best Documentary by the audience Sbrutalized or arrested some of the at the 2011 Fantasia Festival, and is journalists covering the events. now available on DVD from FunFilm Then the Liberal government upped Distribution. the ante by likening demonstrators to On a lighter note, a teacher at Saint- terrorists and, along with the mayors Gabriel-Lalemant School in Sorel- of Montreal and Quebec City, passing Tracy gained international notoriety special laws curtailing the right to when he put Édith Piaf’s song Hymne assemble. Far from cooling things à l’amour up for study but tried to down, the move generated more out- avoid any religious angle by cutting rage, two court appeals, innumerable the last line: “Dieu réunit ceux qui Chilean-style casserole-banging pro- s’aiment” (“God unites those who are tests and a sortie by 500 jurists against in love”). Though the principal and such “disproportionate” crowd-control Courtesy of JUST FOR LAUGHS the school board backed this choice, measures. When provincial elections the man was severely criticized were held in September, the Parti Another controversy hit the theatre by then education minister Line Québécois came out on top, world when the Montreal arm of B’nai Beauchamp—whose government was, abolishing the hike and repealing Brith Canada demanded that the Just of course, dead set against censorship, its predecessors’ legislation. for Laughs Festival quit featuring a as demonstrated above. Throughout the crisis, several baby with a Hitler moustache in its Three cases concerning journalists employers kept their staff from sport- ads for the play Le prénom, which made headlines too. There’s construc- ing a symbolic red square on their deals with a couple’s desire to name tion magnate Tony Accurso’s ongoing lapels in solidarity with protesters— their child Adolf. Invited to the July libel case against Radio-Canada and something which education ministry premiere, the organization’s represen- reporter Alain Gravel, who alleged workers weren’t even allowed to do tatives dropped their request upon corruption in 2009. There’s the Sûreté’s at home. The mayor of Trois-Pistoles realizing that the performance was, inquiry into leaks to the media about also cut financial support for the en- in fact, pro-Semitic. police officer Ian Davidson, who vironmental festival Échofête because Special effects creator Rémy tried to sell off informants’ names it featured a workshop by student Couture wasn’t so lucky. In 2009, a (an investigation which might force spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau- German visitor to his website mistook reporters to reveal their sources). And Dubois. The young leader showed his gory movie props for the real then there’s the Journal de Montréal’s up anyway to give a speech, but the thing and alerted Interpol. Montreal Éric Yvan Lemay, who wrote in workshop itself was cancelled despite officers searched the artist’s residence, February 2012 about four hospitals a spirited defence by local author seized his possessions and accused that left patients’ files in plain view. Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, who later him of moral corruption. We’ll have The police raided his home when revealed that the backlash against his more on this later, but for details go the hospitals accused him of theft stand had in turn dried up the funding to SupportRemy.com or the blog of and information trafficking, but since for his own theatre production com- Couture’s attorney Véronique Robert, he had neither taken the files nor pany, forcing it into bankruptcy. DroitCriminel.blogspot.ca. (It won a published confidential data,

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was removed; unaccompanied youths Noir Canada Update under 16 were barred from admission. The $6-million defamation lawsuit And in June, Moore set his sights on against Éditions Écosociété by Barrick rapper Manu Militari, whose online Gold Corporation was settled out of video “L’attente” (“The Wait”) adopts court in the fall of 2011, and the few the point of view of a rebel who deton- copies of the book that remained in ates a bomb under a Canadian army circulation were recalled. The moral convoy and attacks the survivors. of the affair is threefold: The rapper—whose earlier, much- 1. Book bans have ceased to be a praised album Crime d’honneur realistic option. Links to free PDF had portrayed U.S. soldiers in Iraq copies of Noir Canada instantly through the eyes of an American appeared on a number of websites, recruit—said that he now wanted “to including QuebecLeaks.org. denounce the war and to humanize 2. Barrick’s tarnished its an Afghan that we demonize.” But the own image more thoroughly than minister’s office declared his work was the publisher ever did, as demon- an indefensible attempt to “glorify the strated by Julien Fréchette’s new Taliban” (even though the group isn’t documentary film Le prix des mots, mentioned anywhere). which covers Écosociété’s ordeal Since production money had been so far. ÉRIC YVAN LEMAY provided by the Heritage-funded non- the charges were dropped in April. profit MusicAction, Moore indicated Three other Quebec endeavours that “appropriate measures” would attracted the eye of federal culture be taken, and added: “MusicAction’s minister James Moore, starting with contribution agreement states that Radio-Canada’s archiving of the mild- any project may not be obscene, inde- ly explicit series Hard on its tou.tv on- cent, pornographic, hateful, libellous demand website. When the Toronto or in any other way unlawful. It seems Sun riled the minister for channelling to me that this song/video fails on at public funds into softcore “porn,” he least three of those counts.” In agree- recognized that the paper’s affiliation ment with the artist, the company SLAPP by Normand Landry with Radio-Canada rival Québecor pulled the clip offline and removed (Les Éditions Écosociété, 2012) was an unlikely coincidence but the song from his upcoming album. 3. The lawsuit left Écosociété nevertheless pressured the network to Finally, in June, the nonsense undaunted. In 2012, the company review its online content. Though no word fligne-flagne was added to the released Paradis sous terre—which user had ever complained, access to list of about 300 terms deemed too describes Canada’s protection of the program was first restricted to the touchy for the Assemblée nationale. controversial mining companies— period between midnight and 4 a.m., The only problem in this instance is, by Noir Canada co-authors Alain then cut entirely in March. no one knows what the expression Deneault and William Sacher. In May, Moore switched his atten- means. Asked for a clarification, par- Écosociété also released Normand tion to the award-winning Sex: A liamentary leader Stéphane Bédard Landry’s SLAPP, which provides an Tell-All Exhibition, which had been simply said, “With all due respect, overview of intimidating legal designed by the Montreal Science mister president, a fligne-flagne is a actions in Quebec and a self- Centre as an educational event for fligne-flagne.” Nevertheless, the term defence guide against them. ages 12 and up. While the show had is now forbidden on the debate floor. As for the $5-million lawsuit filed in enjoyed an uneventful run in its Skadoosh!  Ontario against Écosociété by another hometown and Regina, the minister Charles Montpetit is the freedom mining company, Banro Corporation, called it “insulting to taxpayers” when of expression co-ordinator for the the Supreme Court of Canada declined it opened in Ottawa at the Canada Union des écrivaines et des écrivains in April 2012 to move the proceedings Science and Technology Museum. An québécois (UNEQ). E-mail him at to Quebec. The upcoming trial will be animated video about masturbation [email protected]. covered on FreeSpeechAtRisk.ca.

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 31 perspectives 2012 Awards Liu Xiaobo Chinese writer, activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo was named as the winner of PEN Canada’s One Humanity Award. The annual award is given to a writer whose work “transcends the boundaries of national divides and inspires connec- tions across cultures.” Liu is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence in China for “inciting of state power.” He was arrested in 2008 for his involvement with the launch of Charter 08, a docu- ment that calls for peaceful political reform, greater human rights and multi-party democracy in China. Gloria Fung, former national vice- president of the Chinese Canadian National Council, received the award CALGARY FREEDOM TO READ COMMITTEE (L. to R.) Jilliane Yawney, cybrarian, Calgary Public Library; Shannon Slater, on Liu’s behalf. manager, humanities, community heritage and family history, Calgary Public Library; Anne Jayne, citizen member; Allison Thomson, manager, Bowness and Crowfoot Libraries. Not pictured: Darlene Montgomery, citizen member Dan Henry On July 10, 2012, Canadian Journalists the confidentiality of their sources investigation of organized crime in for Free Expression (CJFE) announced and whose stories had been legally Quebec in the face of intimidation that Dan Henry, a renowned media challenged. and legal pressure. lawyer, was the winner of the Vox A past president of Ad Idem/ The award recognizes a Canadian Libera Award. Canadian Media Lawyers Association, organization or journalist who has Henry retired in 2012 after serving Henry was involved in almost every made an important contribution to more than three decades as legal major legal battle to extend media promoting freedom of the press. It counsel for the CBC, where he helped coverage of Canada’s court system. is named in honour of assassinated journalists navigate the legal hurdles He fought against restrictions on Canadian journalist Tara Singh Hayer, of bringing challenging stories to cameras in courtrooms and on and it was last awarded in 2009. air. He also directed the defences of courthouse grounds. Calgary Freedom to Read journalists who sought to protect CJFE recognized Henry “for his Week Committee life-long commitment to promoting The Canadian Library Association and defending media freedom” at a (CLA) honoured the Calgary Freedom gala in Toronto on December 5, 2012. to Read Week Committee with the Enquête 2012 Award for the Advancement of Radio-Canada’s investigative Intellectual Freedom in Canada. television program Enquête was The committee was recognized for named the recipient of Canadian 18 years of promoting and defending Journalists for Free Expression’s 2012 intellectual freedom in Calgary, Alta. Tara Singh Hayer Memorial Award. The committee is an ad hoc partner- The journalists and researchers of ship that consistently includes public Enquête, led by host Alain Gravel, library staff, school board representa- were recognized for their continued tives and interested citizens. DAN HENRY

