Danny Ramadan recalls self-censoring his writing in Syria before his arrival in Canada 10 years ago. Now, as an advocate for 2SLGBTQ+ refugees and an author exploring belonging, displacement and identity, he says navigating book challenges is a somewhat expected part of being published.
Still, when an Ontario school board shadow-banned his children’s title Salma Writes a Book last fall — the school libraries carried it, but restricted students’ access — Ramadan was floored.
“I expected the book to be banned in Florida. I was just extremely shocked when I found out that it was banned here, on our home turf here in Canada. It just felt dizzying,” he said from Vancouver.
As Canada marks the 40th anniversary of Freedom to Read Week — first founded amid an uproar against Ontario high school seniors studying Margaret Laurence’s novel The Diviners — authors, teachers and librarians are highlighting the importance of students’ access to different perspectives in their school libraries and the need for schools to have (and stick to) clear policies when navigating book challenges.
In November, staffers in the Waterloo Catholic District School Board flagged to Ramadan that Salma Writes a Book, an instalment of his ongoing kids’ series about a young immigrant in Canada, had been restricted in their school libraries (along with other titles).
Penned by Danny Ramadan, Salma Writes a Book is an early chapter book in a series about a young Syrian immigrant to Canada. (Annick Press, Amanda Palmer)
Students had to request it specifically, and a librarian or teacher was required to provide “a Catholic understanding of the book” before granting any request, Ramadan noted.
The story in question follows Salma anticipating life as a big sister after learning her mother is expecting. A secondary thread touches on an estrangement between her mom and her gay uncle — autobiographical details drawn from Ramadan’s own life that he strove to present in an age-appropriate manner.
“There is a duty of care that I have when I’m creating children’s literature.… I think of the best way to offer that information to the child without causing any difficult emotions or navigating things that they might not be mature enough to navigate,” he said.
“This book is about my own identity,” Ramadan said. “[Restricting the book is] telling me that my identity somehow should be hidden from children — is in a way telling me that my identity should be hidden from my own niece. It’s extremely offensive to me.”
A spokesperson for the board told CBC News the book has since been returned to its regular shelves, following a period of review.
Syrian Canadian author Ramadan wove some details from his own life into Salma Writes a Book, including introducing a gay uncle. Restricting the children’s title ‘is in a way telling me that my identity should be hidden from my own niece.’ (Nick Allen/CBC)
Challenges target books dealing with sex, gender diversity
According to Canadian librarians, recent challenges primarily involve opposition to books that deal with sexuality, 2SLGBTQ+ themes or gender diversity.
Some groups have launched co-ordinated book challenges of resources used for sex and health education, criticizing specific titles for relating to or depicting sexual activity and branding the books as child pornography — including in one instance reporting it as such to the RCMP in Chilliwack, B.C.
However, others have come from families from a shared community as the author, with criticism over depictions within.
Book challenges frequently come from a place of fear, ignorance and misunderstanding, according to Winnipeg-based author David A. Robertson.
“Oftentimes, though, what happens is that the challenges come from a place where there hasn’t been a real in-depth study of the literature being done,” he said.
“You don’t really know a novel or story unless you actually read the story — and there’s a lot of nuance, a lot of stuff in there that you don’t get from reading the back copy.”
WATCH | David A. Robertson on how diverse storytelling helps kids learn empathy:
How stories can pave the way for kids to learn empathy, respect for others
10 hours ago
Duration 1:49
Author David A. Robertson speaks about what arises when students read books and stories from a diversity of voices and perspectives.
Robertson, a member of the Norway House Cree Nation, has experienced controversy with two of his teen-targeted graphic novels (one that referenced abuse that occurred in residential schools and the other a portrait of a missing and murdered Indigenous woman) and� his middle-grade fantasy epic The Great Bear, whose central heroes are a pair of Cree foster kids.
Two of the works, 7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga and Betty: The Helen Betty Osborne Story, appeared on a list of books to remove from libraries and classrooms in the Edmonton Public Schools board. The list was withdrawn after public pressure.
“It was really a situation where [the challengers’] core set of beliefs, traditions, values didn’t line up with what I was writing about in my books,” Robertson said.
The author said he felt supported by many people who’ve written in to school board officials and attended meetings to defend his work.
