2007

freedom
to read
FREEDOM TO READ WEEK marks its twenty-third anniversary in 2007.
Each year, Freedom to Read examines current issues of intellectual freedom.
This educational kit is designed to inform and assist booksellers, librarians,
students, educators, and the community at large, particularly during
Freedom to Read Week.
This year, we explore the impact of technology on issues of free expression
as well as the delicate interplay between cultural sensitivities and literary
freedom. An excerpt from Val Ross’s book You Can’t Read This illustrates
how even Superman was subject to censure and censorship, from both
fascists and anti-fascists.
The Get Involved section provides exercises and resources for teachers and
students, including a guide to generating both ideas and effective publicity
for your Freedom to Read Week events. Back issues of Freedom to Read plus
other resources are available on our Web site at www.freedomtoread.ca.

NOTE: If you have any suggestions for future issues of Freedom to Read, please send them to the Book and Periodical Council,
Suite 107, 192 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2C2. Phone: (416) 975-9366 Fax: (416) 975-1839. E-mail: info@thebpc.ca.
 The Book and Periodical Council (BPC) would like to thank the following
for their generous sponsorship of Freedom to Read Week 2007:

The BPC would also like to thank the following organizations and individuals
for their support and in-kind donations:

Nunavut Public
Library Services

Canadian Library Association

Saskatchewan
Learning

Provincial Library

Atlantic Provinces
Library Association

Manitoba Library Association

The following people contributed an incredible amount of time and energy producing the kit and poster
and maintaining the Web site at www.freedomtoread.ca: Benita Aalto, Helena Aalto, Franklin Carter,
Ron Giddings, Peggy McKee, Scott Mitchell, Marg Anne Morrison, Reva Pomer, David Wyman,
and the members of the Freedom of Expression Committee.

The BPC, along with the Freedom of Expression Committee, thanks all writers,
photographers, and illustrators for their contributions to the Freedom to Read kit of 2007.

The BPC gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and its member organizations.
 2007
freedom
to read
CONTENTS
4 Position Statement: Freedom of 25 PEN Canada: Seventy Years in
Expression and Freedom to Read the Fight for Free Expression
Book and Periodical Council By Aidan Johnson

5 News Bytes 26 Reflections on Press Freedom in 2006

By Franklin Carter and Benita Aalto By Julie Payne

8 The Blogosphere: Free Speech 27 There’s a Chill in the Air

Limits in an Uncharted World By Ron Brown
By Benita Aalto
28 The Human Rights Police
10 Restricted Access: The Dispute Over By Franklin Carter
Three Wishes in Ontario’s Schools
By Deborah Ellis, Len Rudner, the Toronto
District School Board, and Peggy Thomas GET INVOLVED
13 Internet “Hacktivism”:
30 Foreword
Digital Davids v. Global Goliaths
By Greg Simpson 31 Challenged Books and Magazines
15 Drawing the Line: Canadians Debate the 33 Activity: Organize an Essay Contest During
Dissemination of Denmark’s Mohammed Cartoons Freedom to Read Week: Winning Student
By Ezra Levant, Dan Dunsky, Tony Burman, Essays from Calgary’s Public Library
and Wade MacLauchlan
34 BookCrossing
17 Varieties of Censorship
By Franklin Carter 35 Freedom to Read Photo Competition:
Your Chance to Be a Shutterbug!
19 Book Excerpt: You Can’t Read This
By Val Ross 36 Activity: Write a Killer Press Release
and Get Publicity!
20 Rushdie Redux: A Global Conflict Over
Danish Cartoons Echoes the Crisis 37 Activity: Organize In-Class Debates!
Over The Satanic Verses
37 Activity: Display Challenged Books!
By Franklin Carter

22 The Retail Challenge: Booksellers 38 Activity: Host a Reading Marathon!

and Freedom to Read 38 Activity: Organize a Public Debate!
By Emily Sinkins
39 The Internet: Netlinks
23 2006 Awards for Freedom of
Expression/Freedom to Read 40 Event Sponsors of Freedom to Read Week 2006
EDITORS
Benita Aalto, Helena Aalto
Position Statement
C O N S U LT I N G E D I T O R
Franklin Carter
Freedom of Expression
DESIGN and Freedom to Read
Reva Pomer A statement of the basic tenets of the Freedom of Expression
POSTER DESIGN Committee of the Book and Periodical Council
Ron Giddings, David Wyman
CONTRIBUTORS
“Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms . . .
Benita Aalto, Ron Brown, Tony Burman, thought, belief, opinion, and expression.”
Franklin Carter, Dan Dunsky, Deborah Ellis,
Anne Jayne, Aidan Johnson, Barbara Lake, — Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Ezra Levant, Wade MacLauchlan, Spencer
Freedom of expression is a fundamental right of all Canadians, and freedom
Moore, Julie Payne, Val Ross, Len Rudner,
Greg Simpson, Emily Sinkins, Peggy to read is part of that precious heritage. Our Committee, representing member
Thomas. organizations and associations of the Book and Periodical Council, reaffirms its
support of this vital principle and opposes all efforts to suppress writing and
© Book and Periodical Council 2006
The Book and Periodical Council is the umbrella silence writers. Words and images in their myriad configurations are the
organization for associations involved in the substance of free expression.
writing, editing, publishing, manufacturing,
distributing, selling, and lending of books The freedom to choose what we read does not, however, include the freedom
and periodicals in Canada.
to choose for others. We accept that courts alone have the authority to restrict
No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in reading material, a prerogative that cannot be delegated or appropriated. Prior
any form or by any means without prior written restraint demeans individual responsibility; it is anathema to freedom
permission of the Book and Periodical Council or,
and democracy.
in the case of photocopying or other reprographic
copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright
Licensing Agency (Access Copyright).
As writers, editors, publishers, book manufacturers, distributors, retailers,
Please credit the Book and Periodical Council
and librarians, we abhor arbitrary interpretations of the law and other attempts
on any copies of kit materials. Forward all to limit freedom of expression. We recognize court judgements; otherwise, we
suggestions for future Freedom to Read kits to oppose the detention, seizure, destruction, or banning of books and periodicals—
the Book and Periodical Council in Toronto.
indeed, any effort to deny, repress, or sanitize. Censorship does not protect
The opinions expressed in Freedom to Read 2007
do not necessarily reflect the official views of society; it smothers creativity and precludes open debate of controversial issues.
the Book and Periodical Council or its member
associations. Endorsed by the Book and Periodical Council
ISBN 0-9739099-1-9 February 5, 1997

TO ORDER KITS
Kits may be ordered from the Book and Periodical Council for
$15 plus shipping and handling charges. Orders for 10 kits or more,
shipped to a single address, receive a 20 per cent discount and
may be accompanied by a purchase order. Flat, rolled, full-colour
posters are available for $10 plus shipping and handling charges.
GST is included in all prices (GST#R106801889). All orders
are subject to a shipping and handling charge.
Book and Periodical Council
192 Spadina Avenue, Suite 107
Toronto, Ontario M5T 2C2
Phone: (416) 975-9366
Fax: (416) 975-1839
E-mail: info@theBPC.ca
Web site: www.freedomtoread.ca
Web site: www.bookandperiodicalcouncil.ca

4 | FREEDOM T O R E A D 2007
News Bytes
BY FRANKLIN CARTER a panic and an anti-Arab backlash at
and BENITA AALTO Concordia after the terrorist attacks
on the United States on September 11,
CANADA 2001.

JUSTICE MINISTER DECIDES According to Bernans, he received

AGAINST APPEAL; OTTAWA
JOURNALIST GOES FREE
ON NOVEMBER 3, 2006, JUSTICE
Minister Vic Toews declared that he
would not appeal a court decision that
struck down part of Canada’s secrecy
law and tossed out police warrants
that were used to search a journalist’s
home and office.
Two weeks earlier, Madam Justice
Lynn Ratushny of Ontario’s Superior
Court of Justice had struck down three
sections of the Security of Information
Act and had quashed the warrants
used by the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police to search the home and office of
Juliet O’Neill, a reporter for the Ottawa
Citizen, in 2004.
Ratushny’s decision and Toews’s
announcement meant that O’Neill no
longer faced prosecution for using
“a security source” and a leaked
document to write a news story about
Maher Arar in 2003.
Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen,
was wrongly suspected of having ties
to al-Qaeda and was deported to Syria
by U.S. authorities in 2002. In Syria, he
was imprisoned for more than a year
and tortured before being returned to
Canada.
AUTHOR AND OFFICIALS CLASH
AT CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY
THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER OF 2006,
David Bernans, author of North of 9/11,
clashed with officials at Concordia
University in Montreal over whether
he had permission to read his novel
on campus. North of 9/11 describes
permission in June 2006 to read at
Concordia on September 11, 2006, but
was later denied permission from the
university’s risk assessment commit-
tee. Bernans said that he received no
explanation for the cancelled booking.
According to Michael Di Grappa, a uni-
versity vice-president, the cancellation
was a mistake, and the risk assess-
ment committee hadn’t discussed
Bernans’s request.
On September 5, 2006, Di Grappa
invited Bernans to read at Concordia;
on September 11, 2006, Bernans read
his novel to a small crowd at an off-
campus bookstore.
CRTC TURNS DOWN ANTI-RACIST
LAWYER’S REQUEST
ON AUGUST 25, 2006, THE
Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission
(CRTC) declined to ask Internet service
providers (ISPs) to block two U.S.
Web sites that promote race hatred
and incite violence against a Canadian
citizen. The CRTC said that it would
be inappropriate to authorize ISPs to
block the Web sites without first seek-
ing comment from the companies and
the public.
Richard Warman, a lawyer and anti-
racist activist in Ottawa, had asked the
CRTC to authorize the ISPs to block the
Web sites. Warman said that the Web
sites—which belong to a Nazi sym-
pathizer in Roanoke, Virginia—urge
people to “take violent action” against
Warman and provide Warman’s home
address.
North of 9/11 by David Bernans
(Cumulus Press, 2006)
MAN JAILED FOR PROMOTING
ANTI-SEMITISM ON WEB
ON SEPTEMBER 1, 2006, JUSTICE
Philip Clarke of the Alberta Court
of Queen’s Bench sentenced Reni
Sentana-Ries to 16 months in prison for
promoting anti-Semitism on a Web site.
Clarke also prohibited Sentana-Ries
from using the Internet for 36 months
and ordered the Web site shut down.
Sentana-Ries—who styled himself
the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and
named his Web site The Federation of
Free Planets—blamed Jews for fabricat-
ing the Holocaust, creating the deadly
AIDS and Ebola viruses, and destroying
the World Trade Center and space shut-
tle Columbia. Sentana-Ries claimed
that Jews sought world domination.
The 16-month sentence is the longest
ever imposed in Canada for promoting
race hatred on a Web site.
“OBSCENE” LESBIAN NOVEL
SEIZED BY CUSTOMS
CANADA CUSTOMS SEIZED COPIES
of Cherry, a novel written by British
author Charlotte Cooper, reported Out
in America, an online news source for
homosexuals, in August 2006. At least
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