32 | FREEDOM TO READ 2013 ftr 2013 The committee annually declares Freedom to Read Week in Calgary through the city council, presents a challenged book to the city council, and presents the Freedom of Expression Award to a Calgarian who has made an outstanding contribution to free expression. The CLA presented its award on June 2, 2012, at the CLA’s conference and trade show in Ottawa. Mae Azango and Rami Jarrah Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) awarded its 2012 International Press Freedom Awards LAWRENCE HILL Photo by Lisa Sakulensky MARGARET ANN WILKINSON to Mae Azango and Rami Jarrah. restrictions on federal scientists, who where Hill discussed his experience Both journalists were recognized are not allowed to speak to reporters with censorship. for courageously reporting the news without the consent of the govern- Liza França while facing persecution in their ment’s media relations officers. The Canadian Committee for World respective countries. “Our message is radically simple,” Press Freedom awarded the first Azango’s journalism focuses on said CSWA president Stephen Strauss. prize in their International Editorial hardships faced by women and girls “Eliminate the doctors and media Cartoon Competition to Liza França in Liberia. She was forced to go into minders and let tax-payer-funded of Brazil. hiding after receiving death threats for scientists speak for themselves.” França is an illustrator and cartoon- a series she wrote on female genital Lawrence Hill ist whose work appears in the news- cutting, but was able to return home Canadian author Lawrence Hill paper Folha de Pernambuco. after pressure from global advocacy received the Writers’ Union of Canada’s The theme of the competition, now groups compelled the government to Freedom to Read Award at an event in its twelfth year, was Power to the make its first public commitment to hosted by the Book and Periodical People: Citizens and Social Media. ending the practice. Council on February 28, 2012. The competition received over Jarrah was detained and tortured Hill was recognized for his response 300 submissions from 40 countries. for his on-the-ground coverage of to a threat to burn his novel The Cartoons by Riber Hansson of Sweden protests in Syria in 2011; he was later Book of Negroes. A citizen of the and Hicabi Demirci of Turkey took forced to flee from Syria with his Netherlands made the threat, saying second and third place, respectively. family. He now lives in Cairo, where he found the use of the word “Negro” Margaret Ann Wilkinson he aids an independent citizens’ in the title offensive. Margaret Ann Wilkinson, a professor press group that offers training Hill offered to speak to the of law at the University of Western and support to a network of complainant to clarify his reasons Ontario, received the Ontario journalists in Syria. for using the title, which refers to Library Association’s 2012 Les Fowlie CJFE recognized Azango and an eighteenth-century British North Intellectual Freedom Award for her Jarrah at its awards gala in Toronto American document. Hill also wrote leadership in copyright reform as it on December 5, 2012. an op-ed piece for Toronto’s Star, relates to Canada’s libraries. Canadian Science Writers’ which said, in part, “Burning books Wilkinson is the university’s Association is designed to intimidate people. It director of the Area of Concentration The Canadian Science Writers’ underestimates the intelligence of in , Information Association (CSWA) received the readers, stifles dialogue and insults and Technology Law. She is also fourteenth annual Press Freedom those who cherish the freedom to a founding member of the OLA’s Award from the Canadian Committee read and write.” Copyright Users Committee, and she for World Press Freedom at a banquet Turn to page 11 to read an excerpt represented the Canadian Library in Ottawa on May 3, 2012. from Hill’s 2012 Henry Kreisel Association at the World Intellectual The association received the award Commemorative Lecture at the Property Organization’s Standing for its work in fighting government University of Alberta in Edmonton, AWARDS CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 33 perspectives

Challenges to Materials and Policies in Canadian Libraries in 2011 Report of the Canadian Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Advisory Committee

By Donna Bowman Materials were “Satanism, the occult, and Alvin M. Schrader religious viewpoint, violence and age inappropriate.” The objections to n 2011, for the first time in Trial and Retribution were “explicit six years of annual Canadian sexuality” and “violence.” The objec- library surveys, an entire tions to The War Years were “violence” genre of resources—graphic and “age inappropriate.” novels—was challenged for Altogether, seven titles challenged Iremoval from a library’s collection. in 2011 had also been targeted in The complainant objected to explicit one or more previous surveys. Two depictions of sexuality and violence, prior challenges to Pullman’s His and cited 16 titles within Jaime Dark Materials trilogy were reported Hernandez’s Love and Rockets series in 2007. All seven titles in the Harry as an example. Potter movie series were targeted Overall, Canadian libraries reported in 2010, while Harry Potter and the 101 challenges in the 2011 survey: Goblet of Fire was singled out for chal- 93 challenges to materials and eight lenge in 2011. to policies. These challenges came Several other series were targeted in Love and Rockets Vol. 1 No. 5 by Gilbert and from 32 libraries spread across six of Jaime Hernandez (Fantagraphics Books, 1984) previous surveys: Charlaine Harris’s Canada’s most populous provinces. 10 novels in the Southern Vampire Two other libraries took the time to creative works, whether in print or Mysteries series, challenged four report the unusual situation of having non-print, poses an exceptional diffi- times in one year in the same library; received no challenges. culty. How should such challenges be Ken Akamatsu’s Negima! Magister The Annual Challenges Survey counted: as one challenge per series Negi Magi, a manga series of 29 titles; has been conducted since 2006 by or as many challenges as there are Cecily von Ziegesar’s series of 15 titles, the Intellectual Freedom Advisory titles in the series? Standard practice Gossip Girl, which became the 2007 Committee of the Canadian Library treats each title as one challenge. inspiration for the Gossip Girl teen Association. The survey aims to shed But the targeting of an entire genre drama television series; and the Dark light on the nature and outcome of was considered a collection policy Horse manga series of 14 titles based challenges to library materials and challenge. on four of the Star Wars movies. policies that occur in publicly funded Love and Rockets was not the only Three unique titles were also libraries across Canada in each series targeted in calendar year 2011. targeted in previous years: Angels in calendar year. Three other series were also chal- America, directed by Mike Nichols A challenge to library resources lenged: Philip Pullman’s His Dark and starring Meryl Streep; the short occurs when a person or group objects Materials trilogy; one season of four story collection Beyond the Dark, to the resources and attempts to episodes of ITV’s Trial and Retribution written by various authors; and remove or restrict them to prevent or on DVD; and one season of nine TV Brüno, directed by and starring Sacha limit access. A policy challenge is an episodes of The War Years—volume Baron Cohen. Two magazines— attempt to change access standards 2 in The Adventures of Young Indiana Rolling Stone and Toronto’s NOW— for library resources and services. Jones—on DVD. earned the dubious honour The targeting of an entire series of The objections to His Dark LIBRARY CHALLENGES CONTINUED ON PAGE 36