“Canadians generally don’t like that [attempts at book bans] are happening,” he said. “And when it does happen, they mobilize, they come together and they stand with authors. They stand with a child’s right to read.”
Having visited myriad schools, author David A. Robertson says he’s seen empathy and understanding in kids who’ve read books from different cultures and perspectives. (Submitted by David A. Robertson)
After meeting thousands of students on school visits, Robertson said he’s seen empathy, understanding and a feeling of empowerment in kids when they read books from different cultures and perspectives. Books can be mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors, he explained, paraphrasing children’s literature researcher Rudine Sims Bishop: a reflection of a reader, a glimpse into a life different from one’s own and an opportunity to step into a character’s shoes.
“Those stories need to be in the classroom,” he said. “Those stories need to be in libraries.… It’s doing a lot of great work, and taking them out is undoing the work that we’ve done, the inroads that we’ve made.”
Challenging conversations are OK, says librarian
Wendy Burch Jones relishes matching “the right book with the right reader at the right time,” curating a collection that reflects students’ identities and inspiring a joy for reading. Burch Jones is a teacher-librarian — an educator with additional qualifications in literacy and librarianship — in Toronto.
‘Books are art and, just like any piece of art, some people are going to like it and some people aren’t. But that doesn’t mean that we should then not make it available to everybody else,’ says Toronto teacher-librarian Wendy Burch Jones. (Tess Ha/CBC)
Books may be the only way some get to travel the world, she said, “so if we want our students to be able to learn about other experiences, to learn about different people in the world, where else are they going to do that?”
Not every student will love every single book, and some titles might provoke challenging conversations — and that’s OK.
“Books are art, and just like any piece of art, some people are going to like it and some people aren’t. But that doesn’t mean that we should then not make it available to everybody else,” she said.
“If a parent chooses not to read that book to their child, that is absolutely 100 per cent their choice. [But] I am not going to restrict any other child from having access to that book,” said Burch Jones.
Books considered for school libraries follow selection criteria set by the respective school board, she said.
‘If the [book challenge] process is followed by the committee in place that is supposed to review the book, usually there’s a good conclusion,’ says Richard Beaudry, co-ordinator of UBC’s teacher librarianship program. (Murray Titus/CBC)
Most boards, districts and divisions have policies guiding staff on navigating book challenges with care, according to Richard Beaudry, an instructor at and coordinator of the University of British Columbia’s teacher librarianship program.
Problems usually arise, he continued, when someone decides to disregard established procedures.
“We’re not trying to defend every book to remain in the system, but what we want is [for] people to go through the right process,” he said from Langley, B.C.
“If the process is followed by the committee in place that is supposed to review the book, usually there’s a good conclusion.”
School library collections must consider age-appropriateness and what students need on a curriculum level, but “we need children to be able to read books where they can understand different concepts and different views,” Beaudry added. “As much as possible, we want kids to access a lot of things.”
WATCH | What guides the Vancouver Public Library in choosing what books to offer:
How the Vancouver Public Library chooses books for its collection — and why
9 months ago
Duration 2:31
As libraries across the country face calls to remove books that contain content related to sexual education and LGBTQ issues, the team responsible for building Vancouver Public Library’s collection explains how books are chosen and why there should be something for everyone.
OTTAWA – Liberal House leader Karina Gould lambasted Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as a “fraudster” this morning after he said the federal carbon price is going to cause a “nuclear winter.”
Gould was speaking just before the House of Commons is set to reopen following the summer break.
“What I heard yesterday from Mr. Poilievre was so over the top, so irresponsible, so immature, and something that only a fraudster would do,” she said from Parliament Hill.
On Sunday Poilievre said increasing the carbon price will cause a “nuclear winter,” painting a dystopian picture of people starving and freezing because they can’t afford food or heat due the carbon price.
He said the Liberals’ obsession with carbon pricing is “an existential threat to our economy and our way of life.”
The carbon price currently adds about 17.6 cents to every litre of gasoline, but that cost is offset by carbon rebates mailed to Canadians every three months. The Parliamentary Budget Office provided analysis that showed eight in 10 households receive more from the rebates than they pay in carbon pricing, though the office also warned that long-term economic effects could harm jobs and wage growth.
