BPC Bulletins

In a courtroom in Montreal, a judge found a man guilty of wilfully promoting hatred against Jews.

In Quebec, several editorials, op-eds and columns have denounced as censorship the provincial government’s request that schools refrain from “promoting” the young-adult novel Le garçon aux pieds à l’envers by renowned author François Blais because, in one chapter, an “evil spirit” is said to have prodded a teenage character to sip a lethal dose of gasoline.

In a three-page memo sent to all of Quebec’s regional public health directors on December 16, Assistant Health and Social Services Minister Marie-Ève Bédard warns against any promotion, mention or school activities dealing with the young adult horror/supernatural novel Le garçon les pieds à l’envers (“The Boy with Inverted Feet”), posthumously published in October by popular Quebec author François Blais, a Governor General award-winner who committed suicide last May.

In Toronto, the principal of a public elementary school recently invited parents to participate in a “library audit.” Parents were given a copy of the Toronto District School Board’s Equity Toolkit, and they were told to evaluate library books according to a checklist. Ira Wells, an assistant professor of literature at the University of Toronto, took part in the audit.

A new history of Roman Catholic censorship is on the market. The Index of Prohibited Books: Four Centuries of Struggle over Word and Image for the Greater Glory of God appeared this year. Robin Vose, the book’s author, teaches at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick. St. Thomas University provides a news story:

PEN America has identified the 50 books that were most frequently challenged or banned in the 2021–22 school year.   CBS News briefly profiles each book (and links to PEN America’s report): https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-50-most-banned-books-in-america/