34 | FREEDOM TO READ 2013 ftr 2013 Challenged Resources and Policies as Reported by Publicly Funded Canadian Libraries in 2011

SERIES: ONE CHALLENGE EACH Brüno, DVD, directed by Sacha Baron Cohen His Dark Materials (a series of three novels) by Philip Reasons: nudity; sexually explicit; age inappropriate Pullman Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco Reasons: Satanism; occult; religious viewpoint; violence; Reasons: violence; age inappropriate; other age inappropriate Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race Love and Rockets (a series of 16 graphic novels) by Jaime by Jon Stewart Hernandez Reasons: nudity; insensitivity Reasons: sexually explicit; violence Fire and Ice by Anne Stuart Trial and Retribution (a series of four episodes of the ITV Reason: offensive language drama on DVD) The Girl Who Played with Fire, DVD, directed by Daniel Reasons: sexually explicit; violence Alfredson The War Years, Vol. 2 of The Adventures of Young Indiana Reasons: homosexuality; sexually explicit; violence; Jones (a series of nine TV episodes on DVD) age inappropriate Reasons: violence; age inappropriate; other Globe Trekker: Panama and Columbia, DVD Reason: drugs/drug use INDIVIDUAL ITEM: TWO CHALLENGES Go the F**k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach NOW magazine Reasons: offensive language; age inappropriate Reasons: sexually explicit; nudity; anti-family; drugs/drug The Great Polar Bear Adventure, DVD use; offensive language; age inappropriate Reasons: violence; age inappropriate; other Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, DVD, directed by INDIVIDUAL ITEM: ONE CHALLENGE EACH Mike Newell Angels in America, DVD, directed by Mike Nichols Reasons: violence; age inappropriate; other Reasons: homosexuality; sexually explicit; offensive Hellboy Junior by Mike Mignola et al. language; age inappropriate Reasons: sexually explicit; age inappropriate Antichrist, DVD, directed by Lars von Trier Hitman, DVD, directed by Xavier Gens Reasons: sexually explicit; violence Reasons: sexism; nudity; violence The Aristocrats, DVD Hobo with a Shotgun, DVD, directed by Jason Eisener Reasons: offensive language; sexually explicit Reason: violence As She Grows by Lesley Anne Cowan Hooray for Dairy Farming by Bobbie Kalman Reason: sexually explicit Reason: inaccuracy Beyond the Dark by Angela Knight, Emma Holly, Lora Leigh How Israel Lost: The Four Questions at the Heart of the and Diane Whiteside Middle East Crisis by Richard Ben Cramer Reasons: sexually explicit; offensive language Reason: anti-ethnicity Black Death, DVD, directed by Christopher Smith In a Glass , DVD, directed by Agustín Villaronga Reason: violence Reasons: sexually explicit; violence Body Drama by Nancy Amanda Redd The Inuit (part of the Lifeways series) by Raymond Bial Reasons: nudity; age inappropriate Reason: inaccuracy Bone Dog by Eric Rohmann Iron Man: Extremis, DVD, directed by Joel Gibbs and Mike Reason: age inappropriate Halsey Boy O’Boy by Brian Doyle Reasons: violence; age inappropriate Reasons: sexually explicit; violence; age inappropriate Jesus, DVD, directed by Roger Young Brazil, DVD, directed by Terry Gilliam Reasons: religious viewpoint; inaccuracy; age Reasons: homosexuality; sexually explicit; offensive inappropriate language; age inappropriate CHALLENGED RESOURCES CONTINUED ON PAGE 37

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 35 perspectives

LIBRARY CHALLENGES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 34 Another example was a plethora of Of books targeted, graphic novels of being challenged twice in 2011 objections reported for one of the two accounted for 19 titles and non- as well as twice in 2009. challenges to NOW magazine: “nudity, fiction accounted for 15 titles, of At least one LGBTQ-positive title for explicit sexuality, anti-family, drugs/ which nine were to adult materials children has been challenged in all six drug use, offensive language and age and one to a young-adult title. Of the years of the survey. In 2011, it was The inappropriate.” 19 graphic novels challenged, 18 were Sissy Duckling by Harvey Fierstein. Four major reasons accounted for for adult titles and only one for The LGBTQ titles reported in previous two-thirds of all complaints to library a children’s title. years were And Tango Makes Three by titles: “violence,” mentioned 58 times; There were also six other challenges Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell “sexually explicit,” mentioned 50 to children’s fiction, five to children’s (which was reported four years in a times; “age inappropriate,” mentioned picture books and four to children’s row from 2006 to 2009), King and King 39 times, and frequently for adult non-fiction. Four challenges were by Linda de Haan and My Princess Boy titles; and “offensive language,” men- reported to adult fiction and three to by Cheryl Kilodavis. tioned 16 times. young-adult fiction. An unusual challenge reported Challenges were reported in all in 2011 was to The Mystery Method: major sectors of publicly funded How to Get Beautiful Women into Bed Canadian libraries: public, school and by Mystery (Erik von Markovik) and post-secondary libraries. Almost all Chris Odom. It was revealed to have of the challenges to both resources been misbound in the cover of the and policies occurred in public librar- children’s novel Twelve, by Lauren ies—more than 90 per cent. Only six Myracle. The occurrence is interesting challenges were in school libraries, because Myracle is a frequently chal- and two were in libraries serving post- lenged author of children’s and young secondary institutions. -adult novels in the United States. She The vast majority of concerns were was the most-challenged author in initiated by patrons (85 per cent) 2011 for her series ttyl, ttfn and l8r, g8r. or by parents and guardians (9 per Altogether, libraries reported a cent). Two challenges each were total of 241 grounds for 93 challenges Kathryn Gaitens/NOW magazine. Hair and makeup: reported by school administrators, to titles. We remind readers that Jordana Maxwell, TRESemmé Hair Care & MAC Makeup for judyinc.com. Model: Maddy/Ford teachers and library staff members; even though this report quantifies one challenge each was reported by a the number of challenges reported There were eight complaints about post-secondary student and a library to us—along with the types and inaccuracy, seven about nudity, seven board trustee. locations of libraries, categories of about religious viewpoint, six about A total of 87 titles—or almost complainants, formats of materials, insensitivity, five about homosexuality 95 per cent of all 93 challenged reasons for challenges, and their and five about “anti-ethnicity.” Four items—remained on library shelves. outcomes—we want to keep our focus or fewer complaints were reported on Three-quarters of those materials on the ideas being challenged and the the grounds of occultism, Satanism, remained unchanged in status, while motivations behind the ideas. political viewpoint, sexism, anti- 18 per cent were relocated or reclass- As in previous years, the reasons family, sex education or drugs/drug ified. Another 3 per cent had access prompting challenges to library use. Unspecified “other” grounds were restricted. Most challenges were materials in 2011 were multi-layered, indicated 20 times. resolved quickly, within a month, but almost always involving more than Of the 93 challenges to library a few took six months or longer. one rationale. The many-pronged materials, almost 60 per cent involved objections to Jihad and Genocide, books (52 titles) and almost 40 per Donna Bowman and Alvin M. Schrader written by Richard L. Rubenstein in cent involved DVDs (34 titles). Four are colleagues on the Canadian Library 2010, illustrate this phenomenon: challenges were to newspapers or Association’s Intellectual Freedom “anti-ethnicity, insensitivity, inaccur- magazines and another three were Advisory Committee. The full report acy, political viewpoint and hate.” to sound recordings. is available at www.cla.ca.

