Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks with media in 2025
Courtesy Government of Alberta
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, in a press conference August 29, addressed concerns over sexually explicit materials in elementary school libraries, criticizing the Edmonton Public School Board for what she called “vicious compliance” with a provincial directive.
During the event, she showed slides of the obscene material being offered to children in Alberta schools.
The directive, issued by Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides in July, mandates school boards to remove inappropriate content by October 1.
“I don’t know how much more clear we could be,” Smith said. “This all began because these were the images that parents were showing us that were accessible to children in elementary school libraries.”
She emphasized the government’s goal to remove sexually explicit content unsuitable for young children, stating, “We are trying to take sexually explicit content out of elementary schools that is inappropriate for me to show on television news at night, and so it is inappropriate for seven-year-olds to see.”
An edited slide from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's press conference on pornography in elementary schools.
Smith offered to work with school boards to clarify age-appropriate materials, noting, “If they need us to hold their hand through the process to identify what kind of materials are appropriate, we will more than happily work with them to work through their list one by one.”
Edmonton Public Schools’ list of over 200 titles flagged for removal, including Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, drew criticism for misinterpreting the directive’s focus on graphic imagery.
Board chair Julie Kusiek defended the actions, citing compliance with the order. The policy has sparked backlash from authors and educators, with Atwood highlighting the irony of censoring her work.
Other Alberta school divisions, including Calgary and Red Deer, are also reviewing materials. Smith reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring age-appropriate content while preserving literary works for older students.