Intellectual Freedom

Canadian libraries don’t exist to coerce anyone’s beliefs or commitments. However, varying opinions about what should or should not be available in Canada’s publicly funded libraries surfaced as a constant topic in the Canadian media in 2024. I’ll point to a small sample of this coverage to make the point, as well as identify a few expressive freedom features on the 2025 landscape we can see through this library-focused lens.

In Ontario, the London District Catholic School Board prohibits teachers from teaching certain novels, such as Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negroes, to students because the books contain the N-word.

As part of the Edmonton Public Library’s Forward Thinking Speaker Series, I was invited to talk with Margaret Atwood on freedom of expression, her writing, and moderating audience questions. Given the timing, our armchair discussion quickly turned to politics.

In Quesnel, B.C., after Pat Morton, the wife of Mayor Ron Paull, circulated a controversial book about Indian residential schools, members of the Indigenous population said that the book offended, disrespected, and traumatized them.