FREEDOM TO READ 2007 |5

N E W S B Y T E S
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5
two bookstores in British Columbia—
Bleeding Rose in Victoria and Little
Sister’s Book and Art Emporium in
Vancouver—were importing the novel.
Officials at Canada Customs said
that Cherry, which depicts the sexual
adventures of a lesbian in London, was
obscene.
INTERNET RACIST JAILED FOR
CONTEMPT OF COURT
ON JULY 13, 2006, POLICE ARRESTED
and jailed Tomasz Winnicki, a white
supremacist in Ontario, for contempt
of court. Winnicki had ignored an order
(dated October 6, 2005) of the Federal
Court of Canada to stop spreading race
hatred over the Internet.
On July 12, 2006, Justice Konrad von
Finckenstein of the Federal Court of
Canada declared: “[Winnicki’s messag-
es] have the same vile content and the
unrelenting message of hatred for Jews
and contempt for people of the Black
race and/or immigrants. He has shown
no remorse for his contempt.”
Winnicki received nine months in
prison.
INDIGO REJECTS SALE OF
CONTROVERSIAL MAGAZINES
ON JULY 6, 2006, INDIGO BOOKS
and Music, Canada’s largest book and
magazine retailer, declared that it had
accidentally dropped the June-July
issue of Free Inquiry, a magazine pub-
lished in the United States. The issue
of Free Inquiry contained an essay
entitled “The Freedom to Ridicule
Religion—and Deny the Holocaust” by
Peter Singer, a professor at Princeton
University.
Joel Silver, Indigo’s senior vice-presi-
dent of print procurement, apologized
to Tom Flynn, Free Inquiry’s editor, for
the accident and pledged to sell the
issue. Earlier in the week, however,
Flynn had reported that Indigo had
refused to stock the June-July issue
without giving him a reason. Flynn
6 | FREEDOM T O R E A D 2007
also said that Indigo and its subsidiary
companies would inspect future issues
to determine their suitability for sale.
In late May, Indigo withdrew the June
issue of Harper’s from newsstands. The
American magazine had reproduced all
12 of the cartoons about the Muslim
prophet Mohammed that had appeared
in Jyllands-Posten, a Danish newspa-
per, in September 2005. Harper’s had
also published a critical essay by famed
cartoonist Art Spiegelman about con-
troversial cartoons.
On May 26, Indigo instructed its
managers by e-mail on how to respond
“if customers question Indigo’s censor-
ship” of Harper’s: “the content about
to be published has been known to
ignite demonstrations around the
world. Indigo [and its subsidiaries]
Chapters and Coles will not carry this
particular issue of the magazine but
will continue to carry other issues of
this publication in the future.”
SASKATCHEWAN COURT CLEARS
CREATOR OF ANTI-GAY AD
ON APRIL 13, 2006, SASKATCHEWAN’S
Court of Appeal ruled that Hugh
Owens, a Christian, did not violate the
province’s human rights code when
he placed an anti-homosexual ad in
Saskatoon’s StarPhoenix in 1997.
The ad displayed two stick-men hold-
ing hands within a circular “banned”
symbol and cited four anti-homosexual
verses in the Bible. The newspaper ran
the ad during a gay pride celebration in
Saskatchewan.
SENATORS WARN OF FEWER
OWNERS AND FEWER VOICES
ON JUNE 21, 2006, THE CANADIAN
Senate’s Standing Committee on
Transport and Communications
released its Final Report on the
Canadian News Media. The two-volume
report, which was the result of more
than three years of study, said that in
some parts of Canada “the concentra-
tion of ownership has reached levels
that few other countries would con-
sider acceptable.”
The report’s summary said: “an
important element of a free press is
that there be a variety of different
sources of news and opinion. This can
only be guaranteed if there is a plurali-
ty of owners. The country will be poorly
served if as few as one, two or three
groups control substantial portions of
the news and information media in par-
ticular markets or within the country
as a whole. In simple terms, there is a
public interest in having a plurality of
owners.”
The report recommended that
the federal government reform the
Competition Act to require automatic
reviews of big media mergers, but the
report explicitly rejected government
“interference in the editorial or internal
working of news gathering organiza-
tions.”
GAY FAIRY TALE SPARKS NEW
DISPUTE IN SURREY, B.C.
IN APRIL 2006, A COMMITTEE OF
Surrey’s school board rejected the
proposed use in the earliest elemen-
tary grades of a children’s book with
a homosexual theme. The book, King
and King by Linda de Haan and Stern
Nijland, tells the story of two princes
who get married in a fairy-tale kingdom.
Doug Strachan, a spokesman for the
school district, said staff rejected King
and King because the writing and style
of the book were too sophisticated for
readers in kindergarten and the first
three grades. Strachan said that staff
had not rejected King and King for its
“sensitive content.”
“The idea that this book is too
sophisticated for these kids is ridicu-
lous,” said Joan Beecroft of Egale
Canada, a gay advocacy organization.
“Is Hansel and Gretel too sophisticated
because it deals with a witch wanting
to eat little children? Is Snow White
 too sophisticated because the Queen
attempts to murder Snow White? How
can the love of two princes be too
sophisticated for primary learners?”
James Chamberlain, a primary
schoolteacher in Surrey, had sub-
mitted King and King for use in
Surrey’s schools. From 1997 to 2002,
Chamberlain and others successfully
challenged the Surrey school board
in the courts when the board refused
to use three similar children’s picture
books with homosexual themes in
kindergarten and Grade 1.
INTERNATIONAL
JERRY BAUER
Orhan Pamuk
CONTROVERSIAL TURKISH
AUTHOR WINS NOBEL PRIZE
ON OCTOBER 12, 2006, THE SWEDISH
Academy awarded the Nobel Prize
for Literature to Turkish writer Orhan
Pamuk. His best-known novels include
Snow and My Name Is Red.
Pamuk is also known for his clashes
with Turkey’s government and Turkish
nationalists. In 2005, he told a Swiss
newspaper that “thirty thousand Kurds
and a million Armenians were killed
in these lands, and nobody but me
dares to talk about it.” Pamuk was
charged in a Turkish court with “insult-
ing Turkishness” and faced a possible
three years in prison, although the
charge was dropped in January 2006.
In 1989, Pamuk was also the first
prominent writer in the Muslim world
to defend Salman Rushdie for publish-
ing The Satanic Verses. In February of
that year, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
of Iran condemned Rushdie and his
publishers to death for producing the
novel.
RUSSIAN JOURNALIST MURDERED
ON OCTOBER 7, 2006, ANNA
Politkovskaya, an investigative journal-
ist whose work criticized the Russian
war in Chechnya and Russian President
Vladimir Putin, was gunned down in
Moscow in apparent reprisal for her
reporting. No arrests were made.
In 1999, Politkovskaya began writ-
ing for Novaya Gazeta about the war
in Chechnya. By her own admission,
she became obsessed with exposing
the killings, torture, and beatings of
civilians by Russian soldiers there. In
2003, she published A Small Corner of
Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya and,
in 2004, she published A Dirty War:
A Russian Reporter in Chechnya. She
received many death threats.
Politkovskaya won numerous interna-
tional awards for her courage, including
Sweden’s Olof Palme Prize in 2004. The
prize honoured her work for the “long
battle for human rights in Russia.”
IRANIAN-CANADIAN INTELLECTUAL
FREED FROM PRISON
ON AUGUST 30, 2006, IRANIAN
authorities released Ramin
Jahanbegloo, an Iranian-born Canadian
citizen, on bail from Evin prison in
Tehran. They had detained Jahanbegloo
four months earlier for drafting a pro-
posal for the German Marshall Fund of
the United States, an institution that
promotes co-operation between the
United States and Europe. Jahanbegloo
had compared Iranian and Eastern
European intellectuals, and he had
discussed the role a civil society could
play in the overthrow of a government.
DR. RAMIN JAHANBEGLOO
Dr. Ramin Jahanbegloo
Immediately after his release,
Jahanbegloo said to Iranian student
journalists that his scholarly work
had been misused by foreign intel-
ligence agencies hostile to the Islamic
Republic of Iran. Iranian authorities
may confiscate Jahanbegloo’s house
and his mother’s house if he violates
the conditions of his release.
NEW INVESTIGATION DEMANDED
IN PHOTOJOURNALIST’S DEATH
ON JULY 10, 2006, REPORTERS
Without Borders called for a new and
proper investigation into the death of
photojournalist Zahra Kazemi in Iran.
In 2003, Kazemi, an Iranian-born
Canadian citizen, was imprisoned for
taking photographs of a student-led
demonstration outside Evin prison in
Tehran. She died in prison on July 11,
2003, after having been raped and tor-
tured by Iranian authorities.
On November 16, 2005, a court of
appeal in Tehran upheld the acquittal
of Reza Aghdam Ahmadi for murdering
Kazemi.
LIBRARIANS NAME THE MOST
CHALLENGED BOOK IN AMERICA
ON MARCH 7, 2006, THE AMERICAN
Library Association reported that pub-
lic libraries and schools in the United
States had received 405 formal, written
challenges to books in 2005. The most
frequently challenged book was Robie
Harris’s It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing
Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual
Health, an educational book for kids. •
FREEDOM TO READ 2007 |7
P E R S P E C T I V E S
Free Speech Limits in an
UNCHARTED
WORLD
P
OLICY OPTIONS
declared 2006 the “year
of the blog.” The maga-
zine noted that Canadian
blogs broke major stories,
zapped politicians, and became a form
of digital newsroom that sometimes
outperformed its print and broadcast
counterparts.
“Blogs are certainly part of the future
of journalism,” claims Nick Packwood,
who blogs at Ghost of a Flea. “‘Blog
swarms’ provide massively distrib-
uted/networked editing expertise that
should improve both journalism as a
profession and journalism as the out-
put of that profession.”
One such swarm happened at the
end of 2005 and heralded the begin-
ning of the “year of the blog.” On
Mike Klander’s blog, photos of New
Democratic candidate Olivia Chow and
a chow chow dog were posted above
the caption “Chow and Chow Chow”
and below the headline “Separated
8 | FREEDOM T O R E A D 2007
THE BLOGOSPHERE:
BY BENITA AALTO
at Birth II.” The tastelessness of the
“jest,” as Klander called it, was mag-
nified by his role as the executive
vice-president of the Ontario Liberal
party and by bloggers digging through
Klander’s previous posts to—as the
CBC’s John Bowman put it—“publish
more information on the topic than any
newspaper ever could.”
As the “year of the blog” wound
down, Garth Turner, the MP for Halton,
Ontario, was ousted from the federal
Conservative party caucus, in part
because of his comments on his blog
about party policies. One of Turner’s
constituents in Milton attended the
press conference the day after Turner’s
ouster and blogged on the event.
“Blogging is about a conversation
with the masses ...” he wrote. “It is
what I want from my elected officials.
I do not want press releases and
filtered fluff.” The constituent’s post
on The Nears expressed what some
people feel is the strength of blogs:
the democratization of information
through technology and the impor-
tance of the “citizen journalist.”
Some blogs attempt to go beyond
the contraints of the mainstream media
(or MSM as it’s called in the blogo-
sphere) to provide in-depth informa-
tion. How’d They Vote? gave readers
the complete voting and speaking
records of every MP. Cory Horner, an
electrical engineer in Kamloops, British
Columbia, designed software that lets
readers find out how many words their
MP uttered and how many times their
MP missed a vote during the 2004–05
sitting of the House of Commons.
Another blogger, going only by the
handle Buckets of Grewal, laboriously
studied transcriptions of conversa-
tions recorded by Germant Grewal, the
Conservative MP who claimed that he
had been offered rewards for cross-
ing the floor to join the Liberals. The
Liberal party denied the allegations:
tapes and transcripts were released to
the press, and Buckets began the ardu-
ous task of comparing and contrasting
the various transcriptions in circulation.
Bending the customs of the main-
stream press by electronically publish-
ing arcana such as Hansard data, audio
tapes, or Photoshopped dogs is one
thing, but bloggers are discovering
that their amateur efforts are held to
the same legal standard as anything
printed with ink on dead trees.
Sometimes it’s not the content of the
blog, but comments posted about the
content, that cause trouble. Comments
Please—a page devoted to posting
comments by readers of bloggers such
as Maclean’s political columnist Paul
Wells, Toronto Star media columnist
Antonia Zerbisias, and comedian Rick
Mercer—closed up shop in March 2006
because of host Andrew Clark’s fear
of legal reprisals. Zerbisias quoted
Clark in her blog (Azerbic at thestar.
blogs.com/azerb) as saying, “I’ve had
enough hassle lately that puts the
whole site in jeopardy. I will be looking
into a registration process ... but I also
do not have the time or inclination to
check for increasing libellous material
so (I’m) not even sure that will solve
the problems.”
As Michael Geist, a professor of law
at the University of Ottawa, notes: “In
Canada, under common law, the third
party can be held liable if the content
is found to be defamatory. The ISPs
[Internet Service Providers] will take
content down based merely on an alle-
gation that the content is defamatory.”
Geist believes this legislation creates a
free speech chill in cyberspace because
it is less risky for ISPs or Web sites to
remove content than to keep it up and
attract legal action.
Geist points to the example of People
to People (at p2pnet.net), which was
sued by the owner of Kazaa for posting
allegedly defamatory comments about
Kazaa by People to People readers.
Geist calls for a change in the law to
provide immunity for ISPs and bloggers
“who are contributing to a robust on-
line dialogue but today are vulnerable
to lawsuits whose primary purpose
may be to suppress free speech.”
Mark Bourrie became famous
amongst Canadian bloggers for legal
run-ins with political blogger Warren
Kinsella in February 2006. It is beyond
the scope of this article to fully delin-
eate their entanglements, which were
reported in the Ottawa Sun on February
15. Suffice it to say: a settlement
was eventually reached. Kinsella—a
lawyer, author, and former advisor to
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien—became
famous amongst bloggers for his rigor-
ous pursuit of what he perceives to be
defamatory statements about him in
the blogosphere.
Ted Betts, a lawyer who blogs at
canadiancerberus.blogspot.com, post-
ed a primer on Canada’s defamation
laws in response to Kinsella’s lawsuit.
He also wondered, “Is this an attempt
at suppressing criticism? Is it there-
fore a threat to all bloggers and com-
menters? ... This will be a big wake-up
call: defamation suits can stem from
conversations too, and so every post
and every comment on a blog is subject
to the same defamation laws.”
Steve Janke gained notoriety for
using his blog, Angry in the Great
White North, to circumvent a press ban
issued during closed testimony of the
Gomery inquiry—a ban that included
the Internet as well as print and broad-
cast media.1 Janke linked to Captain’s
Quarters, an American blog that was
posting leaked transcripts of Gomery
testimony. Although many bloggers
and mainstream journalists knew of
Captain’s Quarters, none posted links
or mentioned the name of the blog on
air for fear of reprisals.
“At first, I dropped my links like just
about everyone else. I was worried
about the legal ramifications of break-
ing the ban,” says Janke. “But most of
all, I wanted to take a stand that might
change the way Canadian authorities
in government and in the judiciary
deal with issues that affect our right to
judge for ourselves. And so the links
went back up, as did the commentary.”
Justice John Gomery eventually
lifted most of the ban, leading at least
one columnist, Rondi Adamson in the
Christian Science Monitor, to speculate
that the blogosphere played no small
role in changing his mind.
And while there are challenges for
people who hit legal walls in their pur-
suit of on-line freedom, the potential
for renewed debate and journalistic
vigor has returned to the people who
stand to benefit the most. •
1 Justice John Gomery chaired the Commission
of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and
Advertising Activities in 2004–06. – FC
FREEDOM TO READ 2007 |9
P E R S P E C T I V E S
RESTRICTED ACCESS:
The Dispute Over THREE WISHES
in Ontario’s Schools
O
N FEBRUARY 8, 2006, THE
Canadian Jewish Congress
(CJC) sent a letter to the
Ontario Library Association
(OLA) strongly objecting
to the use of a children’s book called
Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli
Children Speak in the OLA’s Silver Birch
reading program in schools.
Three Wishes is a non-fiction book.
It records the thoughts and feelings of
Israeli and Palestinian children who live
in a world of strife and violence. The
book’s author, Deborah Ellis, is a win-
ner of the Governor General’s Literary
Award.
The Silver Birch reading program
encourages children in Grades 4–6 in
Ontario’s schools to read from a list of
20 books. Professional librarians select
the books for their quality. Schools do
not require students to take part in the
Silver Birch program, but more than
40,000 students do. In May, children
vote for their favourite book.
The CJC’s letter said that Ellis pro-
vided a flawed historical introduction
to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The
letter also said that some children
portrayed Israeli soldiers as brutal,
expressed ethnic hatred, and glori-
fied suicide bombing. The effect on
Canadian readers in Grades 4–6, the
letter concluded, was “toxic.” The
CJC asked the OLA to withdraw Three
Wishes from the Silver Birch program.
The letter also said that the CJC
would be notifying school boards
across Ontario about its concerns. Not
long afterward, school boards began
to review the use of Three Wishes. By
10 | F R E E D O M T O R E A D 2007
March 15, 2006, at least five school
boards had set restrictions on readers
of the book in the elementary grades.
The news media covered the contro-
versy for weeks. Here, the participants
explain their views.
Deborah Ellis, Author
NOT ALL VICTIMS ARE EQUAL, AND
not all children are equal.
We mark and mourn military
deaths, but the deaths of civil-
ians go unnamed, uncounted,
and passed off as extra-collateral
damage, part of the acceptable risk of
achieving our objectives.
Some children are so precious, we
would gladly die rather than see them
harmed. Other children are considered
worthy only of slavery, eating garbage,
and being human punching bags.
This is the world that we, as a human
community, have created. We’re happy
with it. If we weren’t, we would have
changed it, since we certainly have the
ability to do so. We like being igno-
rant. We like being greedy, and we like
having an underclass of throwaway
children.
We created this mess, so why be
delicate about having our handiwork
reflected in our literature for young
people? If children are tough enough to
be bombed and starved, then they are
also tough enough to read about it.
I believe anything we subject chil-
dren to should be reflected in our liter-
ature for young people, limited only by
the skills of the writer to present these
Three Wishes by Deborah Ellis
(Groundwood Books, 2004) Cover photographs
by David Turnley (Corbis/Magma) and
Micah Walter (Corbis/Magma)
crimes in a sensitive, respectful way.
Otherwise, we are adding to the silence
and the disappearance of the victims.
The books we read as children stay
with us our entire lives, taking root in
our minds, helping us to decide who
we will become. Free access to infor-
mation, to a wide variety of voices and
experiences, is essential to us being
able to decipher the complexities of a
crazy world—and to understand that
the world is complex.
I have done many school talks
around my books about children in war.
Kids can handle the truth about what is
being done to other children. It’s adults
who get squeamish. They say, “We
must protect our children from such
things,” when really they are protecting
themselves from having to answer the
question: “What are you doing to make
the world better?”
Len Rudner, Canadian
Jewish Congress
IN FEBRUARY 2006, A TEACHER AT
the York Region District School Board
approached the Canadian Jewish
Congress, Ontario Region (CJC),
expressing concerns about the appro-
priateness of including the book Three
Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children
Speak as an entry in the Ontario
Library Association’s (OLA) Silver Birch
independent reading program for
children in Grades 4 through 6.
CJC professionals as well as lay
leaders with extensive background in
public education reviewed the mate-
rial and agreed. The CJC then wrote a
letter to the OLA and English-language
school boards in Ontario expressing its
concerns about the book’s appropriate-
ness for the age group in question and
requesting that it re-evaluate its clas-
sification.
While some have characterized the
CJC’s intervention as being censorious,
the facts are contrary to that conclu-
sion. The goal was to promote a discus-
sion and have school boards actively
review whether the book was appropri-
ate for promotion to kids between the
ages of 9 and 12. That many did so was
a positive outcome.
The CJC’s position was that the effect
of the statements made by the children
in Ms. Ellis’s book would demonize
both Palestinians and Israelis and that
comments made in some interviews
could be seen as supportive of sui-
cide bombing. Following a careful and
extensive review, the CJC felt such a
message was inappropriate for stu-
dents in the primary grades to which
it had been promoted, particularly
because the Silver Birch program does
not require teacher involvement to
provide information or context on the
books in the program.
THREE WISHES:
Canadian Children Speak
“SWEARING IN BOOKS doesn’t encourage people to swear, drugs in
books don’t encourage people to take drugs, and suicide bombing and
other violence in books don’t encourage people to be violent! [The book]
just tells them that there are such things and makes them aware of the
facts, not the fictional.”
—J., A GRADE 5 STUDENT
“WHY IS THIS BOOK being taken off the lists? There is nothing wrong with
it. It is a great book! As far as I am concerned, it’s totally unfair. Would it not
be more appropriate to simply leave it up to the parents as to whether or not
their children should read this book? I think this is a mistake by the school
board in removing this book. If parents say no, then it is a no!
“By the way, some people have said that it’s not accurate information as
it comes from the children, not the adults. This is not an information book!
If you look at the cover, it says Children Speak! ... And children can relate to
each other much better than a child can relate to an adult.”
—B., A GRADE 4 STUDENT
“USUALLY I PICK UP A BOOK and read it from cover to cover without putting
it down. But this book, like Anne Frank’s Diary, is so sad, I had to read it
in short little chunks, maybe four stories at a time. It’s really hard to read
because you don’t know if these kids are still alive, or if they will be for
much longer, and you want to understand how scared they are, but you can’t
really because you’ve never been through as much as they have.
“Everybody should know about war, and it shouldn’t be censored. It pre-
pares you for real life, when you’ll have to learn things like this.”
—C., A GRADE 6 STUDENT
As a result of the CJC’s request to preted by some as a demand that it be
examine the age-appropriateness of removed from the shelf completely.
Three Wishes, a number of school Len Rudner is national director of
boards conducted their own assess- community relations for the Canadian
ment and stopped promoting the Jewish Congress.
book as part of Silver Birch or placed
certain conditions on its use. Others
determined no changes were required. The Toronto District
Regardless of outcome, the CJC School Board
accepted each board’s judgment on
WHEN COMPLAINTS BY GROUPS OR
the matter.
individuals are made to the Toronto
It is unfortunate the debate that District School Board (TDSB) regard-
developed around Three Wishes was ing the appropriateness of learn-
inaccurately portrayed as a struggle ing resources in school libraries or
between freedom of expression and classrooms, a formal process begins
censorship. It is a pity that a good- to open dialogue. This process is in
faith request to have a particular book accordance with established Board
moved to a higher shelf was inter- CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
FREEDOM TO READ 2007 | 11
P E R S P E C T I V E S
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11
policy: Operational Procedure C-007,
Handling Concerns About Learning
Resources as outlined in A Teaching
Resource for Dealing with Controversial
