Christian conservative group Action4Canada lobbied for review of books in Alberta schools
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The president of the Library Association of Alberta believes a Christian lobby group may have played a role in the province's targeting of 'sexually explicit' books found in school libraries.
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Laura Winton pointed to posts on the Action4Canada website, where the group pats itself on the back for its 'behind the scenes' lobbying of the Alberta government over books its members find objectionable.
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Winton said that Action4Canada is known to contact librarians across the province over books that the group finds offensive.
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Earlier this week, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said the government would be consulting the public in order to create some standards when it comes to explicit material in school libraries. Four books were used as examples of materials that the ministry found objectionable for children: Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, Craig Thompson's Blankets, and Flamer by Mike Curato. The books deal with 2SLGBTQIA+ themes, and have sexual imagery and language.
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Tanya Gaw, Action4Canada's founder, said members of her team met with Nicolaides in the fall of 2024. This was confirmed by the education ministry, but both parties differ on the effectiveness of the meeting.
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Gaw said Action4Canada sent binders to Nicolaides and Premier Danielle Smith which outlined the harms caused by the books in question, and also warned against the adoption of SOGI 123 by Alberta schools,
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SOGI 123 is a Canada-wide organization that makes programming and resources available to schools in the areas of inclusivity and positive acceptance of gender identities.
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'We wanted to show the harm and risks that children are being put into,' said Gaw. 'When he (Nicolaides) saw the binder, he was genuinely shocked. We have the right to be concerned about what our children are being exposed to. We opened the minister's eyes to this.'
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Nicolaides said his decision was influenced by what he'd been hearing from parents around the province.
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'No, we had been hearing from parents,' he said. 'I've been hearing from parents for quite some time, in fact, since I became minister, about items in school libraries that were of concern.'
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When asked if Action4Canada's lobbying efforts had any impact at all, Nicolaides had this to say: 'I'm unsure. I mean, they had brought some materials to our attention so that that helped to get a better understanding of the nature of materials that was available in schools. But, you know, this is a topic that I've talked with many Albertans about.'
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