Gould accused Poilievre of ignoring the rebates, and refusing to tell Canadians how he would make life more affordable while battling climate change. The Liberals have also accused the Conservatives of dismissing the expertise of more than 200 economists who wrote a letter earlier this year describing the carbon price as the least expensive, most efficient way to lower emissions.
Poilievre is pushing for the other opposition parties to vote the government down and trigger what he calls a “carbon tax election.”
The recent decision by the NDP to break its political pact with the government makes an early election more likely, but there does not seem to be an interest from either the Bloc Québécois or the NDP to have it happen immediately.
Poilievre intends to bring a non-confidence motion against the government as early as this week but would likely need both the Bloc and NDP to support it.
Gould said she has no “crystal ball” over when or how often Poilievre might try to bring down the government
“I know that the end of the supply and confidence agreement makes things a bit different, but really all it does is returns us to a normal minority parliament,” she said. “And that means that we will work case-by-case, legislation-by-legislation with whichever party wants to work with us. I have already been in touch with all of the House leaders in the opposition parties and my job now is to make Parliament work for Canadians.”
She also insisted the government has listened to the concerns raised by Canadians, and received the message when the Liberals lost a Toronto byelection in June in seat the party had held since 1997.
“We certainly got the message from Toronto-St. Paul’s and have spent the summer reflecting on what that means and are coming back to Parliament, I think, very clearly focused on ensuring that Canadians are at the centre of everything that we do moving forward,” she said.
The Liberals are bracing, however, for the possibility of another blow Monday night, in a tight race to hold a Montreal seat in a byelection there. Voters in LaSalle—Émard—Verdun are casting ballots today to replace former justice minister David Lametti, who was removed from cabinet in 2023 and resigned as an MP in January.
The Conservatives and NDP are also in a tight race in Elmwood-Transcona, a Winnipeg seat that has mostly been held by the NDP over the last several decades.
There are several key bills making their way through the legislative process, including the online harms act and the NDP-endorsed pharmacare bill, which is currently in the Senate.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
GENEVA (AP) — Two former Olympic champions are in the race to be the next IOC president. So is a prince of a Middle East kingdom and the son of a former president. The global leaders of cycling, gymnastics and skiing also are in play.
The International Olympic Committee published a list Monday of seven would-be candidates who are set to run for election in March to succeed outgoing president Thomas Bach for the next eight years.
Just one woman, IOC executive board member Kirsty Coventry from Zimbabwe, entered the contest to lead an organization that has had only male presidents in its 130-year history. Eight of those presidents were from Europe and one from the United States.
Coventry and Sebastian Coe are two-time gold medalists in swimming and running, respectively. Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan is also on the IOC board.
Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. of Spain is one of the four IOC vice presidents, whose father was president for 21 years until 2001.
David Lappartient is the president of cycling’s governing body, Morinari Watanabe leads gymnastics, and Johan Eliasch is president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation. Coe is the president of track’s World Athletics.
All seven met a deadline of Sunday to send a letter of intent to Bach, who must leave the post next year after reaching the maximum 12 years in office. Bach declined at the Paris Olympics last month to seek to change IOC rules in order to stay in office longer.
A formal candidate list should be confirmed in January, three months before the March 18-21 election meeting in Greece, near the site of Ancient Olympia.
Only IOC members are eligible to stand as candidates, with votes cast by the rest of the 111-strong membership of the Olympic body.
The IOC is one of the most exclusive clubs in world sports. Its members are drawn from European and Middle East royalty, leaders of international sports bodies, former and current Olympic athletes, politicians and diplomats plus industrialists, including some billionaires like Eliasch.
It makes for one of the most discreet and quirky election campaigns in world sports, with members prevented from publicly endorsing their pick.
Campaign limits on the candidates include a block on publishing videos, organizing public meetings and taking part in public debates. The IOC will organize a closed-door meeting for candidates to address voters in January in its home city Lausanne, Switzerland.
The IOC top job ideally calls for deep knowledge of managing sports, understanding athletes’ needs and nimble skills in global politics.
The president oversees an organization that earns billions of dollars in revenue from broadcasting and sponsor deals for the Olympic Games and employs hundreds of staff in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Coe has been widely considered the most qualified candidate. A two-time Olympic champion in the 1,500-meters, he was later an elected lawmaker in Britain in the 1990s, led the 2012 London Olympics organizing committee and has presided at World Athletics for nine years.