and Sensitive Issues in Toronto District
School Board Classrooms.
In 2006, such a complaint and pro-
cess was followed by the TDSB regard-
ing Three Wishes by Deborah Ellis, a
nominee in this year’s OLA Silver Birch
Award program.
A Review Committee must weigh
several factors (e.g., the complainant’s
arguments, previous decisions, the
Board’s criteria for selection of learn-
ing resources) against the perceived
appropriateness of the resource. As in
most school settings, the right to read
is not absolute and must be measured
against whether learning resources
match the learning needs and abilities
of students (e.g., age, maturity, cur-
riculum relevance, and Board values).
The TDSB does not ban materials, but
it reserves its right and responsibility
in making them accessible in the most
appropriate way in diverse school set-
tings.
After due deliberation, the Review
Committee recommended the
following:
1.THREE WISHES IS A SIGNIFICANT
and controversial book that depicts
the effects of conflict on children. The
author’s purpose is to promote dia-
logue and empathy for the children
of the conflict by giving them a voice.
While questions have arisen about
particular details the author includes
or excludes in Three Wishes, TDSB
students have demonstrated that they
have understood the author’s larger
purpose.
2. THE AGE APPROPRIATENESS OF
such complex and sensitive material
remains an important issue in TDSB
schools. Three Wishes, therefore, is
12 | F R E E D O M T O R E A D 2007
recommended, with reservations, as
appropriate only for students in Grades
7 and up.
3. ANY GRADE 7 OR 8 STUDENT WHO
wishes to read Three Wishes may do so
by requesting a copy from the teacher-
librarian who, in consultation with the
principal, will place copies of Three
Wishes in the library office.
4. IN K TO 5 AND K TO 6 SCHOOLS, THE
teacher-librarian, in consultation with
the principal, must redistribute copies
of Three Wishes to elementary schools
with Grade 7 and 8 students or to sec-
ondary schools.
5. WHEN INTRODUCING THE BOOK
and encouraging discussion, teach-
ers and teacher-librarians will provide
context and diverse resources from the
library collection.
6. THE TDSB SUPPORTS THE ONTARIO
Library Association in its Silver Birch
program and requests that non-fiction
selections be added in its Forest of
Reading programs at upper grades.
Peggy Thomas, Ontario
Library Association
THREE WISHES: PALESTINIAN AND
Israeli Children Speak by Deborah Ellis
was nominated for the 2006 Silver
Birch non-fiction award. The Ontario
Community Relations Committee of
the Canadian Jewish Congress chal-
lenged the selection of Three Wishes
and asked that the book be removed
from consideration for the Silver Birch
award. They forwarded this request
to the Ontario Library Association and
to the directors of education of all the
school boards in Ontario. I chaired the
selection committee for Silver Birch
this year, and this is my personal reac-
tion to that challenge.
I am Jewish, and a good portion of
my family perished in the Holocaust.
Those who survived emigrated to
either the United States or Israel after
the war. All this happened prior to my
birth, but I have been raised with an
awareness of the issues surround-
ing being Jewish and the formation of
Israel as a sovereign state. I bring this
background to any and all reading that
I do on this subject.
This book is not about who is right
and which side started the aggres-
sion, but about what the effect is
on our most vulnerable members of
society, namely children, when con-
flict and war erupt. The book could be
set in any number of places around
the world—the Sudan, the Balkans,
Northern Ireland, Rwanda, and—it
could be argued—“hot spots” within
North America. It shows that children
raised in conflict are conflicted in their
views and that, if they live in hate-filled
atmospheres, they learn to hate.
As an educator reading the book
for the selection committee, I felt that
Deborah Ellis did not purposefully
leave out any details to skew the view
of the book; the book is not an attempt
to provide the complex historical
facts surrounding the current situa-
tion in Israel and Palestine. The book
attempts, rather, to provide a frame-
work or context of conflict and war, and
the effect that they have on the chil-
dren living the reality of that conflict.
Three Wishes gives children, at the
time when they are constructing their
views of the world, a chance to explore
and relate to how they can start to
make positive changes in a world
fraught with conflict, and how they can
choose to lead lives formed in peace. •
This is an edited version of an article
written by Peggy Thomas for the
Ontario Library Association’s Web
site. Thomas is a teacher-librarian in
Ontario.
INTERNET “HACKTIVISM”:
Digital Davids v. Global Goliaths
BY GREG SIMPSON
P
ROFESSOR RON DEIBERT
of the University of
Toronto is proud to be
called a “hacker.”
“Hacking used to mean
that you were interested in technology
and what was behind the surface—you
didn’t accept things at face value,”
says Deibert. He wants to reclaim the
positive ideas behind hacking in the
same way he wants to reclaim the
original ideals of the free exchange of
information that are the underpinnings
of the Internet.
“We live in a world surrounded by
computers, cell phones, and televi-
sions,” he says. “There are all kinds
of points in the system where govern-
ments and corporations can exert con-
trol over us if we don’t question it and
try to understand it.”
As the Internet revolution spreads
into developing nations, many govern-
ments want to control their citizens’
access to the increased flow of infor-
mation. Governments use filtering
(censorship) and monitoring (eaves-
dropping) tools, many purchased from
Western software companies.
The most prominent of these offi-
cial censors is Chinese Premier Hu
Jintao with his “Great Firewall,” which
restricts Internet access for China’s
more than 150 million surfers. However,
filtering and monitoring happen in
many other countries too, including
Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Singapore, and
Burma.
Professor Deibert and his student
Nart Villeneuve run the Citizen Lab at
U. of T. where they research and try to
combat Internet censorship all over
the world. Deibert started the lab
in 2001 with a grant from the Ford
Foundation and hired Villeneuve—
based on his student papers on
Internet censorship in China—as
the lab’s technical director.
Deibert, 42, is a self-professed ex-
punk from East Vancouver turned
political science professor. He is
very concerned with the accelera-
tion of censorship on the Internet.
“The Internet is not this seamless
frontier anymore,” he says. “It is a
network that has all sorts of filters,
choke points, and other areas where
governments and corporations can
control, intercept, and block access to
information.”
He and Villeneuve have joined
researchers at such prominent universi-
ties as Harvard, Oxford, and Cambridge
to form the OpenNet Initiative, which
just received a US$3 million MacArthur
Foundation grant to research what
gets filtered on the Internet, in which
country, and by whom. Diebert and
Villeneuve were the catalysts for the
creation of this international project,
and they act as the technical team in
the coalition.
OpenNet’s research has revealed
extensive censorship affecting millions
of people around the world. Millions
might have access to the Internet with
cheaper and more accessible technol-
ogy, but their governments are doing
everything to limit what citizens see
when they log on.
Citizen Lab has another project that
it hopes may combat these increasing
restrictions. CiviSec is the activist “flip-
side” of the research focus of OpenNet;
CiviSec’s purpose is to raise awareness
among
citizens about
Internet censorship and
surveillance, and to help them fight it.
A software program, called psiphon,
was developed to allow users in cen-
sored countries to link up with the
computers of trusted family members
or friends in uncensored countries and
to use those computers as servers
or proxies to surf the Internet. When
people use psiphon, no government
official can discover what sites are
being accessed, and there is no sign
of the program on the computer if it is
ever seized.
Deibert and Villeneuve launched
psiphon in December 2006, creating
personal electronic “social networks”
between those in developed and devel-
oping countries and those living under
censorship and the comparatively free.
Deibert sees Canada, with its multi-
cultural communities and their many
links to other countries, as the perfect
place to create these electronic “help-
ing hands.” Psiphon was designed so
that the average person can easily use
his or her computer to foster Internet
freedom for friends and relatives back
home.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
FREEDOM TO READ 2007 | 13
P E R S P E C T I V E S
“THE PROBLEM WITH INTERNET
FILTERING IS NOBODY IS WATCHING
THE WATCHERS ...”
— RON DEIBERT, Professor, University of Toronto
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13
Villeneuve, the creator of this anti-
censorship software, is a decade
younger than Deibert and, coinci-
dentally, spent some of his formative
years in rough East Vancouver. He was
a self-admitted lousy student who,
upon graduation, worked at a dead-
end printer’s job. His reading of Noam
Chomsky and Karl Marx opened his
eyes to global repression. He became
an anti-globalization activist, taking
part in many protests, including the
1999 protests in Seattle against the
World Trade Organization.
When Villeneuve first signed on to
the Internet using an ancient free dial-
up service, a hacker was born. He and
a roommate taught themselves how to
get rid of the banner advertisements
that came with the service and how to
extend the hours to allow unlimited
surfing time. These primitive attempts
to “fight the power” made them mem-
bers of the on-line communities of
hackers and Internet freedom advo-
cates.
This initial pushing against the
boundaries opened a new world for
Villeneuve. Before he knew it, he was
back in college taking peace-and-con-
14 | F R E E D O M T O R E A D 2007
flict studies. He eventually transferred
to the University of Toronto, where
he became a student of Professor
Deibert’s. Villeneuve now travels all
over the world studying and combat-
ting Internet censorship.
Villeneuve is extremely concerned
about the creeping government filter-
ing and monitoring tactics that are
being used all over the world. Even in
Western nations such as Canada and
the United States, the wars against
child pornography, hate speech, and
terrorism are being used to justify
increased blocking of sites and moni-
toring of Internet traffic. Both Deibert
and Villeneuve agree that child pornog-
raphy is indefensible, but filtering the
Internet is a crude and easily abused
technique. Some attempts at restric-
tion lead to “overblocking” where sites
unrelated to the targetted sites are
blocked: in Pennsylvania, for example,
attempts to block 200 sites resulted in
the blocking of more than two million
innocent sites.
“The problem with Internet filtering
is nobody is watching the watchers,”
says Deibert. “There is little citizen
oversight in Canada over governmental
Internet censorship and surveillance,
even compared to the U.S. with all its
security concerns since 9/11.”
No one is keeping track of what is
being filtered and for what reasons,
Deibert claims, and there is little demo-
cratic control over these activities in
Canada. “We need to lift the lid off the
Internet and hold those who set the
rules of the game accountable for what
they’re doing because these activities
are going on largely in secret.”
Once a country has implemented
Internet censorship with initially
“good” intentions, it becomes tempting
to use the same technology to restrict
other information. Thailand brought in
filtering programs to block sites about
its notorious sex-tourism trade and
soon afterward blocked sites about
human rights and government corrup-
tion.
Villeneuve says that it’s difficult
for Western governments to pressure
other nations to keep the Internet free
and open when Western governments
are using many of the same censor-
ing tactics, although not in quite such
a repressive fashion. He believes the
West would have more credibility if it
cleaned up its own government censor-
ship and monitoring.
According to Deibert, protecting
freedom on the Internet is espe-
cially important because “it is the one
unique medium that links individuals
to other individuals worldwide, unlike
television, radio, and newspapers,
which all send information one way
and only have certain points of views
expressed.”
“In light of all the problems that face
humanity—from nuclear weapons to
environmental degradation—we need
to have a free space to exchange infor-
mation if we’re going to have any hope
of solving those problems.” •
Greg Simpson is a Toronto writer with
an interest in arts, culture, and media.
DRAWING THE LINE:
Canadians Debate the Dissemination of
Denmark’s Mohammed Cartoons
O
N SEPTEMBER 30, 2005,
Jyllands-Posten, a Danish
newspaper, published 12
cartoons of the Muslim
prophet Mohammed. One
image showed him wearing a turban
shaped like a bomb. Many Muslims,
who regard any depiction of their
prophet as sacrilegious, were outraged
or upset.
The cartoons were reprinted in many
countries in January and February
2006, prompting deadly protests
throughout the Muslim world. In Syria,
Iran, and Indonesia, mobs destroyed
Danish embassies; in Lebanon, a
mob destroyed the Danish consul-
ate. Peaceful Muslim demonstrations
also occurred around the world, and
Muslims boycotted Danish products.
In Canada, journalists debated
whether to show the cartoons in the
news media. In this section, four
Canadians—three journalists and one
university president—present their
arguments for and against showing
the cartoons to the public.
Why the Western
Standard Published
the Cartoons
BY EZRA LEVANT
THE WESTERN STANDARD HAD NO
complex rationale for printing the
Danish cartoons depicting Mohammed.
The cartoons were news; we are a
newsmagazine. That’s about it.
We did not print them as an expres-
sion of our own views on Mohammed
“ WHY SHOULD WE INSULT AND UPSET
AN IMPORTANT PART OF OUR AUDIENCE
FOR ABSOLUTELY NO PUBLIC VALUE?”
—TONY BURMAN, editor-in-chief, CBC News
financial health, or simply out of fear
or Islam. The cartoons were Exhibit A in
of a politically correct backlash. Other
the biggest news story of the season:
excuses were proffered: the cartoons
the riots around the Muslim world,
were too disrespectful, or too juvenile,
riots that had as their “official” raison
or unimportant to the story. None of
d’être the cartoons themselves. In
those excuses is credible. Criticisms
fact, that was the sole newsworthiness
of the cartoons: that they were the that the cartoons were poorly drawn or
“cause” of riots. juvenile are not a rationale for censor-
ship—they actually magnify the news-
The cartoons are, by any Western
worthiness of riots in the face of such
standard, bland. One simply depicted
a man in the desert with a donkey—a
trivial offences.
picture that would not be out of place The media, which is liberal to the
in a child’s Bible. Several had a politi- point of libertine when it comes to
cal edge to them, but nothing more offending religion, became quite fun-
ribald than is seen in daily newspapers damentalist on the subject of Islam.
across the West. There are two possible explanations:
the first is that the cartoons were so
But soon the larger story emerged:
outrageous that even a media culture
that other media censored themselves
out of fear for their physical safety or CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
FREEDOM TO READ 2007 | 15
P E R S P E C T I V E S
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15
saturated with sex and violence was
pushed too far. The other explanation
is that a media culture that so bravely
fights against harmless foes like long-
dead Senator McCarthy is actually
terrified of radical Islam, and when it is
time to prove their freedom bona fides,
hides under a smokescreen of “respect
for religion” bromides.
No, the Western Standard doesn’t
have to explain how we handled the
newsworthy cartoons. But a lot of other
editors and producers do.
Ezra Levant is the publisher and co-
founder of the Western Standard, a
political journal in Calgary.
Why TVOntario Broadcast
the Cartoons
BY DAN DUNSKY
DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY AIRED ON
Fridays, and the episode that week was
about Iran’s nuclear program. But the
story about the cartoons was starting
to break, so by Wednesday, we started
researching that story. On Thursday,
the story made the evening news, and
by Friday the issue was the protests
about the cartoons, so I told another
DI producer to find the cartoons on the
Web for use on air.
I think we were the only major broad-
caster in Canada who did air the car-
toons. It was never a big decision at all.
I discussed it with the show’s executive
producer for about 20 seconds. This
was a news story: people were rioting
over something; if we knew what that
something was, of course we were
going to show it. That’s 100 per cent in
keeping with journalistic principles and
guidelines. We still did our show about
Iran, but we gave the last five to ten
minutes to the cartoons. Steve Paikin,
the host, introduced them and we
showed about seven of them and went
16 | F R E E D O M T O R E A D 2007
to our panelists in the studio for their
reactions. Viewer reactions were mixed:
we got plenty of supportive and some
negative e-mail. Most of the outraged
people were non-Muslims.
The story did not die, and we faced
the decision of whether to air them
again. We did not. By that time the
story had subtly shifted to whether or
not it was good to publish them. By air-
ing them a second time, we’d be mak-
ing a political statement and, as a pub-
lic broadcaster, we’re not in the busi-
ness of making political statements.
We’re not idiots; we knew we were
going to offend people. But you can’t
have the right not to be offended
in this world. Journalists can’t walk
around with a list of what’s offensive
or forbidden. My belief is, you interfere
as little as possible with a story. Other
than direct incitements to murder or
mob violence, I say lay off the limits to
freedom of speech.
Dan Dunsky was senior producer of
Diplomatic Immunity on TVOntario and
is now the executive producer of The
Agenda with Steve Paikin on TVOntario.
Why CBC News Drew
the Line
BY TONY BURMAN
THE 12 CARTOONS IN QUESTION WERE
originally printed in a Danish publica-
tion last September [2005] and reprint-
ed recently in other European news-
papers. Not only did they depict the
Prophet in drawings, these cartoons
equated him with terrorists and suicide
bombers among other things. Looking
at them in their crude portrayal, they
seem more an act of stupidity than an
act of satire, but—whatever they were
intended to be—they are not subtle.
What if those cartoons had instead
focused on Christianity? And on Jesus
Christ or the Virgin Mary engaged in
unspeakably offensive acts?
Had they been Christian protesters,
would the media have treated them
differently? Would we, perhaps, have
understood their rage a bit better?
At the CBC, we decided not to show
the original cartoons in our extensive
coverage of the controversy. We felt
that we could easily describe the draw-
ings in simple and clear English with-
out actually showing them. This was
intended, without embarrassment, as
an act of respect not only for Islam but
for all religions.
Why should we insult and upset
an important part of our audience
for absolutely no public value? We
wouldn’t have done that if it involved
overt examples of racism or anti-
Semitism or libel. Where do we draw
the line? Shouldn’t the media be part
of the solution, not the problem?
One of the main U.S. networks high-
lighted the most egregious of the car-
toons in its news report and repeated
these images in the headlines and
promotion during its evening newscast.
During the debate that led to this deci-
sion, I suspect there was a lot of talk
about “freedom of speech” and “the
public’s right to know” and about the
threat of “self-censorship.”
Had I been there, I would have
reminded this crowd that the multi-bil-
lion dollar company that owns their
news organization muzzles stories
from entire parts of the world, such as
South America and Africa, each and
every night of the year by not having
any journalists posted there. When will
they get around to discussing that form
of media “censorship”?
We need to be held accountable for
what we choose to include or exclude.
For how we frame the issues or dodge
them.
This is an edited version of an article
posted on www.cbc.ca. Tony Burman is
the editor-in-chief of CBC News.
Why the University of PEI
Blocked a Newspaper’s
Distribution
[The Cadre, a student newspaper at
the University of Prince Edward Island
(UPEI), was one of the few Canadian
newspapers to reprint the cartoons.
But the university’s administration
acted to prevent distribution of The
Cadre.—FC]
BY WADE MACLAUCHLAN
WHEN THE NEWS BROKE ON CBC THAT
the cartoons were in the February 8th
issue of The Cadre, making it the first
Canadian paper to publish them, I was
shocked. Why should we choose to
repeat an act that had caused so much
offence and trouble around the world
and that was considered a religious
insult by Muslims everywhere?
Varieties of Censorship
BY FRANKLIN CARTER
C
ENSORS HAVE BEEN WITH
us for a long time.
In ancient Athens, the
philosopher Plato recom-
mended that the guardians
of society censor literature, art, and
science to protect public morals and
piety.
In the Bible, the author of the Book
of Acts described the Ephesians in
Greece destroying books of magic in
a public bonfire.1
And in Egypt, Archbishop Theophilus
of Alexandria burned down the temple
of Serapis in 389 to destroy its library
of pagan manuscripts.
My assessment was that there were
great risks for UPEI and for our learning
environment and that the publication
of the cartoons was a reckless invita-
tion to disorder and humiliation. Based
on this assessment, it was decided not
to permit the distribution of The Cadre
on UPEI property. Fewer than 100 cop-
ies of the paper were gathered up by
UPEI security personnel. There were
approximately 200 in circulation by
that time. Seventeen hundred copies
of the paper remained in the hands of
The Cadre or the Student Union. By
late Wednesday, the Student Union,
as owner of The Cadre, indicated its
opposition to the publication of the
caricatures and requested the return
of the papers.
UPEI could defend the editorial
autonomy of the student newspaper,
or it could take a stand that we would
not permit the circulation on our cam-
pus of images that have caused
religious offence and significant disor-
der all over the world. It is not an easy
Censors are with us today too. But
they usually don’t describe themselves
as such because censors have reputa-
tions for being illiberal, dogmatic, and
anti-intellectual.
Fortunately, censors can be easily
identified because they tend to think
and act in predictable ways.
First, censors think of themselves as
enlightened, moral, and public-spirited
(like Plato and Theophilus). They want
a better society.
Censors also believe that other
people are foolish, ignorant, or easily
misled. These “other people” cannot
be trusted to behave responsibly or
lawfully if they are exposed to “danger-
ous” ideas and images.
call: press freedom versus public
disorder and religious humiliation.
Some will say that we made the
wrong call. ... While I respect others
who take a different view on this, I am
absolutely convinced that our learning
environment is better for having lim-
ited the publication of the caricatures.
Students and colleagues are talking, in
and out of class, about religious beliefs
and differences and about press free-
dom and responsibility. We are more
alert to how intricately UPEI and PEI
are laced into the global context and
to the incendiary nature of our world.
However we come out on the publica-
tion or non-publication of the carica-
tures, we cannot avoid the conclusion
that things are very fragile. In a context
of such fragility, we do not have the
luxury of justifying every act by saying:
“Let the chips fall where they may.” •
Wade MacLauchlan is the president
and vice-chancellor of the University of
Prince Edward Island.
Censorship is therefore necessary,
the censors believe, to protect soci-
ety from itself and to prevent moral
decline.
Second, censors use certain methods
to deny public access to “dangerous”
or “objectionable” ideas and images.
If the censors are in the government,
they will ban the production, distribu-
tion, display, or sale of certain books
or magazines.2 The censors will pass
restrictive laws and confiscate the
offending publications.
In some cases, government censors
license publishers and printers who
must then seek the censors’ permis-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 18
FREEDOM TO READ 2007 | 17
P E R S P E C T I V E S

