Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said he was blindsided by the expansion of library restrictions for minors under Bill 28, and he questions why this is a concern now. 

Speaking to the media at city hall on April 7, Mayor Jeromy Farkas said the inclusion of all public libraries, not just those in schools, was what surprised him. 

“This is the opposite of what had been telegraphed to me previously,” he said.

“I thought that it would have made more sense to have respect for local decision making, rather than just increased costs and micromanaging and meddling.”

The proposed changes, introduced last week by Minister of Municipal Affairs Dan Williams as part of an omnibus bill, would set new standards for library access for minors, including keeping materials deemed sexually explicit behind the counter. 

Mayor Farkas added that the province’s focus on library materials is ill-timed when Albertans are grappling with more pressing concerns, such as affordability, housing, and public safety. 

“There is no problem here to be solved, and I think it’s questionable, at best, to see so much time being spent on this as an issue,” he said. 

Mayor Farkas said these restrictions are especially frustrating for rural communities, where libraries are already overburdened by the offloading of provincial services onto them, such as assistance in signing up for social services.  

“In many cases, provincial offices aren’t open in rural communities, but local libraries are,” he said.

“So, these libraries have been taking on more and more of the brunt in terms of work and responsibilities that are squarely within provincial jurisdiction.”

The province has not made any further comments about the restrictions and how they will be implemented across Alberta, but Mayor Farkas fears the costs alone will buckle some Alberta towns. 

“It’s going to be easier for a place like Calgary,” he said. 

“When I think of other rural municipalities, there’s going to be a huge dollar and cents impact to be able to manage and to acquiesce to what the province is demanding here.”

Restrictions unnecessary with established policies already in place

While speaking to the media, Mayor Farkas emphasized local autonomy and said the Calgary Public Library (CPL) is more than capable of governing itself. 

“These are professional organizations,” he said

“The librarians are accredited, they have a review body that they report to, there’s best practices, there’s governance standards around there.”

In an email to LWC, the CPL said it is committed to providing barrier-free access to all library materials and that it already has safeguards in place for what is accessible to minors. 

“Libraries are community-led institutions with policies in place to respond to concerns about content,” the statement read.  

“We already have processes to guide parents’ choices for their children’s borrowing and for local residents to challenge materials and review placement.”

In Canada, libraries are legally required to uphold and protect the principles of intellectual freedom and freedom of expression in accordance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, alongside the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

CPL’s intellectual freedom policy makes clear that the library will provide access to a wide range of materials, but that access doesn’t equal endorsement. It also points to the guardian’s responsibility in ensuring materials accessed are appropriate, not the library’s.

This was further emphasized in CPL’s email to LWC. 

“Parents and caregivers are responsible for the materials and programs accessed by their children or teens and have a right to choose what is best for themselves and their own family,” the statement read.

During the provincial press conference when Bill 28 was announced, Minister Williams said these restrictions align with existing obscenity laws and are the ‘bare minimum’ of what parents expect in today’s society. 

He answered rather bluntly when questioned whether this legislation impinges on Albertans’ charter rights.

“If somebody truly thinks that is a question of freedom of expression, for a seven-year-old to learn from these books how to perform fellatio on each other, then I think that we have a very different understanding of freedom of expression,” he said. 

Alberta libraries respond

The Coalition of Alberta Libraries (CAP Libraries) made a statement April 9, detailing it’s list of concerns and calling on the provincial government to work with libraries. Concerns included privacy, accessibility, costs and scope of the restrictions, as well as questions of how this program would be run and by who.

In the statement, CAP Libraries asked the provincial government for a reduction of barriers, recognition of pre-existing library systems and proper planning and implementation for future operational requirements, which would include dedicated funding. It also called for the province to include libraries in future decision making, before legislation is proposed.

These concerns were also sent in a letter to Premier Danielle Smith and Minister Williams, in which CAP Libraries requested a meeting to discuss a collaborative approach forward.

“CAP Libraries remains eager to collaborate with the Province on practical, operational steps that address their concerns, while respecting parental responsibility and intellectual freedom,” the statement read.