Intellectual Freedom

The government of Alberta has imposed unprecedented censorship on all public libraries in the province – a first in Canadian history. In May, the government pushed through Bill 28, giving the Minister of Municipal Affairs virtually unlimited authority over almost all aspects of all Alberta public libraries – an extreme and unwarranted attack on the province’s public library boards, staff, and administration that a recent poll found were trusted by 82% of Albertans.

It is widely understood that a society reveals its character in how it treats those with the least power. In Canada, that measure is under strain.Planned reductions of $132.2 million to Correctional Service Canada spending by the 2028–29 fiscal year are expected to affect institutional services, including prison libraries. Proposals to eliminate professional library staff, framed as administrative efficiency, risk removing a core element of rehabilitation. More fundamentally, they risk creating conditions of state-sanctioned information poverty behind bars.

On May 13, the Alberta government passed Bill 28 which amends the Libraries Act to grant the Minister of Municipal Affairs, currently Dan Williams, authority over “management, administration or operation” of every public library in the province. The Bill gives the Minister unprecedented power to issue “any order that the Minister considers appropriate.” 

Responses to each paragraph of Alberta MLA Nate Glubish’s letter to a constituent publicly defending Government Bill 28 that authorizes provincial takeover of Alberta public libraries.

In its final report on challenges faced by Canadian libraries in 2025, the Centre for Free Expression presents data reported in 2025 by public, school, and academic libraries on demands for removal or relocation of materials in their collections; cancellation of their programs; concerns about exhibits and displays; and objections to making available library space to community groups. The most notable finding is that of the 502 such challenges reported in 2025, 360 were the result of an Order issued by Alberta's Minister of Education to all school authorities in the province for their school libraries to remove graphic novels for young adults he felt inappropriate because of sexual content -- despite them having been consistent with school board library policies and most being highly respected, award-winning books. This is the largest book ban in Canadian history.