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17
sion to publish. The censors deny per-
mission to people who seek to publish
“objectionable” books or magazines.
The English poet John Milton con-
demned the government licensing
of books in his essay Areopagitica
in 1644. The essay remains a classic
defence of free expression.
Some censors intimidate writers.
Intimidation includes threats of prose-
cution in court, threats of job loss, and
even threats of physical injury or death.
The censors’ threats encourage writers
to censor themselves.
In 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran
urged Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie,
the author of The Satanic Verses, for
publishing “blasphemy.” The threat
sent Rushdie into hiding for years and
discouraged other writers from fiction-
alizing the Koran.
In extreme cases, government cen-
sors authorize libricide: the systematic
state-sponsored destruction of
books and libraries.
Serbs destroyed evidence of Bosnia
and Herzegovina’s multicultural history.
These instances of censorship are
obvious and appalling. But in other
times and places, censors use subtler
techniques.
One alternative to banning or
destroying a publication is expurga-
tion. Censors delete the objectionable
passages from a book or magazine.
Casual readers cannot tell if any text
has been omitted.
In England, the Rev. Thomas Bowdler
(1754–1825) expurgated the Old
Testament and the plays of William
Shakespeare. He deleted and altered
words that he considered “unfit to be
read by a gentleman in the presence of
ladies.”
Today, people use the term bowdler-
ization as a synonym for expurgation.
Another subtle method of censor-
ship is Internet filtering. Censors use
special software to prevent the users
of computers or networks from seeing
specific ideas and images.
Governments around the world (e.g.,
in China and Iran) use Internet filtering
to prevent political activists from com-
municating news and information to
other people.
Most people lack formal powers
of censorship; nonetheless, some of
these citizens also try to limit public
access to “objectionable” ideas and
images. These people challenge books
and magazines in public schools and
libraries.
In a challenge, a citizen complains in
writing about a publication in a library
or school. The citizen often requests
that the item be removed too. The
person may act alone or represent a
group.
In North America, most challenges
probably go unrecorded; most chal-
lenges recorded by the American
Library Association—the world’s larg-
est and oldest library associa-
tion—fail.

In 1933, the German All censors threaten

Nazis burned more the intellectual free-
than 20,000 books dom of readers and
in a bonfire in Berlin. writers. Intellectual
They destroyed lit- freedom includes free-
erature by Roman dom of inquiry, free-
Catholic, Jewish, dom of expression,
communist, and “un- freedom of the press,
German” authors. The and the freedom to
Nazis talked about read. These freedoms
purging society of are the foundation
degenerate ideas. of a civil, democratic
society. •
In 1992, during the 1 See Acts 19:19 in the New
siege of Sarajevo, Testament.
Serbian soldiers 2 In fact, censors ban more
than books and magazines.
shelled the National
They also ban newspapers,
Library of Bosnia Web sites, films, musical
and Herzegovina. recordings, plays, photo-
graphs, paintings, sketch-
In destroying es, sculptures, maps,
most of the cartoons, speeches,
statistics, official
library’s 2.5 mil- documents, and
lion books, the other items.

18 | F R E E D O M T O R E A D 2007
Book Excerpt

YOU CAN’T READ THIS

Travelling from ancient Rome to modern North
America, award-winning journalist Val Ross tells
the true stories of censors, forbidden books, and
writers on the run in her new book, YOU CAN’T
READ THIS: FORBIDDEN BOOKS, LOST WRITING,
MISTRANSLATIONS & CODES. Her message:
books are powerful, and reading
unlocks that power.

The Evil World of— either. Das Schwarze Korps,

the magazine of Hitler’s
Comic Books? ruthless Schutzstaffel
police, or SS, published

O
BY VAL ROSS
NLY A REMARKABLE
publication could be
hated by two groups of
mortal enemies, the Nazis
and the anti-Nazis. Only
something outrageous could provoke
demands for censorship from Adolf
Hitler, Benito Mussolini—and United
States senators, and writers such
as George Orwell (author of Animal
Farm and Nineteen Eighty-four). Well,
the politics of censorship makes for
strange banfellows; all these people
disliked comic books—and one in
particular, Superman. ... For the Nazis,
what mattered was not what Superman
did, but what he was: a wise-crack-
ing hero dreamed up by two Jewish-
American kids from Cleveland, Ohio. ...
By the end of 1941, with war raging,
Superman was reaching about 35 mil-
lion people, by either radio or print. ...
Over in England, the anti-Nazi writer
George Orwell warned that Superman
fans had much in common with the
“bully-worship” that had brought Hitler
and Mussolini to power. Yet Hitler
and Mussolini weren’t Superman fans
an article describing
[Superman creator] Jerry
Siegel as “intellectually
and physically circum-
cised,” and added that “American
youth ... don’t even notice the poi-
son they swallow” when they read
Superman. ...
The war ended in 1945. So did the
golden age of superhero comics. ...
Instead of selling in the millions, an
issue of Superman would sell a mere
700,000 copies. ... Comic book pub-
lishers scrambled frantically to figure
out what to try next. Some had already
shifted during the war to heavy crime
comics such as Crime Does Not Pay (a
particularly violent strip ...). By 1947,
Crime Does Not Pay was outselling
Captain Marvel and Superman. ...
Not everyone was amused. Frederic
Wertham had emigrated from Germany
in the 1920s to work in New York as a
psychologist specializing in troubled
kids. ... When he noticed that many
juvenile delinquents read comic books,
instead of concluding that maybe ten-
cent comics were all the kids could
You Can’t Read This by Val Ross
(Tundra Books, 2006)
afford, he began to write articles
claiming that comic books were
pushing modern American youth
into juvenile delinquency.
In conferences and magazines,
Wertham kept up his attack. In his
eyes, even the Man of Steel was dis-
gusting—in fact, he was a closet Nazi.
“Superman (with the big S on his uni-
form—we should, I suppose, be thank-
ful it is not an SS) needs an endless
stream of ever new sub-men, criminals
and foreign-looking people,” he wrote.
“Superman has long been recognized
as a symbol of violent race superiority.
... [He] explicitly belongs to a super
race.”
... Wertham’s anti-comic campaigns
were having an effect. In 1948 the city
of Los Angeles announced that there
CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

