Little Sisters Bookstore got served

In an article from the CBC today, Little Sisters Bookstore in Vancouver will not be able to bill the Government of Canada for its $2 million-dollar debt for discriminatory, homophobic bans on its incoming merchandise. Although the Supreme Court, in 2000, ruled the actions of the customs officers to be "oppressive and dismissive," it still upheld the rights of Customs Canada guards to ban material from entering the country. The decision comes on the not-so-surprising heels of a new Conservative decision to put the axe through a special fund Pierre Trudeau had put into motion to allow minorities and marginalized groups to pay for court fees and fight for their rights.

In the late 90s, the Little Sisters Bookstore had their merchandise (like the Advocate, Pat Califia's Public Sex) stopped and held at the Canadian-American border. A couple of customs officers, arbitrarily, deemed the material offensive. Full history available here.

BOOK BANNING makes its long-awaited return to public schools

The CBC is following a story about the people who would like to see J.K. Rowling's Potter books banned from public schools in the U.S.A. A mother of 3 from Georgia says the series tells kids how to make potions and spells and wave magic wands, oh My! She asked the school board officials why reading* was part of the curriculum, saying,
"The kind of stuff in these books--murder and greed and violence. Why do they have to read them in school?"


(I guess the daily news isn't full of murder, greed and violence like Potter books are, hey?)


Well to answer the lady's misguided question: academic life IS part of life. You cannot separate school and personal life when you're a wee one--it's your whole life. And if you were a bookworm like I was, you definitely don't want to take away a beautiful thing like reading for pleasure and school credit. What is this, 2001? Anybody remember this Canadian censorship scandal?

photo source

*ahem, reading these books.