Think censorship doesn’t happen in Canada? It does, though rarely. There are, however, many attempts at censorship, and it is something we have to be on guard for at all times. It seems that in Canada, our politeness gene runs amok sometimes, and morphs into a political correctness/prude gene. It looks to me like most of these were challenged because they had something to do with sex, race or religion — all difficult topics, which is why we should discuss them. You can check out the full list and details at the Freedom to Read website, but I’ve culled a few of their cases below. The PDF is here.
Censorship in Canada, 2010-2011
2011
Attempted bans:
Brunetti, Ivan, Lilli Carré, et al. Black Eye 1: Graphic Transmissions to Cause Ocular
Hypertension
Findley, Timothy. The Wars
Instigator magazine
Kasokeo, Deanne. Antigone [ed: WTF? Antigone was written by Sophocles! (5th Century, BC)]
Actually banned by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) as “legally obscene”:
Larmee, Blaise. Young Lions
Selected 2010 Challenges
According to the document, there were 92 challenges in 2010. There aren’t many details about them, but here’s a few titles that caught my attention:
Butler, Dori Hillestad. My Mom’s Having a Baby! A Kid’s Month by Month Guide to Pregnancy
Gaiman, Neil. American Gods and M is for Magic
Guru Granth Sahib [Sikh sacred scripture].
Hergé. Tintin in the Congo. [ed: I have no doubt this is racist, but I doubt it’s hate speech.]
Horwitz, Tony. A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World.
Jones, Rob Lloyd. See Inside Pirate Ships [ed: I now need a copy of this. It must be arrrrrfully naughty!]
Stack, Frank. The New Adventures of Jesus: The Second Coming.
Star Wars, Volume 3, Dark Horse Comics. (a series of 14 manga)
Tremblay, Michel. Contes pour buveurs attardé
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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