海角社区官网

Smith鈥檚 education minister decreed guidelines aimed at keeping 鈥渆xplicit sexual content鈥� out of school libraries. This comes with a cringe-making five-point definition of such content, exhaustively listing which body parts shouldn鈥檛 be seen coming into contact with which other parts. Has there ever been a more graphic 鈥渕inisterial order鈥� than

But it goes further, and there鈥檚 the rub, so to speak. Nicolaides also doesn鈥檛 want kids to come across 鈥渘on-explicit sexual content,鈥� either, a phrase so broad that it could sweep in pretty much any modern English novel. Which led聽聽to put out a list of more than 200 works it planned to take off the shelves 鈥� including 鈥淏rave New World,鈥� 鈥淣ineteen Eighty-Four鈥� and 鈥淭he Handmaid鈥檚 Tale鈥� by Margaret Atwood.

Which of course聽prompted Atwood to take to social media聽with a withering put-down of Alberta鈥檚 clumsy efforts at censorship and a clever little story about John and Mary, who 鈥減roduced five perfect children without ever having sex.鈥�

Pro tip: when Saint Margaret of the Annex, our beloved national bard, turns her literary guns on you, you鈥檙e already losing. Better rethink.

Smith鈥檚 government is doing exactly that.聽, pending a rewrite to make it clear the intent was just to prevent graphic sexual content from getting into school libraries, not to ban literary classics.

The premier went a bit further, though. She accused the Edmonton school board of engaging in so-called 鈥渧icious compliance鈥� 鈥� i.e. interpreting a stupid policy in a stupid way in order to highlight just how stupid it is.

This is a well-known technique of middle managers faced with implementing stupid orders from their corporate masters. I was sorely tempted to engage it when I was in management at a particularly stupid company (not聽the 海角社区官网Star, I hasten to make clear). Did I do it? Uh, can鈥檛 remember. But kudos to the Edmonton school board in this case.

We now turn to聽Quebec聽in our survey of provincial stupidity. Premier Fran莽ois Legault has been irked for months at the fact that pro-Palestinian protesters have been praying in the streets of Montreal as part of regular demonstrations over the destruction in Gaza. That includes praying in Place d鈥橝rmes, in front of the Notre-Dame Basilica.

鈥淪eeing people on their knees in the streets, praying 鈥� I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 something we should see,鈥� said the premier. Now his government is translating that distaste into actual policy. It plans to bring in聽legislation outlawing public prayer, in line with Quebec鈥檚 approach of聽濒补茂肠颈迟茅, or strict separation of religion from the public sphere.

Of course, how and when to invoke the sacred 鈥� sorry, cherished 鈥� principle of聽濒补茂肠颈迟茅聽is always a matter of judgment. It鈥檚 long been noted that Quebec鈥檚 approach tends to vary depending which religion is involved.

Specifically, the public can be quickly stirred if Muslims are involved 鈥� as in the case of the prayers in Place d鈥橝rmes. But a giant illuminated cross still shines atop Mount Royal and legislators will debate any law on public prayer in a National Assembly chamber where for decades a large crucifix hung over the Speaker鈥檚 chair (it was removed only in 2019).

Not just Muslims are rallying against Legault鈥檚 proposed ban.聽, worrying that religious processions might run afoul of a new law. And of course anyone concerned about civil liberties should be concerned. Banning public prayer would clearly violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms 鈥� though that won鈥檛 worry Legault, who routinely uses the notwithstanding clause to insulate against anything as trivial as a Charter challenge.

Banning public prayer isn鈥檛 just offensive, it鈥檚 also stupid. It would expose Quebec to further ridicule as a narrow-minded, hypocritical place 鈥� something the province really doesn鈥檛 need. And it鈥檚 completely unnecessary. Any concerns about Muslims disrupting others by praying can be handled under existing laws. There鈥檚 no need to layer on more restrictions.

Wrong in principle and stupid in practice. There鈥檚 a lot of that going around these days.

Clarification — Sept. 5, 2025

This column has been updated. A previous version stated that a large crucifix hangs over the Speaker’s chair in the National Assembly chamber in Quebec. The crucifix was removed in 2019 after hanging over the Speaker’s chair for decades.