36 | FREEDOM TO READ 2013 ftr 2013

CHALLENGED RESOURCES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35 Swept Away by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of Jihad and Genocide by Richard L. Rubenstein August, DVD, directed by Lina Wertmuller Reasons: anti-ethnicity; insensitivity; inaccuracy; political Reasons: sexually explicit; offensive language viewpoint; hate Tales from the Farm by Jeff Lemire The Kid, audiobook, by Sapphire Reason: offensive language Reasons: sexually explicit; violence; offensive language T.R.U.T.H. About the Dinosaurs, DVD The Last Temptation of Christ, DVD, directed by Martin Reasons: violence; age inappropriate; other Scorcese Two Dumb Ducks by Maxwell Eaton III Reasons: insensitivity; sexually explicit; inaccuracy; Reason: insensitivity religious viewpoint The Two Marys: The Hidden History of the Mother and Wife Luke and Lucy: The Texas Rangers, DVD of Jesus by Sylvia Browne Reasons: sexually explicit; violence; offensive language; Reasons: inaccuracy; religious viewpoint age inappropriate Warlord by Ted Bell Making Out in Korean by Peter Constantine Reasons: anti-ethnicity; insensitivity; racism; political Reasons: anti-ethnicity; sexually explicit; offensive viewpoint; inciting hatred language; other (sexual exploitation) Warriors: The Rise of Scourge by Erin Hunter Murder Game, audiobook, by Christine Feehan Reasons: violence; offensive language Reasons: sexually explicit; age inappropriate What I Meant to Say: The Private Lives of Men edited by Ian The Mystery Method: How to Get Beautiful Women into Bed Brown by Mystery and Chris Odom Reason: sexism Reason: sexually explicit; misbound in the cover of “What’s Happening to Me?” An Illustrated Guide to Puberty children’s novel Twelve by Lauren Myracle by Peter Mayle Naked, DVD, directed by Mike Leigh Reasons: sex education; age inappropriate Reasons: sexually explicit; violence What’s Up: Balloon to the Rescue!, DVD Pranks a Lot: The Girls vs. the Boys (part of the Groovy Girls Reasons: racism; plagiarism Sleepover Club series) by Robin Epstein Why I Canceled My Health Insurance by Agneta Dyck Reasons: occult; Satanism; religious viewpoint Reasons: inaccuracy; insensitivity Princess on the Brink, audiobook, by Meg Cabot Written in Blood by John Wilson Reasons: sexually explicit; age inappropriate Reasons: violence; racism; age inappropriate The Remarkable Maria by Patti McIntosh Reasons: anti-ethnicity; inaccuracy; racism POLICIES: ONE CHALLENGE EACH Rolling Stone magazine • the policy of collecting graphic novels (linked to the Reason: violence challenge to the 16 titles in the Love and Rockets series) Ron Jeremy: The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz by Ron • the policy of not restricting borrowing by age (linked to the Jeremy challenge to the adult DVD Antichrist) Reasons: sexually explicit; age inappropriate • the policy of allowing those without an adult card to The Sissy Duckling by Harvey Fierstein borrow any 18A rated movie (linked to the challenge to the Reason: homosexuality adult DVD The Girl Who Played with Fire) Sophie Crumb: Evolution of a Crazy Artist edited by A. and • the policy of not restricting the adult DVD In a Glass Cage R. Crumb • the policy of allowing access to movies rated “restricted” Reasons: nudity; sexually explicit; age inappropriate to patrons 18 and over (linked to the challenge of the adult The Space Between Us by John MacKenna DVD Brüno) Reason: other • the policy of not labelling materials with an “explicit Spin magazine content” warning (linked to the challenge to the adult Reason: age inappropriate fiction book Beyond the Dark) The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan • the policy of not labelling materials for explicit content Reasons: violence; offensive language (linked to the challenge to the adult audiobook The Kid ) The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His • the policy of restricting software necessary to download Business by Werner Holzwarth e-books from the provincial library to only two out of four Reasons: age inappropriate; other (excrement) computers in a school library

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 37 peN CANADA UPDATE Speaking Up for Transparency By Charlie Foran Naturally, PEN Canada has critiqued the clampdown on discussing scientific research, the threats to the charitable he reform Charter 08 called on China’s status of organizations and Bill 78’s restrictions on free leaders to make “, freedom of assembly in Quebec. In 2012–13, we’re going to make the T the press, and academic freedom universal, thereby changing climate for free expression in Canada our primary guaranteeing that citizens can be informed and can exercise policy concern. their right of political supervision.” It asked for “a Press Law “Non-speak, non-transparency, non-accountability” was that abolishes political restrictions on the press” and urged how one PEN Canada board member recently summed up Beijing to “end the practice of viewing words as crimes.” the current climate. The terms, of course, are the obverse Few citizens in a mature democracy can easily appreciate of the goals of PEN Canada: to demand of our governments the political restrictions that China’s would-be reformers transparency, accountability and the right to free speech. were referencing. The Charter’s most prominent author, Consequently we settled on “non-speak” as the theme 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo, was promptly for our awareness-raising campaign in October 2012. The arrested, tried for “subversion of state power” and sentenced campaign adopted one initiative each day and used public to 11 years in prison. Hundreds more dissidents endured events, statements, op-eds and blogs to focus on the dangers repeated interrogations and harassment for daring to sign of allowing the current chill to pass unnoticed. the document. Simply to note scathing and blunt attempts at censorship, The fates of Liu Xiaobo and the hundreds of other writers or to respond blisteringly to attacks on free speech, will not worldwide who refuse to be intimidated by those who would be enough. We hope Non-Speak Week, and the accompany- silence them are stark reminders of why organizations such ing national campaign, will make our declarations, clear and as PEN Canada defend free expression. The contrast between bold and unapologetic, of what we know—and Canadians do our daily freedoms and theirs couldn’t be greater. Yet, facing as well, we believe—to be true. none of their peril, too many of us uncritically surrender our • Namely, that confident governments require no protec- right of political supervision and neglect the obligation to tion from their critics. Quite the opposite: they should participate in what President Obama memorably called “the welcome comments and observations as the contribu- hard and frustrating but necessary work of self-government.” tions of loyal, concerned citizens, sharing the same No dimension of PEN Canada’s mandate is nearer to its civic space and the same larger values. very core than free expression and censorship. Not out in the • Namely, that free expression isn’t a given, anywhere, and wider world, either, but right here at home in Canada. Over must be always reasserted, reclarified and fought for. the past year, we’ve grown concerned about a deepening chill • Namely, that authors and journalists, bloggers and on that most fundamental of our freedoms. tweeters, filmmakers, songwriters, editors and publish- We’ve identified multiple sources for this chill, but the ers live and die by that freedom, but so, perhaps less common thread has been efforts by different levels of gov- obviously, do students, civil servants, hockey commen- ernment to curb, control, obfuscate and sometimes even tators, city mayors, retirees—in short, everyone. suspend the basic rights of Canadians. The methods have None of us should demand less of our government or of been soft and hard, confrontational and backroom, frank ourselves. We must speak up and speak out, and this year, and disingenuous. We’re not entirely sure why this is happen- that will be the purpose and power of our pen.  ing, but we know that it is, and we are alarmed. Charlie Foran is the president of PEN Canada.

AWARDS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33 Wilkinson accepted the award at the rights at the University of Calgary, Committee on Copyright and Related OLA’s Super Conference in Toronto on where they had been formally disci- Rights in Geneva in 2011. February 3, 2012. plined for participating in a Facebook The award is named for the Toronto Keith and Steven Pridgen group that was critical of a professor. Public Library’s former chief librar- The Calgary Freedom to Read Week Keith Pridgen received the award ian Les Fowlie and recognizes “the Committee named Keith and Steven from a representative of local media courage shown by individuals and Pridgen as the winners of its 2012 sponsor Fast Forward Weekly at a organizations in defending the rights Freedom of Expression Award. Calgary event on March 1, 2012. Turn of library patrons to full access to The brothers were recognized for to page 26 to learn more about the information.” going to court to defend their speech Pridgens and their story. 