FREEDOM TO READ 2007 | 19

P E R S P E C T I V E S
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19
would be a $500 fine or six months in
jail as penalty for selling crime comics
to kids under eighteen. In 1951 Canada
passed a law against importing U.S.
crime comics. ... One early 1950s EC
comic, Crime SuspenStories, featured
a cover showing an axe murderer,
hatchet still dripping, standing over a
headless woman’s body. ... This partic-
ular issue became one of [Wertham’s]
major pieces of evidence in his crusade
against comics. He used it in his book
Seduction of the Innocent, published in
1954. Things came to a head in May of
O
20 | F R E E D O M T O R E A D 2007
that year. The U.S. Senate decided to
hold a special session on links between
mobsters and the comics industry. ...
Wertham spoke to the Senate hearings
first. He told chilling case histories of
psychopaths who loved horror fantasy.
... When it came to teaching violence
and race hatred, he declared, “Hitler
was a beginner compared to the comic-
book industry.”
... In the end, the Senate decided
that it couldn’t do much about comics
without infringing on constitutional
principles of free speech. It agreed
to stop short of banning comic books
RUSHDIE REDUX:
A Global Conflict Over Danish
Cartoons Echoes the Crisis Over
THE SATANIC VERSES
BY FRANKLIN CARTER
N SEPTEMBER 30, 2005, a Danish newspaper called
Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons that depicted
the Muslim prophet
MOHAMMED. THE CARTOONS
lampooned Mohammed, Muslim
terrorism, and the newspaper’s
portrayal of Muslim immigrants.
Flemming Rose, the newspaper’s
editor, knew that many Muslims
regarded images of their prophet as
blasphemous, but he said that he
published the cartoons anyway
because he wanted to provoke a
debate about the taboo on drawing
Mohammed in Denmark.
In the following weeks, insulted
Muslims tried to punish Jyllands-
Posten. In October, ambassadors from
after the industry agreed to police itself
by adopting a new Comics Code. ...
In his old age, Frederic Wertham had
a change of heart. In 1974, in his last
book, The World of Fanzines: A Special
Form of Communication, he explained
that comic book fans were very nice
kids after all. The book didn’t sell
nearly as well as his earlier hysterical,
scare-mongering shockers. •
This excerpt appears in You Can’t Read
This: Forbidden Books, Lost Writing,
Mistranslations & Codes by Val Ross
(Tundra Books, 2006) and is reprinted
with the publisher’s permission.
10 Muslim states urged Denmark’s
Prime Minister Rasmussen to “take
all those responsible to task.” When
Rasmussen refused, saying that “free-
dom of expression is the very founda-
tion of the Danish democracy” and
that the “government has no means of
influencing the press,” Danish Muslims
filed a criminal complaint against
Jyllands-Posten. In 2006, a prosecutor
declined to press charges.
Stymied in Denmark, Danish Muslims
toured the Middle East with the 12
cartoons and other offensive images
to urge Muslim leaders to pressure
the Danes for redress.1 In December
2005, the Organization of the Islamic
Conference and the Arab League
condemned the cartoons. In January
2006, the European news media began
reprinting the Danish cartoons and
defending their right to publish blas-
phemy. On January 30, Jyllands-Posten
apologized for offending Muslims but
reaffirmed its decision to publish the
cartoons.
As the conflict worsened, Jyllands-
Posten received bomb threats and the
cartoonists received death threats.
Throughout the world, Muslims
demanded the censorship of the car-
toons, boycotted Danish goods, and
marched in demonstrations. Across
Asia, Muslim rioters burned Danish
flags, attacked Western embassies, and
clashed with police. Numerous arrests,
shootings, and deaths occurred before
the violence petered out in March
2006.
But no observer should have been
surprised by this outburst. A similar
conflict between Muslims and lib-
eral advocates of free expression had
occurred only a few years before. This
conflict was caused by the publication
of a novel.
On September 26, 1988, Salman
Rushdie—an Indian author born to a
Muslim family—published The Satanic
Verses in Britain. The novel—a compli-
cated fantasy set in London, Bombay,
an Indian village, and seventh-century
Arabia—explores the consequences of
emigrating from one culture to another.
The novel also fictionalizes people,
places, and events in the Koran.
and Pakistan) banned the novel.
Even Venezuela—a country with few
Muslims—criminalized possession of
the book.
In Britain, the Union of Muslim
Organizations asked the govern-
ment to prosecute Rushdie for blas-
phemy. The U.K. Action Committee
on Islamic Affairs demanded
the destruction of The Satanic
Verses, an apology, and pay-
ment of “damages” to a Muslim
charity. When these attempts
were rebuffed, British Muslims
burned copies of the book in
Bolton (December 1, 1988) and
Bradford (January 14, 1989).
On February 14, 1989, after
deadly anti-Rushdie riots in
Pakistan and India, Ayatollah
Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa. The Rushdie File edited by
He ordered “all zealous Muslims” to Lisa Appignanesi and Sara Maitland
(Syracuse University Press, 1990)
kill Rushdie and his publishers for
publishing The Satanic Verses. In
Britain, Rushdie went into hiding. He include secular liberals and Muslims.
escaped death, but in the early 1990s The Rushdie File helps explain the
zealots bombed bookstores that sold conflict. The secular liberals argue that
the novel, injured the novel’s Italian free expression includes the right (but
translator and Norwegian publisher, not the obligation) to commit blas-
and murdered the novel’s Japanese phemy. The orthodox Muslims argue
translator. that free expression excludes the right
In the conflicts over The Satanic to commit blasphemy. For them, blas-
Verses and Jyllands-Posten’s cartoons, phemy—however defined—must be
orthodox Muslims protested against censored and punished.
the publication of “blasphemy.” Some Compromise between these two
Muslims condemned—and even died viewpoints is difficult, if not impos-
in riots over—works that they had not sible.
seen.
Reading The Rushdie File today
helps one understand the conflict
over Jyllands-Posten’s cartoons of
THE RUSHDIE FILE

Muslim politicians in India immedi-
ately condemned The Satanic Verses
as obscene and blasphemous, and
the Indian government banned it
on October 5, 1988. In the ensuing
months, many countries with large
Muslim populations (e.g., Egypt
I
N 1989, TWO AUTHORS IN
Britain—Lisa Appignanesi and
Sara Maitland—published a
book called The Rushdie File.
It is a collection of documents
about the conflict over The Satanic
Verses. The documents’ authors
Mohammed. Reading the book also
helps one see why similar disputes will
probably occur again. •
1 The Danish Muslims who toured the Middle East
compiled a 43-page booklet of Danish anti-Muslim
images. The booklet contained cartoons that
Jyllands-Posten did not publish. See “Alienated
Danish Muslims Sought Help from Arabs,” Spiegel
Online English Site, February 1, 2006.

FREEDOM TO READ 2007 | 21

P E R S P E C T I V E S
THE RETAIL CHALLENGE:
Booksellers and Freedom to Read
BY EMILY SINKINS
B
OOKSELLERS BELIEVE
in the power of the writ-
ten word—its ability to
educate, to inspire, to
persuade, and to provoke.
Often, it will also offend, enrage, and
insult. Bookstores exist to offer access
to reading material, but when it comes
to potentially offensive titles, where do
booksellers draw the line?
The Canadian Booksellers
Association (CBA), a national trade
organization representing trade, cam-
pus, chain, and specialty booksellers
from coast to coast, recently distrib-
uted a survey to our members to find
out how they react when faced with
controversial works both at the order-
ing stage and when challenged by
customers.
Booksellers acknowledged that
catering to the interests and desires
of their communities can sometimes
mean electing not to stock titles that
are likely to alienate them. In fact, 60
per cent of booksellers admitted to
not stocking a particular book solely
because it might offend some of their
customers. (Of that 60 per cent, the
majority said they did so very rarely.)
More than half of the booksellers
that the CBA surveyed have received
customer complaints about certain
titles. A bookseller from Cranbrook,
British Columbia, had this succinct
response: “This is a community book-
store to serve the community as a
whole—diversity in interests is respect-
ed here.”
Selected responses from the CBA’s
Book Challenges Survey, which was
distributed to 400 booksellers in
August 2006, follow.
22 | F R E E D O M T O R E A D 2007
Have you ever chosen not to stock a
particular book based solely on the
fact that it offends you or might offend
some of your customers?
“The Anarchist Cookbook. We won’t
carry it or bring it in, but we will give
customers the publisher information so
they can get it themselves.”
“There was a book about sex travel
in Thailand that we all found quite
offensive.”
“I will not stock or special order any
illegal hard-drug manufacturing titles,
although I have special ordered several
pot-growing books.”
“Books like David Hamilton’s attract
customers we do not want to encour-
age. We are concerned with the depic-
tion of children and draw our line
there.”
“We carry or will order almost any-
thing that our customers are interested
in. We may not promote these [books]
(i.e., make them highly visible), but
they can exist in our inventory.”
Have you ever received customer com-
plaints about your decision to carry a
certain title?
“Madonna’s book Sex, any Paul
Bernardo books, the Koran, cookbooks
with meat recipes, Lennart Nilsson’s
A Child Is Born (which presents both
sides of the choice/right-to-life argu-
ment).”
“I was asked to remove a Karla
Homolka book out of the window.”
“Most recently, a customer yelled
at me for carrying Bitch in the House,
a book about the issues working
women/mothers deal with. She said
her young child should not have to see
such filth on our shelves.”
“On Bullshit. [A] customer felt it ...
should be sandwiched in a bookshelf
and hidden from children’s eyes.”
“I had one customer upset over Don
Miguel Ruiz’s The Voice of Knowledge,
but she wouldn’t explain what offend-
ed her. She just bought out my entire
stock of it! I hope all my offended cus-
tomers act this way!”
Have you ever received a customer
complaint about your failure to stock
a particular title?
“We have had a couple of minor
complaints that we didn’t carry any or
enough gay or feminist content books.
... [T]here doesn’t seem to be a lot of
demand for those books in this town,
so we chose not to carry them for that
reason, not for [reasons of ] censor-
ship.”
“I was personally insulted and
attacked, as was my then nine-year-old
daughter, for not carrying Murder in
Canada. This is an extreme anti-abor-
tion book.”
Have you had shipments delayed,
tampered with, or turned back at
the border because Canada Customs
deemed the material questionable?
“A company called Morning Glory
Press was frequently targeted for open-
ing. It sold books on teen pregnancy.”
“It was long ago ... for some Palladin
Press titles [about] anti-personnel
weapons and combat material.”
“During the 1980s, I began dealing
with Naiad Press in the United States
... and, [because it is] predominantly
a lesbian publishing house, I did
have some shipments stopped and
searched.” •
Emily Sinkins is the communications
manager of the Canadian Booksellers
Association and the editor of
Canadianbookseller.
2006 AWARDS for Freedom
of Expression/Freedom to Read

I
N OCTOBER 2006, PEN CANADA were assaulted while
awarded the PEN Canada/Paul covering demon-
Kidd Courage Prize to Kim strations against a
Bolan. She is a journalist for The referendum on consti-
Vancouver Sun and the author tutional amendments.
of Loss of Faith: How the Air India Female journalists
Bombers Got Away with Murder. were also sexually
The award recognizes writers harassed.
and journalists who have displayed CJFE also honoured
exceptional courage and integrity in Hollman Morris of
the interest of free expression. Bolan Colombia. He has
received the award for her investigation received numer-
of the Air India bombing of 1985. ous threats such as
funeral wreaths and
“Kim Bolan has devoted much of
letters of condolence
her career to the Air India affair, which
delivered to his home.
is probably the biggest criminal story
For uncovering atroci-
in Canada of the past 20 years,” the
ties committed by all
award jury said. “She had the courage
sides in Colombia’s

to continue to do important work under
dangerous conditions.”
Bolan’s investigation led her into
British Columbia’s Sikh community, and
her reporting prompted anonymous
threats against her life.
“She was on a death list and, after
the assassination of Tara Singh Hayer,
she had every reason to believe the
Sikh militants would not hesitate to
kill her, too,” the award jury said.1 “We
don’t know how many other journalists
would have had the guts to persevere.”
The PEN Canada/Paul Kidd Courage
Prize is named after Paul Kidd, a
Canadian journalist who died in 2002.
He reported from more than 70 coun-
tries, braving street violence, gun-
fire, arrest, and threats from various
regimes.
In August 2006, Canadian Journalists
for Free Expression (CJFE) announced
the winners of its International Press
Freedom Awards. CJFE, which usually
Hollman Morris and Abeer Al-Askary
names two winning journalists per
year, named three in 2006.
CJFE honoured Hayat Ullah Khan,
a freelance journalist and photogra-
pher who covered military conflicts in
Pakistan’s tribal areas. He was abduct-
ed in December 2005; his dead body
was found in North Waziristan in June
2006. Khan’s family in Pakistan will
receive $3,000 in award money; CJFE
hopes the money will help them fight
for justice in his case.
CJFE also honoured Abeer Al-Askary
of Egypt. She has published investiga-
tive reports on corruption, election
fraud, and the torture of prisoners.
Because of her journalism, she has
been attacked by state security offi-
cers. On May 25, 2005, for example,
Abeer Al-Askary and other journalists
GLENN BROWN
armed conflict, Morris
was deliberately and
wrongfully accused of
being a spokesman
for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia.
“This year’s winners come from
some of the toughest regions in which
to practise journalism,” said Carol
Off, chair of CJFE’s awards committee.
“They are truly remarkable people,
committed to speaking out and telling
the stories of the world’s most vulner-
able citizens.”
Each winner received a $3,000 cash
prize.
In June 2006, the Canadian Library
Association (CLA) bestowed its Award
for the Advancement of Intellectual
Freedom in Canada on June Callwood.
Callwood is one of Canada’s most dis-
tinguished journalists, social activists,
and free-speech advocates.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