However, he has potential legal hurdles regarding his ability to serve a full eight-year mandate. The IOC has an age limit of 70 for members, while Coe will be 68 on election day. The rules allow for a special exemption to remain for four more years, but that would mean a six-year presidency unless those limits are changed.
Coventry, who turned 41 Monday, also has government experience as the appointed sports minister in Zimbabwe.
The only woman ever to stand as an IOC presidential candidate was Anita DeFrantz, a former Olympic rower from the United States. She was eliminated in the first round of voting in a five-candidate election in 2001, which was won by Jacques Rogge.
Lappartient also is president of France’s national Olympic body and has carried strong momentum from the Paris Summer Games. He leads a French Alps project that was picked to host the 2030 Winter Games and was picked by Bach to oversee a long-term project sealed in Paris that will see Saudi Arabia hosting the Esports Olympic Games through 2035.
Eliasch is perhaps the most surprising candidate after being elected as an IOC member in Paris less than two months ago. The Swedish-British owner of the Head sportswear brand got 17 “no” votes, a notably high number in Olympic politics.
TORONTO – Ontario is proposing to further expand pharmacists’ scope of practice by adding to the list of minor ailments they can assess, allowing them to administer more vaccines and order some lab tests.
But while pharmacists see the proposal as an overdue solution to easing the burden on other aspects of the health-care system by leaning more on their professional expertise, doctors are raising concerns.
The government in early 2023 granted pharmacists the ability to assess and treat 13 minor ailments, including pink eye, hemorrhoids and urinary tract infections. In the fall of that year six more were added to the list, including acne, canker sores and yeast infections.
Now, the government is proposing to expand the list to include sore throat, calluses and corns, mild headaches, shingles, minor sleep disorders, fungal nail infections, swimmers’ ear, head lice, nasal congestion, dandruff, ringworm, jock itch, warts and dry eye.
As well, the Ministry of Health is looking for feedback on what lab tests and point-of-care tests might be required for pharmacists to order and perform as part of assessing and treating those conditions.
The government is also considering funding pharmacists to administer tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, pneumococcal, shingles and RSV vaccines for adults, in addition to COVID-19 and flu vaccines. The province is proposing to allow pharmacy technicians to administer the same vaccines as pharmacists.
“Our government is focused on improving access to care in communities across the province and we have seen the success of our minor ailment program, connecting over 1 million people to treatment for minor ailments,” Hannah Jensen, a spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones, wrote in a statement.
Justin Bates, CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists Association, said the minor ailments program has been going well so far, and further expanding pharmacists’ scope can help avoid visits to family doctors and emergency rooms.
“We want to build health-care capacity through looking at pharmacies as a health-care hub and the pharmacists’ trusted relationship with their patients and to leverage that, because they are underutilized when it comes to what scope they can do,” he said.
But doctors are pushing back on the scope expansions.
“The bottom line here is that pharmacists are not doctors,” said Dr. Dominik Nowak, president of the Ontario Medical Association. “Doctors are trained for years and thousands of hours to diagnose and treat conditions.”
Nowak said that sometimes the symptoms that would seem to suggest one of those minor ailments are really a sign of a more serious condition, and it takes a doctor to recognize that.
“When I look at a lot of the minor ailments list, I think to myself, there’s nothing minor about many of these,” Nowak said.
“Many of these ailments rely on the patient … one, knowing the diagnosis themselves, so the patient’s own opinion. And last I heard, most of my patients haven’t been to medical school. And then two: it also relies on the patient’s own opinion about whether this is something minor or something serious.”
Bates said he has been “disappointed” at some of the messaging from doctors, and added that any notion that there is an increased risk to patient safety is “misinformation.”
“I want to support OMA and primary care, and I do – in hiring more doctors, solving some of their issues – but it shouldn’t come at the expense of other health professions gaining their … appropriate scope of practice,” he said.
“So it’s not a zero sum game here. We want to have physicians be comfortable with this, but … the way that some of these doctors are responding, it’s almost like hysteria.”
The government’s proposal on its regulatory registry is open for comment until Oct. 20.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