38 | FREEDOM TO READ 2013 ftr 2013 Looking Back A Report from the Writers’ Union of Canada

By Ron Brown In 2006, when the Ontario branch o paraphrase the late Pierre of the Canadian Jewish Congress Berton, if we don’t extend free- attempted to limit access to the Tdom of speech to “whackjobs” children’s book Three Wishes— and “nutbars” (my words), then we Deborah Ellis’s interviews with Israeli cannot call ourselves a democracy. and Palestinian children—in public The Writers’ Union’s Rights and schools, the union joined in the Freedoms Committee has actively public outrage. But the Toronto supported freedom of expression District School Board, among other across Canada since November 3, school boards, restricted access to 1973. the book in the early grades. Our earliest challenge was a Hiding contentious material in a complaint over an ad in a Toronto “budget” bill is nothing new for the tabloid. The ad advertised an adult federal Conservative government. entertainment venue and featured a The government buried a provision to drawing of a scantily clad woman. The deny funding to films that contained committee defended the advertiser’s material inconsistent with “public right to publish the ad and, following policy.” In 2008, the union protested a discussion with the complainant, before the Senate committee that reviewed the provision. the complaint was dismissed. There Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (Anchor, 2004) was nothing obscene or illegal about In 2010, when the University of the image. directed at magazines shipped to gay Mumbai in India banned Rohinton In the late 1990s, to protest three and lesbian bookstores, continue. Mistry’s Such a Long Journey, the separate libel actions—by the In 2003, the introduction of a union’s chair, Alan Cumyn, issued a Reichmann family, Allan Gotlieb federal “child porn” bill threatened to press release condemning the action. and Conrad Black—union members remove “artistic merit” as a defence The university had removed the book picketed the downtown offices of the and could have made a work such as because the youth wing of Shiv Sena, a litigators, carried blank placards and Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake right-wing group, had complained that chanted “Blank, Blank, Conrad Blank.” illegal. TWUC performed street the- the novel portrayed them negatively. In 2009, the Supreme Court of Canada atre: author Susan Swan read a sexu- In 2011, when the federal ruled that “public interest responsible ally descriptive portion of her young- Conservative government attempted journalism” was a valid defence adult novel and was then “arrested” to defund an event in Europe featur- against a libel action. Although not by an actor dressed as a mountie. The ing artistic works by environmental directly involved in the decision, the event received prominent coverage, critic Franke James, union chair Greg union consistently lobbied for such a but the bill passed anyway. Hollingshead chastised the govern- ruling. Another prominent case involved ment for its crude attempt at artistic The union joined with other Stephen Williams, the author of Karla, chill. organizations in a Parliament Hill who was charged for briefly posting When Toronto city councillor Doug protest against the detention of books on his website documents from the Ford claimed that he would cut public by Canada Customs at the border. Paul Bernardo murder trial. In car- library funding “in a heartbeat” and These detentions were challenged by rying out the arrest, the police also that he didn’t know who Margaret Little Sister’s Book and Art Emporium seized the computer and files of his Atwood was, she confronted him to in Vancouver. In 2000, the Supreme wife, author Marsha Boulton. Despite stress the value of libraries. Court of Canada ruled on the dispute. union protests, the police refused to In celebration of Freedom to Read But detentions, which are largely return them. LOOKING BACK CONTINUED ON PAGE 40

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 39 Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights, and Rule in Cyberspace BOOK PROFILE Edited by Ron Deibert, John Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski and Jonathan Zittrain (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010)

Reviewed by Many of the authors address the Graeme Lottering new filtering techniques, which are well-organized, scholarly more difficult to monitor and often guide to contemporary purposely shifted away from direct information technology government administration to the policy, Access Controlled public sphere. The authors expose isA itself remarkably accessible. As elective as well the second volume in the OpenNet as the voluntary relinquishing of Initiative’s thorough survey of the private information for the sake of current Internet landscape, Access creating personalized web tools and Controlled outlines the methods user profiles. governments use to limit freedom All in all, this highly recommended of expression and dissent. guide to Internet controls will make The book contains six wonderfully an indispensable addition to the concise and superbly informative library of anyone interested in global essays, each addressing the issue from Internet regulation, information tech- nology (IT) policy or the future role of a different angle. Each essay can be Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights, and read and understood in a single ses- Rule in Cyberspace edited by Ronald Deibert et al. the worldwide web. I can confidently (MIT Press, 2010) sion, but the real value of the book is say that the information contained in the second half: an impressive 450 in place, the ramifications for future in this book will change the way you pages of country profiles, detailing growth of free speech, as well as the manage your own Internet use.  the specifics in the political climates development and application of sub- Graeme Lottering is a South African of regional players. These profiles tler methods, instituted as a response artist and writer who works in sum up the controls states have set to the Great Firewall of China. Toronto.

“No longer is consideration of state-sanctioned Internet censorship confined to authoritarian regimes or hidden from public view. Internet censorship is becoming a global norm.” Access Controlled

LOOKING BACK CONTINUED FROM PAGE 39 Senate to reject the federal “Son of Lawrence Hill, Eve Freedman, Peter Week, the writers’ union presents Sam” bill which would have deprived Carver and the late Nancy Fleming who its annual Freedom to Read Award convicted felons or their co-authors of launched Freedom to Read Week and which highlights the achievements of their royalties. Some provinces passed the first Freedom to Read review.  an individual advocating freedom of similar laws anyway. Ron Brown is chair of the Rights and expression. Subsequent recipients of the award Freedoms Committee of the Writers’ The first recipient of the union’s include Janine Fuller of Little Sister’s Union of Canada. He is celebrating Freedom to Read Award was Senator bookstore, Alan Borovoy, lawyer his 25th year as a member of the Lorna Milne who encouraged the Clayton Ruby, John Ralston Saul, committee.

40º | FREEDOM TO READ 2013 Finding the Words BOOK PROFILE Edited by Jared Bland (McClelland & Stewart, 2011)

Reviewed by Teri Degler the Words have been fortunate enough to be born in countries where creative inding the Words is part expression is honoured; others have of a series of antholo- had to flee for their lives—leaving all gies that supports the they loved behind—from countries work of PEN Canada. where it isn’t. The pieces by these PEN is an international writers paint achingly vivid pictures organization of writ- of their often conflicted emotions. Fers—poets, essayists, editors and While their gratitude at finding novelists—who promote freedom of themselves in a country like Canada expression and come to the aid of is great, the pain of living in exile—of writers around the world who have never being able to reach out and lost this right. touch their roots—can sometimes be The men and women whom PEN even greater. supports often lose not just the Rawi Hage, who was born in Beirut freedom to write what they believe, and lived through nine years of the but also the right to live freely in any Lebanese civil war before coming to way. Frequently they are jailed and Canada, writes: “Those who left in tortured; sometimes they are even tears, who carry a persistent longing killed. But those who survive continue for home, and who exist in a new to write; they continue to express place that will never be fully their their ideas; they continue to use Finding the Words: Writers on Inspiration, Desire, War, Celebrity, Exile, and Breaking the Rules edited own, are both the burdened and the their words to fight against the by Jared Bland (McClelland and Stewart, 2011) blessed.” governments that suppress them This sense of being blessed with of fantasy Guy Gavriel Kay and “Let and their fellow countrymen. an inexpressibly precious gift—the It Ride” by songwriter Gord Downie, In an effort to raise funds to help right to self-expression—runs like a founder of the Tragically Hip. these brave writers, extraordinary thread beneath the surface and ties Canadian authors have contributed The contributors to Finding the the deeply personal stories that make their work to Finding the Words. Words speak openly about how up Finding the Words together. For They include writers who have won difficult the writing life can be and writers—and all others who express the highest literary awards given out about the struggle to find the words, themselves creatively—know that if around the world. Among them are but they also offer up some secrets their right to free expression is being long-loved literary icons such as Alice that have made it possible for them denied, the freedom of those who Munro and newer authors such as to express exactly what they wanted want to read, to watch and to listen Emma Donoghue who have taken the to say. The book is valuable not just is also being stripped away.  reading world by storm. for anyone who hopes to be a writer Teri Degler is an award-winning The anthology provides surprises. but for anyone who wants to express author and co-author of 10 non- Unexpected gems include “TMI: himself creatively in any way. fiction books including The Divine Writers in Cyberspace” by the master Many of the contributors to Finding Feminine Fire.