FREEDOM TO READ 2007 | 23

P E R S P E C T I V E S
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23
Callwood helped found more than 50
organizations that play a vital role in
Canadian life, including the Canadian
Civil Liberties Association, PEN
Canada, Feminists Against Censorship,
The Writers’ Union of Canada, the
Periodical Writers Association of
Canada, and the Electronic Rights
Licensing Agency.2
“Long before they were safe or
fashionable, June Callwood was a
courageous and principled pioneer in
many social justice causes, especially
those involving children and women,”
said CLA President Barbara Clubb.
“Her efforts have paved the way for
others to follow.”
Callwood was also an early chair-
woman of the Book and Periodical
Development Council’s Freedom of
Expression Committee. In 1995, she
chaired the Book and Periodical
Council.
In May 2006, the National Press Club
of Canada honoured Dr. John Hoey
and Anne Marie Todkill with the World
Press Freedom Award. Hoey and Todkill
are, respectively, the former editor and
the former senior deputy editor of the
Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Hoey and Todkill were dismissed
from their jobs in February 2006, six
weeks after they revealed in an editori-
al that the publisher and the Canadian
Medical Association had suppressed
part of an investigative report on how
pharmacists across Canada were dis-
pensing emergency contraceptive pills.
The award jury noted one of the
principles espoused by the World
Association of Medical Editors,
of which the Canadian Medical
Association Journal is a member:
“Editors should be free to express
critical but responsible views about
all aspects of medicine without fear of
retribution, even if these views might
24 | F R E E D O M T O R E A D 2007
DOANE GREGORY
June Callwood
conflict with the commercial goals of
the publisher.”
The award jury also noted another
meritorious nomination. The Hamilton
Spectator, which for the past year and
a half had been at the forefront of the
battle to defend journalists’ right to
protect their sources of information,
was nominated by PEN Canada.
In February 2006, The Writers’ Union
of Canada (TWUC) announced that
writer and publisher Charles Montpetit
of Montreal won the Freedom to Read
Award. Montpetit is a member of the
Union des écrivaines et des écrivains
québécois and a past winner of the
Governor General’s Literary Award for
children’s literature.
“Charles has worked tirelessly to
help preserve the freedom to read and
write in this country, most recently to
ensure that the controversial child-
porn bill passed by the last govern-
ment contained adequate defences for
legitimate writers,” said Brian Brett,
chair of the Writers’ Union.
TWUC bestows its Freedom to
Read Award each year as part of
Freedom to Read Week in Canada.
Previous winners have included anti-
censorship activists Janine Fuller of
Little Sister’s bookstore in Vancouver
and Toronto lawyer Clayton Ruby.
LISE VIENS
Charles Montpetit
In February 2006, the Calgary
Freedom to Read Week Committee
presented the Calgary Freedom of
Expression Award to Catherine Ford.
The award was sponsored by Fast
Forward, a weekly entertainment
journal.
Ford’s career as a journalist began
when she joined the Calgary Herald in
1964. She has been a commentator on
radio and television, and she has writ-
ten articles for other newspapers and
magazines such as Chatelaine. She is
the author of Against the Grain, pub-
lished by McClelland & Stewart in 2005.
Ford was a national columnist for
CanWest News Service and throughout
her career she made a commitment to
her readers: to speak honestly. In a col-
umn on censorship, she said: “All I’ve
got worth fighting for is the promise
that what you read is what I honestly
believe.” •
Anne Jayne, Julie Payne, Spencer
Moore, PEN Canada, The Writers’
Union of Canada, and the Canadian
Library Association supplied informa-
tion for this article.
1 Tara Singh Hayer, the publisher of the Indo-
Canadian Times, was shot to death in Surrey, British
Columbia, in 1998.
2 The Periodical Writers Association of Canada is
now the Professional Writers Association of Canada.
PEN CANADA:
Seventy Years in the
FIGHT FOR FREE EXPRESSION
BY AIDAN JOHNSON
P
EN CANADA, THE NATIONAL
organization of Canadian
writers and readers for
free expression, marked its
seventieth anniversary in
2006. Since its inception, PEN Canada
has encouraged freedom of literacy,
education, and thought by supporting
writers facing oppression—be it tor-
ture, imprisonment, exile in a foreign
country, or censorship—from hostile
governments.
International PEN was founded in
England in 1921 to foster literary com-
munity and freedom of expression.
Joseph Conrad and George Bernard
Shaw numbered among PEN’s early
members. In 1947, the United Nations
reviewed PEN Charter’s declaration of
free-speech and thought rights during
the drafting of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights. Today, there are 144
PEN Centres in 101 countries.
News
In 2006, after a vigorous PEN
campaign, the government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran released
Ramin Jahanbegloo from prison.
Jahanbegloo—an Iranian-born philoso-
pher with Canadian citizenship—had
been imprisoned for four months
in Tehran for, among other thought
crimes, contradicting the Iranian presi-
dent’s denial of the Holocaust in World
War II.
In 2006, the Congress of
International PEN also re-elected PEN
Canada to the chair of the Writers in
Exile Network. This network helps writ-
ers who are censored in their home
countries find refuge as writers-in-resi-
dence at Canadian universities, librar-
ies, and other community organizations
with an interest in literature and read-
ing.1 The network links writers to read-
ers and Canada to the world.
The National Archive
PEN Canada also continues its work on
behalf of censored writers in Canada. In
fact, PEN Canada has set out to docu-
ment this specifically Canadian work in
its new National Archive.
As PEN and other defenders of free
expression in Canada plan strategy
for the future, they must know PEN’s
history. They must be aware of PEN’s
past campaigns and public arguments
about some of the most controversial
issues in Canadian politics. The new
archive will be valuable not only to
PEN’s board, membership, and staff,
but also to other Canadian civil-liber-
ties activists and students interested
in Canada’s history of free speech and
censorship.
The archive will consist of PEN
Canada’s legal briefings, policy docu-
ments, and government communica-
tions. Case summaries will include
detailed chronologies of events and
descriptions of PEN Canada’s respons-
es. Paper documents will be converted
into easy-to-access electronic files
and, in time, they will appear on PEN
Canada’s Web site.
A Highlight from the
National Archive
Throughout the 1990s, Canada
Customs and Little Sister’s Book
and Art Emporium—a bookstore in
Vancouver that caters to lesbians and
gays—clashed in court over the gov-
ernment’s seizure at the border of pur-
portedly obscene publications import-
ed by the bookstore. PEN Canada took
an interest in the dispute: in 1994, Nino
Ricci, PEN Canada’s president, testified
on behalf of Little Sister’s at the trial in
Vancouver.
In 1996, the Supreme Court of British
Columbia ruled that Canada Customs’
actions had violated both the equality
and free-speech rights of gays and les-
bians, although the court also upheld
Canada Customs’ legal power to censor.
Ricci said: “Canada is perhaps the only
democratic country in the world that
lets its Customs officers choose what
people will be allowed to read. Now
that a court has ruled that, that has led
to some pretty arbitrary and nonsensi-
cal decisions. The next logical step is to
put the choice back where it belongs, in
the hands of Canadian citizens.”
Ricci’s words echo Article 19 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
“Everyone has the right to freedom
of opinion and expression; this right
includes freedom to hold opinions
without interference and to seek,
receive and impart information and
ideas through any media and regard-
less of frontiers.”2 Because of PEN, free
expression is defended and flourishes
here in Canada. •
Aidan Johnson is a PhD student in the
University of Chicago’s Human Rights
Program and a former Fulbright schol-
ar. He is completing a Human Rights
Program work period at PEN Canada.
1 For more information on the Writers in Exile
Network, visit www.pencanada.ca.
2 The General Assembly of the United Nations
adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights on December 10, 1948.
FREEDOM TO READ 2007 | 25
 P E R S P E C T I V E S

REFLECTIONS on
PRESS FREEDOM in 2006
BY JULIE PAYNE

I
AM WRITING THIS ARTICLE
on November 1, 2006—a day
when Canadian Journalists for
Free Expression (CJFE) holds
its International Press Freedom
Awards. It’s a day when we celebrate
and, in some cases, mourn journal-
ists from all over the world who have
shown great courage in doing their
jobs.
This year, our three award winners
were Abeer Al-Askary, a determined
young woman from Egypt who has
been assaulted by the police for
covering protests; Hollman Morris,
who hosts the TV show Contravia in
Colombia and who has received more
death threats than he can count for
telling the stories of marginalized Hayat Ullah Khan (right) working on the construction of the school with a friend

Colombians; and Hayat Ullah Khan, a
Pakistani journalist whose integrity and
uncompromising commitment to telling
the truth led to his death in June 2006.
GLENN BROWN
crime in Quebec), Guy-André Kieffer
(who disappeared while investigating
corruption in Ivory Coast), and Zahra
Kazemi (who was tortured and killed in
a prison in Iran).
Now you have some idea of why we
are happy not to present the award!
This year, however, we did present
the Vox Libera Award which recognizes
a person’s sustained defence of free
Canada in 16th place this year. This
rank isn’t terrible, but Bolivia—where
press freedom is increasing from
year to year—tied for 16th place with
Canada. For Canadians, this rank
should be a stark reminder of how eas-
ily these rights can be taken away.
We must pay attention. Every time a
judge demands that a journalist reveal
his or her sources, every time the gov-
ernment withdraws a little further from

Alan Borovoy
CJFE didn’t give a Tara Singh Hayer
Award this year. This award, named
after the murdered editor of the Indo-
Canadian Times, honours Canadian
journalists who have been physically
attacked or murdered on the job. Past
winners include Michel Auger (who
was shot for investigating organized
expression. Alan Borovoy, a Toronto
lawyer who has worked tirelessly at the
Canadian Civil Liberties Association to
defend all of our civil rights, including
freedom of expression, received the
award.
After reading this far, you might have
the idea that although press freedom
is embattled in other countries, press
freedom in Canada is doing fine. But
it’s not true. In its press freedom index,
Reporters Without Borders ranked
media (and therefore from public) scru-
tiny, every time university students are
refused the right to assemble, every
time books and magazines are seized
at our borders, we must pay attention
and speak out. Freedom of expression
is far too precious—far too fundamen-
tal—to all our other rights. We must
remain vigilant. •
Julie Payne is the manager of Canadian
Journalists for Free Expression in
Toronto.

26 | F R E E D O M T O R E A D 2007
There’s a CHILL in the AIR
OUT-AND-OUT CENSORSHIP is not the only issue to pose a problem for Canada’s
writers. Indeed, there are many issues that can have a “chilling” effect on
writing. Chill simply means there is a law or an implied threat that holds
the writers back from exercising their full freedom of expression.
The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) has become concerned with three.
“Son of Sam” Laws
In 1997, the federal government con-
sidered legislation that would have
prevented convicted criminals from
earning royalty income by writing
about their crimes. Royalties would
have gone into a victims’ fund.1 That
bill died, but various provincial gov-
ernments have passed similar laws.
Such laws exist in Ontario, Quebec,
and Manitoba. One such measure was
recently passed in Alberta; another bill
in Nova Scotia died on the order paper.
While many Canadians justifiably feel
that criminals such as Clifford Olson
should never be allowed to profit from
their crimes, very few authors would
likely come from the ranks of such
criminals.2 Indeed, many people in
the justice system recommend writing
as part of the rehabilitation process.
First-person accounts of a crime or of a
criminal’s life story can be beneficial to
understanding the evolution of a crimi-
nal mind or action.
“Son of Sam” laws have the effect
of punishing a person twice for the
same crime. Indeed, since the writing
of a book is not a crime, how could the
royalty be a “proceed” from a crime? In
Alberta and Manitoba, even agents or
co-authors are required to turn royalty
income over to a “victims’” fund or face
being charged with an offence.
The difficulty is that many of these
laws are introduced with little fanfare.
The Alberta law went through three
readings in the legislature before most
writers became aware of the measure.
Anti-SLAPP
Legislation
SLAPP is the acronym for
“Strategic Lawsuit Against Public
Participation.” It occurs when a govern-
ment, or a quasi-governmental body,
brings a libel action against the govern-
ment’s critics. California and other U.S.
states have enacted legislation to pro-
tect writers and other groups against
such legal action, but this is not the
case in Canada: a SLAPP lawsuit was
brought by the Toronto Port Authority
against Community Air for comments
that the group had made.
While some might feel that this issue
does not directly affect writers, TWUC
has long been concerned about the
effects of libel chill and has lobbied
to have Ontario’s libel laws changed.
While anti-SLAPP legislation would
not apply to individual litigants, it
would help to protect writers who wish
to publish critical reviews of quasi-
governmental groups. (A book on the
Toronto Port Authority, for example, is
not an unlikely prospect.)
The Terrorism Bill
Canada’s Security of Information Act
makes the possession of information
related to terrorism, which the govern-
ment feels should be “secret,” a crimi-
nal offence. No effort has been made to
define “secret,” and a proceeding has
been launched against Ottawa Citizen
journalist Juliet O’Neill for allegedly
BY RON BROWN
possessing secretly obtained govern-
ment information about Maher Arar.3
Many have argued that the wording of
the law is too broad and has a chilling
effect on the ability of a writer or jour-
nalist to obtain pertinent information
from confidential informants.4
The Writers’ Union of Canada will
continue to monitor these and other
issues as they arise and to guarantee
our writers’ freedom to write and criti-
cize. Canada is cold enough as it is. We
don’t need another “chill” in the air. •
Ron Brown is the chair of the Rights
and Freedoms Committee for The
Writers’ Union of Canada.
1 The bill, dubbed “Son of Sam legislation,” referred
to serial killer David Berkowitz. In 1977, Berkowitz
was convicted in New York for murdering six people.
He called himself “Son of Sam.”—FC
2 In 1982, Clifford Olson pleaded guilty to the mur-
der of eight girls and three boys in British Columbia.
He was sentenced to life in prison.—FC
3 In 2002, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(RCMP) suspected Maher Arar—a Syrian-born
Canadian citizen—of having ties to al-Qaeda. On
September 26, 2002, while in an airport in New
York, Arar was detained by U.S. authorities and
deported to Syria. In Syria, Arar was imprisoned for
more than a year and tortured.
On November 8, 2003, O’Neill wrote a news story
in the Ottawa Citizen about the RCMP, Arar, and
the Syrians. On January 21, 2004, the RCMP raided
O’Neill’s home and office to discover the name of
the government employee who had supplied O’Neill
with information for her story.—FC
4 On October 19, 2006, a court in Ontario struck
down three sections of the Security of Information
Act as unconstitutional. The court also quashed the
warrants used by the RCMP to search O’Neill’s home
and office in 2004. On November 3, 2006, Minister
of Justice Vic Toews declared that he would not
appeal the court’s ruling.—FC
FREEDOM TO READ 2007 | 27
P E R S P E C T I V E S
The Human Rights Police
BY FRANKLIN CARTER
A
FEW DECADES AGO,
provincial govern-
ments passed human
rights codes to protect
Canadians from discrimi-
nation in jobs and housing. Provincial
governments also created human rights
commissions to enforce the codes.
In recent years, however, the com-
missions have broadened human rights
offences to include “discriminatory
speech.” The commissions have arro-
gated the right to judge Canadians for
the expression of unpopular opinions
and images.
The commissions now pose a threat
to freedom of the press in Canada.
To launch an inquiry, some commis-
sions need only to receive a complaint
from a person who has been offended
by something in print. If the commis-
sion decides that the complainant has
been “exposed to hatred or contempt,”
the writer or publisher may be fined
and forced to apologize.
In Alberta, the complainant does not
need to prove that the offending article
or image caused harm. The complain-
ant does not even need to show that
the publisher or writer intended to
incite hatred or contempt.
The following cases illustrate
attempts by the commissions to police
controversial expression in Canadian
publications.
1. Danish Cartoons
In February 2006, two publications
in Alberta reprinted several of the 12
Danish cartoons about the Muslim
prophet Mohammed. The Western
Standard reprinted eight; the Jewish
Free Press reprinted four.
28 | F R E E D O M T O R E A D 2007
Both publishers knew that Muslims
regarded the cartoons as blasphe-
mous. But the publishers reprinted the
cartoons anyway because they helped
illustrate an important news story: the
violent Muslim protests taking place
around the world.
Syed Soharwardy, an outraged
Muslim, complained to the Alberta
Human Rights and Citizenship
Commission. He demanded an apol-
ogy from the publishers and a pledge
that they won’t blaspheme again. The
publishers are fighting to retain their
editorial independence.
2. A Public Letter
In 2002, Rev. Stephen Boissoin
published a letter in the Red Deer
Advocate. The letter, entitled
“Homosexual Agenda Wicked,”
accused gay activists of promoting
pedophilia in schools. Boissoin urged
heterosexuals to resist the gay “victim-
ization” and “recruitment” of children.
Darren Lund, a gay teacher, filed a
complaint with Alberta’s human rights
commission. Lund claimed that the let-
ter fostered anti-gay stereotypes and
encouraged an assault on a gay teen-
ager in Red Deer.
In 2005, the commission decided to
hear the dispute. Boissoin could be
punished for expressing an opinion
rooted in his Christian faith.
3. A Newspaper Ad
In 1997, Hugh Owens placed an ad
for car bumper stickers in Saskatoon’s
StarPhoenix. The ad depicted two
stick-men holding hands in a circle
with a slash through it. The ad cited
four Biblical passages that condemn
homosexuality.
Three men complained to the
Saskatchewan Human Rights
Commission. In 2001, a tribunal ruled
that the ad exposed gay people to
hatred. The tribunal forbade Owens
and the newspaper from publishing
the ad again, and ordered them to pay
damages.
Claiming that his right to religious
expression had been infringed, Owens
appealed. In 2002, a provincial court
upheld the tribunal’s decision. But
Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal over-
turned the ruling in 2006—nine years
after the ad ran.
4. Contrarian Columns
In 1994, Doug Collins, a writer for
Vancouver’s North Shore News, penned
several opinion columns that offended
readers. Four articles offended Jews by
questioning the number of dead in the
Holocaust and by criticizing the pros-
ecution of anti-Semites such as Ernst
Zundel.
In 1999, the B.C. Human Rights
Tribunal censured Collins and the
newspaper for perpetuating damaging
stereotypes of Jews. The tribunal fined
Collins and the newspaper $2,000, and
forbade them from publishing similar
opinions again.
Collins said the ruling was “the big-
gest threat to press freedom to arise in
many years.” He appealed, but he died
in 2001 before any court could hear
him.
In free societies, people distinguish
between the right to express an opin-
ion and the opinion itself. The former
should be inviolate; the latter may be
criticized. The best response to offen-
sive expression is more and better
public criticism—not censure imposed
through human rights commissions. •
FREEDOM TO READ 2007 | 29
G E T I N V O L V E D

Ideas for Educators

Foreword
THE GET INVOLVED SECTION IS DESIGNED TO
give teachers, librarians, retailers, and mem-
bers of the public ideas to help raise awareness
of freedom of expression in Canada through
in-class debates, special displays, and public
events.
The ideas and activities are aimed at high
school, college, and university students and
would suit studies in politics, history, law, and
languages and literature. Media and dramatic
arts courses will also find dynamic areas of dis-
cussion and study in this section.
This year, the Get Involved section includes a
guide to generating publicity for your Freedom
to Read Week event, from writing a noteworthy
press release to accommodating a camera crew.
As always, the objectives of this section are to
• highlight freedom of thought and freedom
of expression as universal human rights;
• examine the educational value of
controversial texts; and
• emphasize tolerance of other people’s
viewpoints as a vital principle of democratic
education.
We encourage you to use these tools and
resources to Get Involved in your community.

