UCP blasts NDP for defending pornographic content in Alberta school libraries

The UCP is accusing the Alberta NDP of standing in the way of protecting children after NDP MLA Lori Sigurdson criticized the province’s plan to ban sexually explicit materials from K–12 schools.

Source: Facebook

The United Conservative Party is accusing the Alberta NDP of standing in the way of protecting children after NDP MLA Lori Sigurdson criticized the province’s plan to ban sexually explicit materials from K–12 school libraries.

“What the NDP calls ‘banning books’ is what most parents would call basic common sense,” said Darby Crouch, UCP candidate for Edmonton-Strathcona. “We’re talking about school library books that depict graphic sex acts, pornographic scenes, and other content that has no place in an elementary or junior high school. Why the NDP thinks children need access to this is beyond comprehension.”

The backlash comes after Sigurdson claimed the Alberta government’s decision to ban pornography from libraries amounted to censorship.

“This actually IS about banning books — and Smith’s administration is not the first in history to target and ban books seen as contrary to its ideology in order to control public discourse,” she said.

The books in question contain shocking quotes and pornographic imagery for any age group, let alone children. The books in question are so vulgar that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith issued various graphic content warnings in her post to X.

“Albertans deserve to know what’s really being shown to children in some of our K-9 schools,” she said. “This isn’t about banning books. It’s about protecting kids from graphic, sexually explicit content that has no place in a classroom.”

The Alberta government confirmed that books such as Gender Queer, Flamer, Fun Home, and Blankets—which contain depictions of sex acts, child molestation, and sexually violent slurs—have been found in Albertan K–12 school libraries.

The provincial government committed earlier this week to cracking down on schools refusing to remove pornographic materials from K-12 libraries.

Crouch said what the Alberta NDP calls censorship, her party calls protecting kids and respecting parents.

“Parents deserve better. They deserve to know what their children are reading in school and that the content is age-appropriate,” she said.

An online survey is available for Albertans to weigh in on what type of content should be available for school library collections.

Crouch is running in the Edmonton-Strathcona byelection on June 23 against NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi.

She bashed him for running somewhere that he previously repeatedly smack-talked.

The riding is the Alberta NDP’s safest in the province. Notley held the seat between 2008 and 2024. The last time a Conservative held it was Julian Koziak, between 1971 and 1986.