The men and women whom PEN supports often lose not just the freedom to write what they V believe, but also the right to live freely in any way.

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 41 You Can’t Read This Book: BOOK PROFILE Censorship in an Age of Freedom By Nick Cohen (Fourth Estate, 2012)

Reviewed by a British case in which a well-known Hilary McLaughlin footballer—a member of the 2012 Olympic team, forsooth—guilty of n this passionate polemic, an extramarital affair prevented the Nick Cohen—best known publication of his identity. Football as a columnist for Britain’s chat boards discussed him quite leftish Observer newspaper openly, so the secret was short lived. and rightish Spectator magazine—confronts Cohen paints on a broad canvas, cit- censorship and all its evil ing both specific cases and the culture applications in today’s of censorship in Britain, the USA, the world. Middle East and South Asia. He traces He writes lengthily on the Salman the historical roots of free expression Rushdie business, quite properly, in England, examining John Milton’s I Areopagitica and the writings of John as the fatwa originated by the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989 against Stuart Mill to show Britain’s great the Anglo-Indian author not only bona fides, now sadly deteriorated as changed Rushdie’s life immeasurably, the courts consistently find for libel but also permanently moved the plaintiffs and corporate interests. goalposts of censorship from local When writing about the USA, Cohen to supranational. wears slightly rose-tinted glasses. He rightly applauds its First Amendment Cohen also focuses on Ayaan Hirsi You Can’t Read This Book: Censorship in an Age of Ali, the Somali woman who rejected Freedom by Nick Cohen (Fourth Estate, 2012) as one of the great documents of free her Muslim background and became Hedges, also lament liberalism’s expression, but is a little naive in his a Dutch member of parliament. She failure in the face of twenty-first praise of American journalists who ran afoul of terrorists in her adopted century attacks on freedom. censored themselves during and after country, and when one killed her Cohen also outlines how corporate the invasion of Iraq in 2003. friend and colleague, filmmaker power has stymied free expression Instances of censorship in the Theo van Gogh, a note pinned to through actual censorship and threats Middle East and Pakistan should not his chest stated that she was the that lead to self-censorship in the surprise anyone who has followed next target. The Dutch were not as media, the workplace and the courts. international news in the last decade ready to protect Hirsi Ali as Britain Noting the differences between libel or so. Cohen is reasonably deft in his had Rushdie; she eventually left the actions and those based upon privacy, contempt for the culture of “being Netherlands for the United States and he makes clear that the honest broker offended,” the latest bastard child of a job at a conservative think tank. is likely to be on the losing end each anachronistic blasphemy laws. Cohen’s starting point is his way. In libel law, particularly in He proposes solutions, or reactions. disillusion with liberalism, which Britain, the burden of proof is on the But, clearly, he recognizes that the he thinks has been hamstrung to defendant. Privacy laws in Britain— salvation of free expression requires the point of paralysis by political and to a good extent elsewhere— more than regulatory tweaks. It correctness in the face of threats to protect guilty people by preventing requires intense, committed and free expression. He is not alone in anyone from identifying them. reasoned action.  this belief; other major writers, Cohen knows that the Internet Hilary McLaughlin is an Ottawa including the late Christopher has—in many cases quite properly— journalist and communications Hitchens and the American Chris made a farce of such things. He notes consultant.

42 | FREEDOM TO READ 2013 Freedom to Read Week Activities and Events Across Canada 2012

Every year, we are amazed by the creativity, ingenuity and passion our supporters bring to planning their Freedom to Read Week activities. Below are some of the events and promotions created for Freedom to Read Week 2012. Take a look: you might find inspiration for your own event!

Blessed Trinity Catholic Secondary School Calgary Public Library Grimsby, Ont. Calgary, Alta. Freedom to Read Week Video Language and Politics: Orwell’s World and Ours The library created a video which was posted on YouTube. Alternative Radio founder David Barsamian spoke about Book and Periodical Council the ongoing relevance of George Orwell’s concerns, particu- Toronto, Ont. larly the use of and the passive voice as they Censored Then and Now: The Politics of from relate to contemporary journalism and reporting. WWII to the Digital Age Camrose Public Library Author Mark Bourrie (The Fog of War) spoke with author Camrose, Alta. and activist Susan Swan (The Wives of Bath) about the past Choose a Bird and Free a Word/Silenced Books Talk Back and present of in the Canadian news During February, visitors were invited to write words on media. The Writers’ Union of Canada named Lawrence Hill paper birds and hang them from the library rafters. Every as the recipient of its Freedom to Read Award. weekday during Freedom to Read Week, volunteers read aloud from banned and challenged books. Brock Township Public Library Canadian Literature Centre and Writers Guild of Alberta Sunderland, Ont. Edmonton, Alta. Banned and Challenged Book Bonanza A Conversation with Greg Hollingshead and Paula Simons The library held readings from three banned books; Renowned novelist Greg Hollingshead joined Edmonton discussions of why the books were banned followed. Journal columnist Paula Simons for a conversation about Coffee, tea, cupcakes and cookies were supplied. her journalism which has received both acclaim and criti- Calgary Council of Christians and Jews cism. The two also discussed freedom of expression and the Calgary, Alta. challenges writers face when their work is published. In Support of Freedom to Read: Are There Any Limits? Corner Brook Public Library The CCCJ hosted a discussion about critical thinking skills Corner Brook, Nfld. and the struggle against hateful thinking with Janet Keeping Banned Art Video Contest of the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership The library and CornerBrooker.com invited young patrons and Dr. Kori Street of the USC Shoah Foundation’s Institute to create a short film inspired by banned art. for Visual History and Education. Deer Park Library Calgary Freedom to Read Week Committee Toronto, Ont. Calgary, Alta. Reading Boccaccio Freedom to Read Celebration Frequently challenged, Boccaccio’s Decameron was first The Calgary Freedom to Read Week Committee banned in Italy in 1497. Professor Jenna Sunkenberg of the announced the teen winners of Who Chooses What You University of Toronto explored the social and political envi- Read?, a contest sponsored by the Calgary Public Library. ronment into which Boccaccio launched his hundred racy The Freedom of Expression Award was presented to Keith and pious stories set during the plague years in Italy. and Steven Pridgen. FREEDOM TO READ WEEK EVENTS 2012 CONTINUED ON PAGE 44