CANADA’S EVENT
CALENDAR FOR FREEDOM
TO READ WEEK • A LIST
OF BOOKS RECENTLY
CHALLENGED IN CANADA
• TIPS ON HOW TO
OBSERVE FREEDOM
TO READ WEEK • A
CHRONOLOGY OF BOOK
BANNINGS AND BURNINGS
IN WORLD HISTORY •
POSTER ART FOR 23 YEARS FOR MORE INFORMATION AND RESOURCES VISIT FREEDOM TO READ ON-LINE
OF FREEDOM TO READ
WEEK • LINKS TO OTHER www.freedomtoread.ca
ON-LINE RESOURCES
• AND MUCH MORE . . .

30 | F R E E D O M T O R E A D 2007
Challenged Books and Magazines
The list below features titles that have been banned or challenged in Canada. For more information
on these titles and our complete challenged publications list, please visit www.freedomtoread.ca.

CHALLENGED FICTION
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
by Mordecai Richler
Clins d’œil à Romain Gary by
Gabrielle Gourdeau
A Clockwork Orange by
Anthony Burgess
Dance Me Outside by W.P. Kinsella
Deliverance by James Dickey
Different Seasons by Stephen King
The Diviners by Margaret Laurence
Le grand cahier by Agota Kristof
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret
Atwood
Lives of Girls and Women by Alice
Munro
Man Sitting in a Corridor by Marguerite
Duras
Metallic Memories by Moebius (Jean
Giraud)
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Marie Tempête: Le secret d’Emilie by
P. Cothias and P. Wachs (Editions Glénat)
In 2001, the city council of Hull,
Quebec, resolved to “exclude all visual
documents (movies, films, comic books,
magazines) that trivialize and/or con-
done acts of sexual aggression or sexual
violence” from public libraries. The city
council—which had been lobbied for
months by a woman who opposed
depictions of sexual violence—also
ordered its libraries to restrict access
to 180 graphic novels. But Quebec’s
writers and others campaigned for
people’s freedom to read. The graphic
novels were returned to the open
library shelves and, in 2002,
Hull’s city council repealed
the policy.
Greasy, Grimy, Gopher Guts: The CHALLENGED YOUNG
Subversive Folklore of Children by
Josepha Sherman and T.K.F. Weisskopf
ADULT AND CHILDREN’S
BOOKS
Lethal Marriage by Nick Pron

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
Tout Deschamps by Yvon Deschamps
The Turner Diaries by William Pierce
The Wars by Timothy Findley
The Young in One Another’s Arms by
Jane Rule
CHALLENGED
NON-FICTION
Banksters and Prairie Boys by Monier
M. Rahall
Black Looks: Race and Representation
by bell hooks
By Way of Deception: A Devastating
Insider’s Portrait of the Mossad by
Claire Hoy and Victor Ostrovsky
Courting Disaster by Malcolm J. Barker
and T.C. Sobey
On Chapters From My Diary by Leon
Trotsky
Outlaw Representation: Censorship
and Homosexuality in Twentieth
Century Art by Richard Meyer
Pornography: Men Possessing Women
and Woman Hating by Andrea Dworkin
Scrambled Brains: A Cooking Guide
for the Reality Impaired by Pierre
LeBlanc and Robin Konstabaris
Sex by Madonna
Suffer Little Children by Dereck O’Brien
Under the Gun: Inside the Mohawk
Civil War by Rick Hornung
The Valour and the Horror by Merily
Weisbord and Merilyn Simonds Mohr
Waging War From Canada by Mike
Pearson
The Adventures of Tintin: The Blue
Lotus by Hergé
L’affaire du cachalot noir by Gervais
Pomerleau
Ani Croche by Bertrand Gauthier
Asha’s Mums by Rosamund Elwin and
Michele Paulse
Baby Be-Bop by Francesca Lia Block
Black Like Kyra, White Like Me by
Judith Vigna
Bumface by Morris Gleitzman
Carcajou le glouton fripon by Basile
Awashish et al.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Le choix d’Ève by Reynald Cantin
Les colères de l’océan by Gervais
Pomerleau
CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

FREEDOM TO READ 2007 | 31

G E T I N V O L V E D

Maxine’s Tree by Diane Carmel Leger
(Orca Book Publishers, 1990)
This children’s picture book features a five-year-old girl
who tries to protect an old-growth rainforest on Vancouver
Island from loggers. In 1992, an official of the International
Woodworkers of America in Sechelt, British Columbia,
asked the local school board to remove the book from
elementary school libraries. He claimed that the book
indoctrinated children into accepting an extremist, anti-
logging viewpoint. The school board rejected his request.
Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance
and Assisted Suicide for the Dying by Derek Humphry
(Hemlock Society, 1991)
In 2005 during Freedom to Read Week, the Lethbridge
Public Library in Alberta created a display of books that
had been challenged in North America. The inclusion
of Final Exit in the display prompted a library patron
to formally request the removal of the book from the
library’s collection. The library’s board considered the
request but decided to keep Final Exit.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31
La complainte des huarts by Gervais
Pomerleau
La course à l’amour by Bertrand
Gauthier
Les envoûtements by Daniel Sernine
L’été des baleines by Michèle
Marineau
The First Time by Charles Montpetit
(ed.)
Foxfire by Joyce Carol Oates
Goosebumps and Fear Street series by
R.L. Stine
Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s
Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of
Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Hey, Dad! by Brian Doyle
Hold Fast by Kevin Major
How Did I Begin? by Mick Manning and
Brita Granstrom
I Saw Esau by Iona and Peter Opie
I’ll Always Love You by Hans Wilhelm
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne
Reid Banks
J’ai besoin de personne by Reynald
Cantin
Moonkid and Liberty by Paul Kropp
Noah’s Cats and the Devil’s Fire by
Arielle North Olson
Not the Only One: Gay and Lesbian
Fiction for Teens
by Tony Grime
On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura
Ingalls Wilder
Ouch by Natalie Babbitt
Outrageously Alice by Phyllis Reynolds
Naylor
La première fois by Charles Montpetit
(ed.)
Qu’est-ce que vous faites là? by
Dominique Jolin
Le secret d’Ève by Reynald Cantin
Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli
Children Speak
by Deborah Ellis
Tison-Ardent by Gervais Pomerleau
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Underground to Canada by Barbara
Smucker
The Waiting Dog by Carolyn and
Andrea Beck
We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
Who is Frances Rain? by Margaret
Buffie

32 | F R E E D O M T O R E A D 2007
 ACTIVITY
Organize an Essay Contest
During Freedom to Read Week
Winning student essays from the Calgary Public Library
FIRST PRIZE ESSAY
“Freedom to Read”
By Evan (Grade 9)
I FIND THE LIBERTY OF READING
extremely important to just about every
book lover—in particular, people like
me. I consider reading as an essential
of my way of life, but there is always
the issue of gaining the freedom to
read. Yet I am one of the few that is
extremely fortunate considering the
fact that Canada is indeed a free coun-
try by world standards. Nevertheless,
the freedom to read is still constantly
under attack by individuals who wish
to remove practical information from
our shelves of knowledge. I think that
we should make sure those individu-
als don’t get their satisfaction from the
despair of others by taking away our
freedom to read.
I think the individual who wants to
take the freedom away has a lousy
motivation partly because people
always have choices about the books
they read. So if someone finds a book
offensive in any way they could simply
ignore it; I don’t see why it’s so impor-
tant to confiscate the freedom to read.
Freedom to read is not just impor-
tant to the readers; it is also vital to
the writers. When someone writes
something they hope to bring someone
else’s enjoyment, and by removing
books they’re also putting the writers
in despair knowing their hard work
has just been a waste of time. That is
another reason why the freedom to
read is important.
For some people, a book can
change their life. For example, at first I
despised reading, but that was before
I read Harry Potter. The book’s inter-
esting plot along with its fascinating
theme held my attention like a magnet,
yet there were still 26 challenges to
remove the Harry Potter books from
bookshelves in 16 states. Before that
book I never knew that reading was so
entertaining, and that was when I got
into books. If the Harry Potter series
had been removed, I would never have
discovered the enjoyment of reading,
and that is why the freedom to read is
so important to me.
SECOND PRIZE ESSAY
“The Magic of Books”
By Sara (Grade 9)
EVERY DAY, MANY PEOPLE AROUND
the world are discovering a timeless
magic. This magic is not something
that can be found in any ordinary item
but in the wonderful literature that is
supplied. No matter what language
these ink words are formed in, they all
contain the same spellbinding experi-
ence that can only be discovered in
the heart of words. If even a little bit
of these miracles is taken away, then
we cannot fully experience the won-
ders that each page holds because,
“Reading is a basic tool in the living of
a good life.”1
With every word we read, we gain
knowledge and imagination that pre-
pares us for a land of untold tales.
There is no purpose to destroying
books when they were written by
authors who wished to share a little
piece of their mind and those “...
who destroy a good book kills reason
itself.”2 Agreed, some depictions may
be vulgar, inappropriate, and contain
language that does not appeal to
other individuals; but was there not a
time when they also had their choice
of books? If not, then they should not
limit the freedom of choice for other
readers.
Everyone should have the decision to
read or not to read, and just because
CONTINUED ON PAGE 34
FREEDOM TO READ 2007 | 33
G E T I N V O L V E D
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33
some individuals cannot accept these
certain books, it doesn’t mean that
others shouldn’t explore these epics.
Stories expand the human mind more
than anything learnt in a classroom—
excluding reading itself—and they are
the life that brings out the world that
you never knew existed. Without them,
not only I, but many of us would be
left unsheltered with an uneasy feeling
that such magic is wasted. For, “Books
are the quietest and most constant of
friends: they are the most accessible
and wisest of counsellors, and the
most patient of teachers.”3
Quotations
1 Mortimer J. Adler
2 John Milton
3 Charles W. Eliot
Reference
Logan, Deb. Quotations about
Libraries, Books, and Reading!
http://www.deblogan.com/quo2.html
(accessed January 29, 2006).
BOOKCROSSING
SPREAD THE WORD about
challenged and banned
books in Canada! The
Freedom of Expression
Committee invites you to
find a title you care about
from our list of challenged
literature and release the
book into your community
through BookCrossing’s Web
site at www.BookCrossing.
com.
Here’s how it works:
1. Find a title from your book-
shelf that appears on our list
of “Challenged Books and
34 | F R E E D O M T O R E A D 2007
THIRD PRIZE ESSAY
“Freedom to Read”
By Jake (Grade 9)
THE WRITTEN WORD IS ONE
of man’s greatest achieve-
ments. It is how we record
and communicate our
thoughts, ideas, and his-
tory. Contained in a book
can be the thoughts of a
great thinker or the acts of a
civilization that no longer exists. From
a book we can gain a new perspective
or escape to a place far away.
Those who want to restrict what can
be put in public libraries are most likely
trying to save young children’s minds
from some “evil” they should not be
seeing or thinking. The fact is that you
can’t shelter people from the world and
what’s in it. No one should be allowed
to decide what we can learn. Ignorance
won’t save anyone from making the
wrong choices; only by educating your-
self can you know what is right.
Magazines.” (See page 31.) You
may also purchase a book for this
project.
2. Tag the book with a special Book-
Crossing label. You can download
One person cannot pos-
sibly hope to learn what
this world has to offer all
by oneself. But we have
books to share knowledge
with us, so we do not have to
figure life out for ourselves, which
would be impossible in our short
life spans. For instance, a scientist
in Japan may be researching how
to fight a disease, and then publish
his/her findings in a medical journal.
A doctor in Canada could read this
research and use it to cure one of his/
her patients.
In a library you can see the freez-
ing heights of the Himalayas and the
scorched sands of the Sahara, and
listen to the thoughts of people from
both lands, without leaving the room.
Would it be fair to take out the book
on the people of the Sahara because
someone deems their history too vio-
lent? The world is round as we now
know. A sphere is impossible to see
from one side.
and print one from our Web site at
www.freedomtoread.ca/docs/book-
label.pdf.
3. Go to www.BookCrossing.com
and follow the directions to register
the book.
4. After you’ve tagged and regis-
tered the book, release it into your
community for someone else to
read. You can leave it on a bench, in
a café, on public transit, or even in
a bathroom stall.
5. Log on to BookCrossing’s Web
site often to see who finds your
book, what they think, and where
they release it next.
BookCrossing’s goal is “to turn the
whole world into a library.” During
this year’s Freedom to Read Week,
make it your goal, too!
 Freedom to Read Week Photo Competition:
Your Chance to Be a Shutterbug!
Freedom to Read Week (FTRW) is about choice.
It’s about choosing to be intellectually free and
never forgetting how important your freedom to
read is. It’s about celebrating that freedom.
This contest provides you with an opportunity to visually
capture our freedom to read. Photograph challenged books,
FTRW events, the FTRW poster, or anything that promotes the
written word. You can download the challenged books list or
a list of events in your community at www.freedomtoread.ca.
Show us how your community celebrates its freedom to read!
Eligibility: The FTRW photo competition is open to all ama-
teur and professional photographers.
Entry Details: A maximum of five entries will be accepted per
entrant.
Digital Images: Images must be 800 by 600 pixels at 72 dpi.
Please keep your file sizes down to no more than 800–900
kilobytes per image. Competition winners will be contacted if
higher resolution images are required for publication.
Prizes: Enter to win one of our great prizes!
1st Place: $100!
2nd Place: Three challenged books!

RANKEN SHIMAZAKI
3rd Place: A Freedom to Read survival pack with poster and
annual review!

The Giver Is Taken (1st Prize, 2006)

any breach of copyright. The photographer retains ownership

of all submitted images. Images entered must not have been
digitally altered in any way other than necessary burning,
dodging, and cropping.
Return of Images: Images will be returned only if entered
PHILIP BATEMAN

with a self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage.

Pet Habit (2nd Prize, 2006)
Identification: Each image must be labelled with the photog-
rapher’s name, address, and telephone number. Each image
must include its title and location.
Ownership: Entrants must own all rights to the works sub-
mitted. Model releases are the entrant’s responsibility and
must be provided to the Freedom of Expression Committee
if requested. Entrants shall indemnify the Freedom of
Expression Committee for any loss or damage arising from
Publication: Submission of an entry constitutes agreement
to allow photographs to be reproduced, published, and/or
exhibited only for promotional purposes of the Freedom of
Expression Committee’s Freedom to Read Week.
Judges: The winning entries will be selected by a panel of
judges. The photos will be judged according to their originali-
ty and their pertinence to the spirit of Freedom to Read Week.
All decisions by the judges are final.
Deadline: March 31, 2007
Entry Fee: Free!
Contact: Adrian Galwin at (416) 975-9366 or
publicity@freedomtoread.ca

FREEDOM TO READ 2007 | 35

G E T I N V O L V E D
ACTIVITY
Write a Killer Press Release and Get Publicity!
So, you’ve organized a fan-
tastic Freedom to Read Week
activity. But how can you make
sure it gets media attention?
Writing a press release is the
logical place to start, but you
need to target your message
and your audience carefully to
have a chance at generating
press interest and coverage.
Follow these basic rules:
KEEP THE PRESS RELEASE TO ONE
PAGE. In the top left corner, type “FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE.” On the next
line, centre the headline in 14-point
type. Centre the sub-headline on the
line below. Use boldface type on both
headlines.
THE FIRST PARAGRAPH opens with the
release date in brackets. The rest of the
paragraph declares when Freedom to
Read Week will happen, who sponsors
the Week and why, and that the Week
is nationwide. This paragraph mentions
your event, date, and location.
THE SECOND PARAGRAPH provides
more information about your event, its
participants, special or unusual activi-
FREEDOM TO READ
WEEK 2007
36 | F R E E D O M T O R E A D 2007
ties, etc. If celebrities or politicians are
going to be present, mention them here.
THE THIRD PARAGRAPH might elabo-
rate on the importance of freedom of
expression and how your event sup-
ports it. If there have been recent book
or magazine challenges in your com-
munity, refer to them here.
THE FINAL PARAGRAPH lists the
contact information with your group’s
name, phone number, and e-mail
address set in boldface type.
Your press release is ready. Now what?
FIND YOUR AUDIENCE. Don’t send
press releases “to whom it may con-
cern.” Get the name of the relevant
writer, producer, news director, or
editor, and send your press release
directly to his or her attention. Follow
up with the person a day or two before
the event by making a telephone call
and by re-sending the release.
THINK IN THE MEDIUM. If you’re ask-
ing for television coverage of your
event, think about what a camera crew
will shoot. Television needs pictures,
not just interviews. Potential shots
could include book jackets, event post-
ers, Freedom to Read Week posters,
FIND OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING OR LET
US KNOW WHAT YOUR COMMUNITY IS
DOING BY VISITING THE EVENTS PAGE
OF OUR WEB SITE AT
www.freedomtoread.ca/events
etc. Have these materials well-mounted
and displayed. If you’ll have celebrity
guests, have them available for on-
camera interviews.
Preparing for radio and print coverage
of your event will be less complicated
than preparing for television shows,
but make sure to have potential
interview subjects available when the
reporters will be around. If you know
in advance when a newsworthy guest
will arrive, tell the reporter or producer
when you make your follow-up phone
call.
THINK LIKE A PRODUCER. Reporters
from television or radio programs might
not be able to come to your event, but
they might still promote your event
beforehand in a studio interview. To
generate public awareness, suggest a
panel discussion on freedom of expres-
sion. Suggest guests and discussion
points to the producer, emphasizing
the potentially wide-ranging nature of
the topic—from the arts to technology
to politics to parenting.
ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT, set your
VCR to tape the television segment.
Save your press clippings too. You’ll
want to review the coverage before
next year’s event!
 ACTIVITY

Organize In-Class Debates!

