The Alberta government released their policy on “explicit materials” in school libraries yesterday, and it went badly, in part because it was confusing about what they considered acceptable “non-explicit sexual materials,” and pretty much every media outlet got it wrong, while my Xtra colleague Mel Woods was out there correcting everyone for several hours until they could update their stories. The government even had to put out a clarification.

Alberta's new school library standards are here, and include a total ban on "explicit sexual content" from school libraries in the province Notably, "religious texts" are excluded — and when asked during the briefing today to give examples, only the Bible was brought up as an obvious exception.

— Mel Woods (@melwoods.me) 2025-07-10T18:35:11.927Z

I understand that the confusion is between "non-explicit sexual content" and what the government is defining as "not considered sexual" — they are two separate things

— Mel Woods (@melwoods.me) 2025-07-10T20:01:59.483Z

All of the media outlets reporting that books with puberty/kissing/hugging are banned in Alberta for Grade 9 and under … that's not true!!

— Mel Woods (@melwoods.me) 2025-07-10T20:33:27.209Z

All of this being said, what got me was that they got a token trans person to insist that this particular censorship (and let’s be clear that it’s what this is) has nothing to do with LGBTQ+ people but is just about sexually explicit materials, and they even said something to the effect of “At that age, we need guidance and not sexual materials.” And I immediately started swearing at the TV, because this is where it always starts. This is a page directly out of the playbook of autocrats like Viktor Orbán, who use LGBTQ+ scapegoating to further their ends. Hell, we have a history in this country where wannabe censors at Canada Customs (as it was then known) for seizing innocuous queer materials bound for the Little Sisters bookstore in Vancouver and claiming it was “obscene” (and there’s a Supreme Court decision on this).

For them to say "This is not about LGBTQ+ material, it's about sexually explicit material" as if Little Sisters didn't happen in this country or Viktor Orbán's anti-LGBTQ+ laws that target innocuous books aren't happening RIGHT NOW is absolutely enraging.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-07-10T18:46:28.143Z

Of course, this is about LGBTQ+ people and materials. Three of the four books that started this moral panic on the part of the Alberta government were queer or trans. They were weaponised by Christian nationalists to achieve this very result. And they will keep complaining that any queer materials are “sexually explicit” by their very nature until the government capitulates. It’s also why the proposed age verification legislation that is making yet another attempt federally is 100 percent guaranteed to be used to attack queer and trans materials. Pretending otherwise means you are either mendacious or an idiot, or possibly both.

Ukraine Dispatch

Here is a look at how the residents of Kyiv are dealing with the increasing waves of attacks in recent weeks. A rebuilding conference took place in Italy, committing over ten billion Euros to the effort. Meanwhile, the UK signed a deal to supply air defence missiles to Ukraine, while the UK and France also agreed that Paris would be the headquarters of the “coalition of the willing” for Ukraine.

Good reads:

• Trump is now threatening 35 percent tariffs on Canada, citing fentanyl falsehoods, but it appears that the New NAFTA exemptions will still apply.
• It should go without saying that Mélanie Joly is vowing to fight the copper tariffs.
• David McGuinty says he’s disturbed by the terror arrests in the Canadian Forces, but insists that culture change is underway.
• Indigenous Services is planning an internal restructuring as the government begins looking for savings.
• Lt-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet is the new head of the RCAF, and the first woman to hold the position. She was a helicopter pilot, and served in Haiti and Bosnia.
• The PBO says that the Canada Infrastructure Bank is running about $20 billion below its investment target.
• American visitors to Canada are also declining as Canadians increasingly stay away from the US.
• David Lametti begins his job as Carney’s principal secretary on Monday.
• The Commissioner of Elections levied fines against an accountant working as the official agent on Conservative campaigns for a series of non-compliance issues.
• The NDP have decided that their leadership contest will run from September to March, and will have a $100,000 entry fee to demonstrate seriousness.
• There is infighting amongst the NDP over the suggestion for donors to direct funds to riding associations instead of the central party.
• Nova Scotia’s home-sharing app resulted in 60 leases in two years, because that was a better use of resources than just building more houses.
• Casey Michel gives a look into just how much brazen corruption has been allowed to flourish under the Trump administration, and how this is going global.
• Mike Moffatt offers some solutions to how Toronto should deal with the collapse of its housing market.
• My Xtra column is not a fan of the Parliamentary Pride Caucus opening itself up to allies joining instead of keeping it a space for queer MPs to use their voices.

Odds and ends:

"We can't talk about digital asbestos and not be using it," says digital asbestos minister Evan fucking Solomon.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-07-10T22:43:53.408Z

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