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 43 FREEDOM TO READ WEEK EVENTS 2012 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 43 Harbord Collegiate Institute Edmonton Public Library Toronto, Ont. Edmonton, Alta. Guess the Banned Book Contest War of the Words: Language and Politics For the school library’s annual contest, a book was The library welcomed David Barsamian—award-winning wrapped in plain newsprint, chained and then put on dis- founder, director and host of independent weekly talks on play. Clues were announced over the PA system throughout Alternative Radio—to close out Freedom to Read Week 2012. the week, and the winner received a gift certificate to a Etobicoke School of the Arts bookstore. Etobicoke, Ont. Innisfil Public Library Censorship Workshops Innisfil, Ont. The school held workshops for Grade 11 and 12 students. Challenged Books Released into the Wild The workshops were hosted by local archivist Pearce J. In the weeks leading up to Freedom to Read Week, library Carefoote, author of Forbidden Fruit: Banned, Censored, staff and patrons released challenged books in local grocery and Challenged Books from Dante to Harry Potter. stores, malls, coffee shops and schools to raise awareness Carefoote worked with each class to discuss censorship. about . Grande Bibliothèque Kingston Frontenac Public Library Montreal, Que. Kingston, Ont. Table ronde du CQRLJ: Censure et littérature jeunesse Freedom-to-Read-a-thon Cinq spécialistes ont été invitées à s’exprimer sur des To kick off Freedom to Read Week, the central library ouvres « rebelles » du corpus jeunesse. Avec Alice Liénard, hosted a read-a-thon. Volunteers (including city councillors, consultante en littérature jeunesse, Réjane Gourin, authors and others passionate about books) read aloud animatrice, Nathalie Guimont, agente de développement from challenged materials. en milieu défavorisé, Élise Gravel, créatrice de Nunuche, Manitoba Writers’ Guild et Isabelle Jameson, bibliothécaire jeunesse. Winnipeg, Man. Reading of Banned Texts Displays The guild hosted an afternoon of readings from banned 9 texts at the Millennium Library. Attic Books (London, Ont.) Mount Boucherie Secondary School The Book Store at Western (London, Ont.) West Kelowna, B.C. Brock Township Public Library (Sunderland, Ont.) A Be Aware Contest Coaldale Public Library (Coaldale, Alta.) Each student was invited to select a book from a display Greater Victoria Public Library (Victoria, B.C.) of challenged works, look through it to identify why it was Harbord Collegiate Institute (Toronto, Ont.) challenged and then verify the hypothesis through an Mount Boucherie Secondary School (West Kelowna, B.C.) Internet search. Each student then created a video that Norfolk County Public Library (Simcoe, Ont.) showed him or her reading from the book and explaining Community College, Burridge Campus why it was challenged. Students received prizes for their (Yarmouth, N.S.) participation. Okanagan Public Library (Vernon, B.C.) Okanagan Regional Library Ottawa Public Library (Ottawa, Ont.) Vernon, B.C. Alta Vista branch, children’s department Ban This Bracelet Blackburn Hamlet branch The Vernon branch of the ORL hosted a workshop where Carlingwood branch participants could make bracelets featuring the covers of Cumberland branch banned books. Elmvale Acres branch St-Laurent branch Olds Municipal Library Olds, Alta. Pages Book Emporium (Cranbrook, B.C.) Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Sciences and Banned Books Challenge The library encouraged patrons to read challenged books Technology, Wascana Campus Library (Regina, Sask.) and created punch cards so patrons could keep track of the University of British Columbia Library (Vancouver, B.C.) Walter C. Koerner Library, University of British books that they read during February. If a patron filled all the spaces on the punch card, the library bought the patron Columbia (Vancouver, B.C.) a coffee.

44 | FREEDOM TO READ 2013 Ottawa Tonite Saskatoon Public Library Ottawa, Ont. Saskatoon, Sask. Censored Out Loud 2012! Censorship: A Global Perspective Ottawa Tonite—a website—collaborated with volunteers Writer in Residence Yvette Nolan directed a dramatization from the Ottawa Public Library, local writers, singer- about challenged works of literature. Various media, including songwriters, VerseFest Ottawa and the Ottawa theatre com- live Twitter feeds, were used to present a thought-provoking munity to celebrate freedom of expression. The late-night program. Sage Hill Writing Experience, the Saskatchewan event, which benefited PEN Canada, featured readings Writers’ Guild and PEN Canada helped present the event. from censored works, musical performances of banned Thompson-Nicola Regional District Library System songs and scenes from plays that have been challenged or Kamloops, B.C. deemed “inappropriate.” Guess the Banned Book Contest PEN Canada and the Toronto Public Library All February, library patrons read the clues given for three Toronto, Ont. books that had been challenged or banned. Each participant Right Angles: Freedom of Expression and the Conservative filled out an entry form with the title of one of the books, and Mind at the end of the month a winner was drawn at each branch. PEN Canada joined moderator John Lorinc and panellists University of David Akin, Barbara Kay, Christopher Hume and Marci Charlottetown, P.E.I. McDonald for a lively discussion about and Freedom to Read Week Contest polarized news coverage. The UPEI’s Education Learning Commons invited students to defend their favourite banned, censored or challenged The People’s Place, Antigonish Town and Country Library text. Students were encouraged to shoot a video, compose Antigonish, N.S. a song, write a poem, paint a picture, make a collage— Explore Freedom to Read! anything to persuade someone to read the title. Marjorie Kildare led an open discussion on banned books and censorship. Challenged books from the library’s University of Windsor collection were also displayed. Windsor, Ont. Voices of Today Peterborough Public Library The Katzman Lounge was transformed into a gallery of Peterborough, Ont. student work and a forum for discussion on an issue vital Think Globally, View Locally to our democracy. Students expressed themselves through The library presented the film series Think Globally, creative writing, visual art, photography, songwriting, mul- View Locally. The documentaries and feature films for timedia performances, the spoken word and round-table children and adults raised awareness about critical social discussions. Susan Holbrook, a Windsor poet and English or environmental issues. professor, was the evening’s guest speaker. Red Deer Public Library Vaughan Public Libraries Red Deer, Alta. Woodbridge, Ont. Freedom to Read Week Read-a-thon UNESCO’s Freedom of Expression in Broad Strokes The Dawe branch of the RDPL held an all-ages read-a- To coincide with Freedom to Read Week, Vaughan thon, inviting patrons to curl up by the fireplace with snacks Public Libraries presented this travelling editorial cartoon and blankets to read from the library’s collection of chal- exhibit from the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. The lenged books. Participants could also choose a book from a international exhibit used satire, humour and caricature to list of challenged literature to release into the community. showcase journalistic freedom of expression and freedom Salt Spring Forum of the press around the world. Salt Spring Island, B.C. WordFest and the Writers Guild of Alberta Words Without Borders Festival Calgary, Alta. The Salt Spring Forum kicked off Freedom to Read Week Freedom to Read Week Presentation by hosting a festival at the intersection of politics and WordFest and the WGA celebrated Freedom to Read Week culture. The Words Without Borders Festival celebrated with special presentations from Richard Wagamese, one writing that breaks down boundaries of all sorts. Guests of Canada’s foremost native authors and storytellers, and included Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Esi Edugyan, award-winning journalist Valerie Fortney. A conversation Governor General’s Award winner Charles Foran and followed on the internal and external censorship that Canada Reads winner Carmen Aguirre. writers deal with today. 

FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 45 Get Involved Ideas for Educators The Get Involved section is based on the articles that appear about intellectual freedom. The Get Involved activities are in the preceding pages of Freedom to Read. The objectives of designed for classroom instruction and discussion. this section are to Get Involved is also intended for citizens outside the classroom who wish to plan community events. This • highlight and freedom of section includes ideas for publicizing challenged books expression as universal human rights; and magazines in Canada, organizing events that draw • examine the educational value of controversial texts; attention to freedom of expression and generating pub- • emphasize tolerance of other people’s viewpoints as a licity for local events. vital principle of democratic education. We encourage you to use these ideas to Get Involved The target group for this section includes high school, during Freedom to Read Week and all year round. We college and university students who discuss language and sincerely hope your efforts have an impact in your literature, politics, society, history, law and other courses classroom and in your community.

Freedom to Read 2013 Quiz See Quiz Answers Page 47

1. What is the name of the software that Ron Deibert helped 12. The Canadian Library Association reported that four develop to allow people to circumvent Internet censorship? series of creative works were challenged in 2011. What were 2. What Canadian gay publication was charged with they? publishing obscene material for publishing “Men Loving 13. According to the Canadian Library Association, what Boys Loving Men” and “Lust with a Very Proper Stranger”? LGBTQ-positive title for children was challenged in 2011? 3. What bookstore in Vancouver which sold gay and lesbian 14. According to Anne Jayne’s article about two students publications frequently had books and magazines punished by the University of Calgary for comments they confiscated by Canadian customs officials? wrote about their instructor on Facebook, did the three 4. What was the code name for the Harper government’s appellate justices find that the university should have plan to create a media briefing room that would be disciplined the students? controlled by the Prime Minister’s Office? 5. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, what 15. What bill of rights did the two University of Calgary percentage of access to information requests designated students argue should have protected their freedom of for special handling originate from the media? speech? 6. What is the name of the law in Canada that I.M. GreNãda 16. According to Charles Montpetit, what was the symbol says governs a federal prisoner’s life, including what a of the student protests in Montreal that some employers prisoner reads? prohibited their employees from wearing? 7. What is the name of the visual essay that Franke James 17. According to Charles Montpetit, what touring museum says caused her to lose funding for a 20-city exhibition exhibit was criticized by a federal cabinet minister in May tour of Europe? 2012? 8. How did Franke James ultimately manage to display her 18. Iranian journalist Ava Homa writes about her experience art in Ottawa? as a journalist in Iran. Why did Iranian authorities shut 9. In 2011, a Dutch group burned the cover of a Lawrence down the newspaper she worked for? Hill novel to protest its title. What is the English name of the book? 19. Which Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize 10. From what country did celebrated author Josef laureate did Charlie Foran name in his article “Speaking Škvorecký emigrate to Canada? Up for Transparency”? 11. According to the Canadian Library Association, what 20. According to Ron Brown, what book did the Writers’ was the total number of challenges reported by Canadian Union of Canada defend after it was banned by the libraries in 2011? University of Mumbai?