Make a controversy come
alive for your students and
help them expand their under-
standing of freedom of expres-
sion by organizing an in-class
debate. Go to page 31 for a list
of challenged books and to
the resources section at www.
freedomtoread.ca to aid your
research and book selection.
While the sample topics listed
below are aimed at an older audience,
younger kids can enter the fray too!
Many kids already have a basic under-
standing of censorship—even Arthur,
keep To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper
Lee out of classrooms because, they
claimed, the book’s use of the word
“nigger” promoted racism and endan-
gered black students’ self-esteem.
Create two teams to debate the motion.
One team should support it, and the
other team should challenge it. Make
sure that both sides back up their argu-
ments with quotations from the text.
• Many objections to books are based
on the author’s use of profanity in the
text. For your next in-class debate,
ACTIVITY
Display Challenged Books!
• Put copies of banned and challenged
books on a shelf, and seal off the shelf
with yellow “Caution” tape.
ask a basic question: will reading a
book with profanity encourage kids to
swear?
• If people want to remove an “objec-
tionable” or “offensive” book in the
school library (e.g., R.L. Stine’s horror
novels, Deborah Ellis’s Three Wishes
or Joyce Carol Oates’s Foxfire) in the
name of protecting children, should
the challengers’ views be supported?
And here’s a question for students to
ponder: what’s wrong with wanting to
protect children?

• Create a display within the stacks

of your library or bookstore by mak-
ing shelf-talkers or visible bookmarks
for banned or challenged books in
your collection. Use a stop-sign tem-
plate with “STOP! This book has been
banned or challenged” printed on it.

the popular children’s animated series,
addressed book-banning in the epi-
sode “Arthur and the Scare-Your-Pants-
Off Club.” The challenged books list in
this guide and on the Freedom to Read
Web site have lists of children’s books,
including picture books, that have
faced censorship.
Here are some ideas to get you
started:
• Research book challenge cases and
recreate them in the classroom. For
example, in 2002 parents and teachers
in Nova Scotia instigated a motion to
• Cover a section of wall with wallpaper
made from enlarged photocopies of
pages from challenged books. Make
the copies legal or poster size, and
black out words and phrases.
• Put coloured pushpins into a map of
the world, showing countries where
authors have been jailed for their
books. Arrange photographs and biog-
raphies of the authors around the map,
and connect each photo to its appropri-
ate pin with coloured string.
• Put challenged books (paperbacks
would work best) into a large-mouthed
CHERYL BROWN
Somebody Else’s World (3rd prize, 2006)
jar, and seal the lid. Put a poison label
on the front of the jar, and place it near
the check-out desk or cash register.
• Beside any display, leave a stack of
pre-addressed postcards and contact
information for appropriate govern-
ment ministers (education, foreign
affairs, etc.) to draw attention to the
importance of freedom of expression.

FREEDOM TO READ 2007 | 37

G E T I N V O L V E D
ACTIVITY
Host a Reading Marathon!
A reading marathon draws
attention to the issue of liter-
ary freedom and energizes
democratic debate and discus-
sion. Readers get the chance
to judge controversial books
for themselves without the
censor’s filter.
To organize your own marathon,
find a venue that will allow you and
an audience to “camp out” for the
required amount of time (e.g., from
an evening to 24 hours). You can
approach bookstores, theatres, cafés,
nightclubs, or even comedy clubs to
provide a location. If your marathon
is going to last 24 hours, plan to feed
both your readers and the audience! A
club or café might be willing to keep its
kitchen staffed for the duration of the
marathon.
Choose compelling and well-known
books with long histories of challenges
ACTIVITY
Organize a Public Debate!
Open debate is one of the
hallmarks—and safeguards—
of democratic society. Do your
part by organizing a debate
about a challenged book and
get people talking!
If a book is being challenged in
your community, approach the people
making the challenge. Offer them the
chance to present their reasons and
debate the opposing position. If there’s
no book being challenged, research a
book that has been challenged in the
38 | F R E E D O M T O R E A D 2007
to read such as Alice Munro’s Lives of
Girls and Women, Kevin Major’s Hold
Fast, Joyce Carol Oates’s Foxfire, or J.D.
Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. Invite
local politicians, actors, musicians,
activists, authors, and journalists to
read chapters. You can choose to read
one book over the course of the eve-
past and find appropri-
ate people to debate.
(See the list of
“Challenged Books
and Magazines” on
page 31 for ideas.)
Set an agenda for the debate. First,
allow the challenger to make an
opening statement and read
contentious passages. Next, the book’s
defender makes a statement to
support the book. After both sides have
made their statements, they may refute
each other’s claims and then present
ning or several books over a 24-hour
period.
Send out a press release a week
before the marathon, as well as a
reminder the day before, to generate
media interest. Include in the release
the titles of the books you’ve chosen,
a brief history of their challenges, and
the list of guest readers. (See “Write a
Killer Press Release and Get Publicity!”
on page 36.) Send releases to the
English, communications, drama, and
political science departments at local
high schools and colleges.
You can also contact the Manitoba
Writers’ Guild at mbwriter@mts.net
for a free Six Weeks to a Reading
Marathon kit. The kit provides addi-
tional tips for a successful event.
Talking about freedom of expression
is one thing, but reading a banned
or challenged book in its entirety,
in public, is a completely different
experience.
their closing
remarks.
The keys
to the debate’s
success are a
strong moderator
who can keep the
discussion lively but
respectful, a dependable
public address system with sufficient
microphones, and a space with good
acoustics. Be sure to publicize the
debate, and make it a part of Freedom
to Read Week in your community.
The Internet
Netlinks
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED in learning more about
censorship and free expression, here are some
Web sites to get you started.
GOVERNMENT WEB SITES
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter/
Canada Customs Memorandum on Obscenity (D9-1-1)
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/E/pub/cm/d9-1-1/d9-1-1-e.html
Canada Customs Memorandum on Hate Propaganda, Treason,
and Sedition (D9-1-15)
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/E/pub/cm/ d9-1-15/d9-1-15-e.html
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ACTIVISTS
Article 19: The Global Campaign for Free Expression
http://www.article19.org
Named after Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, this organization campaigns for free expression by moni-
toring and protesting against censorship wherever it occurs.
The Web site features information about major free expression
cases, papers about free expression standards, and useful tips
on getting involved.
Book and Periodical Council’s Freedom of Expression
Committee
http://www.freedomtoread.ca
The Book and Periodical Council (BPC), which represents
Canadian professional associations in the book and magazine
industries, formed its Freedom of Expression Committee in 1978
to resist attempts to ban classic Canadian novels. On this Web
site, you will find information about censorship in Canada and
resources for organizing your own Freedom to Read Week event.
Canadian Civil Liberties Association
http://www.ccla.org
The CCLA is a private non-profit organization that defends the
civil liberties and human rights of people who live in Canada. On
this Web site, you will find information about the CCLA’s efforts
to protect Canadians’ freedoms through law reform and informa-
tion about membership in the CCLA.
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
http://www.cjfe.org
CJFE is a non-governmental organization supported by Canadian
journalists and advocates of free expression. The organization
defends the rights of journalists and helps develop media
freedom throughout the world.
PEN Canada
http://www.pencanada.ca
PEN (Poets, Essayists, and Novelists) Canada campaigns for
writers around the world who are per-
secuted for the peaceful expression
of their thoughts. Visit this Web
site for information about action
campaigns, upcoming events,
and profiles of members of the
Writers in Exile program.
Reporters Without Borders
http://www.rsf.org
This international organization
works to restore people’s right to
be informed in countries where there
is no press freedom. The Web site, which
is updated several times daily, keeps track of attacks on press
freedom as they occur and serves as a forum where journalists
who have been silenced may voice their opinions.
Union des écrivaines et des écrivains québécois
http://www.uneq.qc.ca/dossiers/liberte/liberte.html
L’Union des écrivaines et des écrivains québécois est un
organisme sans but lucratif, une association professionnelle
et un syndicat. Le document ‹‹Liberté d’expression›› trace un
portrait de la censure au Canada et explique quoi faire dans
un cas de censure.
GOOD SOURCES OF INFORMATION
American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbook-
sweek.htm
This Web site provides information about Banned Books Week
in America. The site features links to the ALA’s most challenged
books list and provides extensive information on celebrating
freedom to read throughout the United States.
International Freedom of Expression Exchange
http://www.ifex.org
IFEX is a clearing house for news about the activities of free
expression groups around the world. Its Action Alert Network
co-ordinates and circulates news of attacks on free expression.
Through outreach and development, IFEX supports fledgling
free expression groups in developing countries, and IFEX’s
weekly e-mail communiqué keeps subscribers informed about
global censorship.
kidSPEAK
http://www.kidspeakonline.org
This Web site started after various groups tried to ban Harry
Potter novels but soon broadened its content to include other
free expression issues that affect youth. kidSPEAK is not useful
for Canadian youth who want to understand their rights under
the law—the Web site is American and U.S. laws are different—
but is an excellent source for free expression news and informa-
tion aimed at a young audience.
Visit the BPC’s Web site, www.freedomtoread.ca, for a more
extensive list of freedom of expression resources on the Internet.
FREEDOM TO READ 2007 | 39
EVENT SPONSORS OF FREEDOM TO READ WEEK 2006
THANKS TO ALL who participated in Freedom to Read Week 2006 by
hosting an event or creating a display at the following locations:
The All’s Well Mixture at Fair Trade
Country Café (Truro, NS) Readings by
Dr. N. Kilbey, R. Gariepy, C. Hingley,
and C. Norman
Buchanan Library at Lethbridge
Community College (Lethbridge, AB)
Display of banned and challenged books
from the library’s collection
Calgary Freedom to Read Committee
and Writers’ Guild of Alberta (Calgary,
AB) Presentation of the official book of
Freedom to Read Week to Calgary’s
city council
Calgary Public Library (Calgary, AB)
Freedom to Read essay contest for
Grades 7–9
Canadian Children’s Book Centre
(Toronto, ON) Sex, Lies, and Children’s
Books
Canadian Journalists for Free
Expression (Toronto, ON) Music and
dance party featuring Carole MacNeil,
co-host of CBC News: Sunday
CJSR Radio FM 88 at the University of
Alberta (Edmonton, AB) Interview with
Dr. Antonia Samek about librarians and
the freedom to read
Edmonton Public Library (The Banned
Books Café) and The Teen Advisory
Board at Stanley A. Milner Library,
Centre for Reading and the Arts
(Edmonton, AB) Debates and putting
books on trial
Faculty of Media and Information
Studies at the University of Western
Ontario (London, ON) Reading Out Loud!
readings and discussion
Geist and the Vancouver Public Library
(Vancouver, BC) Take Back the Page
panel discussion with Janine Fuller of
Little Sister’s, author Dan Gawthrop,
journalist Norbert Rubessat, and Sarah
Leavitt
Global Importune Inc. and London
Central Library (London, ON) Readings
and lectures on and by persecuted
writers
Lumby United Church (Lumby, BC)
Freedom to Read Used Book Sale and
photo contest
40 | F R E E D O M T O R E A D 2007
Manitoba Writers’ Guild and McNally
Robinson Booksellers (Winnipeg, MB)
24-hour Freedom to Read Marathon
McNally Robinson Booksellers
(Calgary, AB) Reading and signing of
The Sledding Hill, and speech on free
expression by Chris Crutcher
McNally Robinson Booksellers
(Calgary, AB) 24-hour Freedom to Read
Marathon
Pembroke Public Library (Pembroke,
ON) Freedom to Watch film festival
PEN Canada and the Toronto Public
Library at the Toronto Reference Library
(Toronto, ON) Interviews with exiled
writers from Asia
Quinte Writers’ Guild and Belleville
Public Library (Belleville, ON) Speeches
on self-censorship by Richard Grove and
R.D. Roy
Red Deer College Library (Red Deer, AB)
Freedom to Read Week contest
Red Deer College Library and Red Deer
and District Museum (Red Deer, AB)
Panel discussion on censorship, and dis-
play of challenged and banned books
Red Deer Public Library (Red Deer, AB)
Display of challenged and banned books
Southern Alberta Council on Public
Affairs and Lethbridge Public Library
(Lethbridge, AB) Discussion with Dr. B.
MacKay, Dr. J. von Heyking, and Dr. T.
Robinson on Denmark’s cartoons of the
Muslim prophet Mohammed
University of British Columbia
Bookstore at Robson Square
(Vancouver, BC) Robson Reading Series
with writers Aaron Bushkowsky and
Linda Rogers
University of Guelph at McLaughlin
Library (Guelph, ON) Discussions,
display, on-line resources, and movie
screenings
University of Lethbridge and
Lethbridge Public Library (Lethbridge,
AB) Lectures by Ken Nicol and Trudy
Govier, and exhibition of banned books
University of Manitoba and University
Libraries (Winnipeg, MB) 24-hour
Freedom to Read Marathon
MEMBERS 2006–07
Access Copyright
Association of Canadian Book
Wholesalers
Association of Canadian Publishers
Canadian Book Manufacturers’
Association
Canadian Booksellers Association
Canadian Library Association
Canadian Publishers’ Council
Canadian Science Writers’ Association
Editors’ Association of Canada
League of Canadian Poets
Literary Press Group of Canada
Magazines Canada
Periodical Marketers of Canada
Playwrights Guild of Canada
Professional Writers Association
of Canada
The Writers’ Union of Canada
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS 2006–07
Association of Book Publishers of
British Columbia
Association of Manitoba
Book Publishers
Book Publishers Association
of Alberta
British Columbia Library Association
Canadian Children’s Book Centre
Canadian Copyright Institute
Manitoba Writers’ Guild Inc.
Ontario Library Association
Organization of Book Publishers
of Ontario
The Writers’ Trust of Canada
AFFILIATES 2006–07
Disticor Magazine Distribution
Services
Fraser Direct Distribution Services
Georgetown Terminal Warehouses Ltd.
Pal Benefits Inc.
Sameday Right-O-Way
Universal Logistics Inc.