The Edmonton Public School Board’s (EPSB) sweeping book ban has erupted into a quintessential Alberta debacle: a government directive mangled by overzealous implementation, corroding trust in educational oversight.
In July, the UCP government under Premier Danielle Smith ordered schools to remove “inappropriate” materials from libraries, targeting explicit sexual content to protect children. Instead of applying a common-sense filter, EPSB produced a blacklist of more than 200 titles—including The Handmaid’s Tale, The Color Purple, and The Godfather. Even Jaws and works by George R.R. Martin didn’t escape the purge. Critics dubbed it “vicious compliance”: technically following the order, but in a way designed to spark outrage.
Smith quickly condemned the overreach, pausing the ban and pledging clarifications so that classics remain available. The government’s vagueness deserves criticism, but EPSB’s reaction exposed something deeper: Alberta’s educational establishment either failed to grasp the policy’s intent—or chose to deliberately misapply it, then leak the story to embarrass the UCP. In either case, it is professional negligence.
The fallout has been swift. Margaret Atwood ridiculed the move, bookstores report surging sales of “banned” books, and the episode has reinforced suspicions that education officials are more interested in scoring political points than serving students.
Irony abounds: in trying to shield children from explicit content, the government gave its critics ammunition; in trying to follow the directive to the letter, EPSB managed to turn itself into the villain. What should have been a straightforward matter of removing genuinely pornographic material has spiraled into a culture-war sideshow, eroding public confidence in both policymakers and educational leaders.
The lesson is plain: sloppy governance is bad—but bad-faith compliance from those entrusted with education is worse.
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
2 comments
September 10, 2025 at 8:14 am
tildeb
There is no ban. There was no ban. There has never been a ban. Anyone who claims differently is spouting not misinformation – which may be innocently committed – but disinformation… false information deliberately spread to mislead. That intentional misleading of the government’s directive was the primary goal of the Edmonton Public School Board. And look how well it has worked! So much for an informed public.
Media across the country then immediately fell in line, swallowed the lie whole, and then widely reported this lie as if true. That’s not journalism, people; that’s partisan politics in action with editorial ideologues following an ideology they prefer that cares not one whit either for what’s true or informing the public of what’s true. Media and even blog writers who go along with the lie – again – are doing their best to indoctrinate the public with a preferred narrative and getting almost no pushback from those of us who still think that what’s true matters more than what people would prefer to believe is true. And that’s just fucking sad.
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September 10, 2025 at 8:18 am
The Arbourist
You’d think with all the time I’ve spent on false narrative creation I’d catch it in the title of the post. (sigh). A testament to the power of narratives.
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