46 | FREEDOM TO READ 2013 Speak Out for the Freedom to Read There are many ways to speak out and organize for freedom of expression in Canada. Here are just a few suggestions to get involved. A Book Club Discussion L Create a Display of Defaced Books Select a banned book for your next book club meeting, Ask library staff to collect books that have been defaced or start a book club that reads only banned books. (e.g., with racist, anti-gay or other slurs) or destroyed to B Banned Book Booklist prevent other people from reading them. Post a list of banned or challenged books on your web M Forum on Freedom of Expression site, or publish the list as a bookmark. Host an author, a publisher or an advocacy group which C Banned Book Swap has been sued to silence them. Organize a book swap and create a space where people N Ninety Second Megaphone share stories and experiences about book-banning. See Set up a Freedom to Speak Station where anyone can PaperbackSwap.com as a model. pick up a megaphone and speak his or her mind for 90 D Banned Book Electronic Display seconds. Create a slide show of covers of banned books on your O Free Speech Board computer. Display them on a computer monitor at your Set up a Free Speech Board that allows anyone to post library or school. messages, quotes, poems or ideas. E Panel Discussion: Authors of Banned Books P Chalking for Free Expression Host a panel discussion of authors whose books have Collect famous quotations on freedom of expression, been banned or challenged. Invite the public to attend. and write them in chalk across the school campus or on F Challenged Plays city streets. With a local theatre company, organize a staged reading Q Write a Letter to the Editor of a challenged or banned play. Let your local newspaper know how you feel about G BookCrossing banned or challenged books. Such letters are important Register banned books online at BookCrossing.com and even if they don’t get printed. follow them on their journeys from reader to reader. R Host a Photo Contest H Banned Book Display Ask participants to submit photos about freedom of Create displays of banned books in your library or school. expression or anything that promotes the written word. I Read-a-thon Display the submissions during Freedom to Read Week, Host a 24-hour reading marathon. Have students and and give out books as prizes to the winners. authors read aloud from banned books. Consider raising S Organize a Debate funds for an organization that defends free expression. Have students debate the pros and cons of banning J Book Challenges and Privacy Issues specific books, teaching certain issues in schools or Host a talk about the defence of intellectual freedom. curbing certain kinds of speech in Canada. K Film Screenings T Create a Video Curate a series of films to illustrate the many faces of film Create a short video about banned or challenged books. censorship. Include the role of government and focus on You could write the script as a news story or dramatize Canada. Suggested films include by Min Sook the debate that precedes the banning of a book. Here’s Lee, Little Sister’s vs. Big Brother by Aerlyn Weissman, and an example on YouTube:

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FREEDOM TO READ 2013 | 47 P P S D C B Q S U C V K E L M Freedom to Read T R A N S C R I P T H C G A N Word Search I B I U G B W E A E N X G N O Y N I P L A Y L L A E A G R V See if you can find the words listed below A O T O U G L W M C Z C Y U E in the puzzle. The words could be listed in any direction: up, down, diagonally or backward. Y I T Q G E N R U I I Y H O L G T X Q V R O O N L N T T J K 1. novel 12. article 2. movie 13. book O A E O S F A E S N E P R O A 3. song 14. performance M R N P R M P P H E W F O A T 4. DVD 15. speech S T I E O T Q O H P S B C C M 5. biography 16. illustration U S P Q R A M L E Y P N Y O K 6. graphic 17. journal 7. magazine 18. novella P U C I H P A R G M A A V H L 8. newspaper 19. transcript O L Y D U T S Q D B P I X M A 9. opus 20. play Q L R E P O R T V I E D W B R 10. report 21. poem 11. study Q I A Y A P D T D E R P B J P Challenged Authors Word Search Lesley Anne Cowan (As She Grows) See if you can find the surnames of the authors in the Lora Leigh, Angela Knight, Emma Holly puzzle. The surnames are listed in blue boldface type. and Diane Whiteside (Beyond the Dark) All these authors have had their books challenged Nancy Amanda Redd (Body Drama) or banned somewhere in Canada. In the puzzle, the Eric Rohmann (Bone Dog) surnames could be written in any direction: up, down, Brian Doyle (Boy O’Boy) Patricia Polacco (Christmas Tapestry) diagonally or backward. Anne Stuart (Fire and Ice) Adam Mansbach (Go the F**k to Sleep) C T Y M H P U H R R W D R B Q Bobbie Kalman (Hooray for Dairy Farming) Richard Ben Cramer (How Israel Lost) N O O R H G C M P U I D O R U Richard L. Rubenstein (Jihad and Genocide) M D N E E A I O Q B L E H O D Peter Constantine (Making Out in Korean) O A L S B T L E T E S R M W O Mystery and Chris Odom (The Mystery Method) Robin Epstein (Pranks a Lot) C A C S T A S R L N O E A N Y Patti McIntosh (The Remarkable Maria) N R N K C A A Y W S N T N S L Ron Jeremy (Ron Jeremy) Harvey Fierstein (The Sissy Duckling) B A A C E U N H M T O N N H E A. and R. Crumb (Sophie Crumb) M Y O M T N I T W E J U Z T D John MacKenna (The Space Between Us) U L Y S E T N N I I E H Y R T Matt Phelan (The Storm in the Barn) Werner Holzwarth (The Story of the Little Mole Who R L P E E R D A A N R Z K A H Knew It Was None of His Business) C O M S N I E T S R E I F W G Jeff Lemire (Tales from the Farm) W H I N I E T S P E M A Y Z I Maxwell Eaton III (Two Dumb Ducks) Erin Hunter (Warriors) C D C K A L M A N M Y Y T L N Ian Brown (What I Meant to Say) E L Y A M C I N T O S H W O K Peter Mayle (“What's Happening to Me?”) John Wilson (Written in Blood) N A W O C E R I M E L Q L H N

48 | FREEDOM TO READ 2013 If someone says “This Freedom of the press is isn’t a censorship issue,” perhaps the freedom that you can be pretty damn has suffered the most from sure it really is. the gradual degradation ­—Jeffrey Shallit of the idea of liberty. —Albert Camus

If every individual with an agenda had his/her Censorship is at its way, the shelves in the most effective when school library would be its victims pretend it close to empty. does not exist. ­—Judy Blume —Nick Cohen

Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment There can be no of their responsibility to free speech in a provide information and mob: free speech enlightenment. is one thing a mob —ALA Library Bill of Rights can’t stand. INFORMATION ideas ­—Northrop Frye

Burning books is designed to intimidate people. It underestimates the intelligence of readers, stifles dialogue and insults those who cherish the freedom to read and write. —Lawrence Hill FreedomtoReadWeek

February 24 – March 2, 2013

Keep Reading Looking for more information? Visit the NEW Freedom to Read website. You’ll Want to • learn more about the stories in the review • check out the complete FTRW event calendar • view the challenged book and magazine list • subscribe to our newsletter Express Yourself Our social networking communities are active year-round, bringing you the latest news about challenges to our freedom to read. Add your voice to the conversation by following us on Facebook and Twitter.

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