3 hours Ago By Brandon Sun
The Pembina Trails School Division may be the latest front in the battle over which books belong in Manitoba schools and libraries, but it isn’t the first and the problem will likely continue until the Manitoba government steps up to confront and resolve the issue. Read this article for free: Already have an account? As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support.
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Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community! The Pembina Trails School Division may be the latest front in the battle over which books belong in Manitoba schools and libraries, but it isn’t the first and the problem will likely continue until the Manitoba government steps up to confront and resolve the issue. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Opinion The Pembina Trails School Division may be the latest front in the battle over which books belong in Manitoba schools and libraries, but it isn’t the first and the problem will likely continue until the Manitoba government steps up to confront and resolve the issue. It was reported yesterday that members of a conspiracy theorist group have been attending kindergarten open houses in Winnipeg to warn young families about “pornographic content” in public schools.
That unwelcomed activity has prompted the Pembina Trails School Division to contact an organization known as “Action4Canada” to request that its representatives stay away from the division’s properties. For the past five years, Action4Canada — which claims to have three chapters in Manitoba and many more across Canada — has been attempting to mobilize Canadians around a wide-ranging list of divisive topics, including COVID-19 pandemic mandates, immigration policy, the so-called “15-minute cities” and “critical race” conspiracy theories, book banning and abortion rights. The organization bills itself as “a national movement reaching out to millions of Canadians and UNITING our voices in opposition to the destructive policies tearing at the fabric of this nation.
” They say they are “committed to protecting ...
FAITH, FAMILY and FREEDOM” and, in order to accomplish that mission, they say that “Through Call To ACTION campaigns, we educate, equip, empower and mobilize citizens to take action.” In the context of child education, Action4Canada promotes Christian homeschooling as a way to protect children from “being encouraged to masturbate and experiment sexually with the same sex.” Free downloads on the organization’s website include a pamphlet condemning the promotion of 2SLGBTTQ+ representation in schools, as well as a “notice of liability” document template that apparently seeks to intimidate recipients to remove sexual education materials from schools.
In recent weeks, Action4Canada representatives have reportedly appeared at no fewer than eight Pembina Trails schools to distribute brochures and, in some cases, approached parents and students directly to voice their concerns. That conduct has apparently distressed some staff, parents and students. Winnipeg schools are just the latest target of this group’s determined effort to rid schools of books they deem to be offensive.
In 2023, Brandon School Division trustees were asked to form a committee of parents and trustees to review the books in each BSD school library and remove them if the committee deemed them harmful to children. Former BSD trustee Lorraine Hackenschmidt was the leading advocate for such a committee, arguing that books that discuss subjects such as gender identity and sexual health are linked to sexual grooming and pedophilia, and do not belong in the division’s school libraries. It was an outrageously offensive argument, and the BSD trustees made the right decision in rejecting Hackenschmidt’s request.
That did not end the matter, however. Since then, several other Manitoba school divisions have also been forced to confront the issue of book banning. In many instances, school trustees deliberating the issue have also been threatened with prosecution for allowing the books to remain in schools.
Despite those threats, combined with meetings attended by angry Action4Canada supporters, school trustees and administrators have generally stood their ground and refused to give in to the pressure. They deserve much credit and respect for doing so, but they should have never been put in such a threatening position in the first place. The situation is only occurring because of a lack of leadership by the Manitoba government on the issue of which books are appropriate for school libraries, and which are not.
The unregulated approach that currently exists throughout the province, in which some school divisions may implement book bans while others don’t, is not working and is only creating unnecessary anxiety and conflict in schools and at school board tables across the province. What is needed is a defined, provincewide policy, codified in legislation and/or regulations that explicitly protect all school libraries in Manitoba — possibly all libraries in the province — from the many would-be book-banners and burners out there. Given the intimidation of school trustees, division staff, students and parents that has occurred throughout the province for the past two years, the harassment that is now happening at Winnipeg schools, and the likelihood the problem will continue or even escalate as the next round of school board elections draw nearer, now is the time for the Kinew government to act.
It cannot allow the current situation to continue, let alone worsen. Advertisement Advertisement.
