The incident happened just before 10 p.m. on May 24 at Rocky Point Park, a popular waterfront area in the Vancouver suburb.
According to police, multiple 9-1-1 calls were made reporting that a naked man had assaulted another man in the park. The suspect then ran into a nearby restaurant, where he allegedly picked up a knife and began threatening people.
Officers arrived at the scene within two minutes and were able to arrest the suspect nearby without further incident.
He was remanded into custody, according to police.
“I wish people could see the books for themselves, because once you see them, you can’t unsee it,” Fox said.
One example she points to is “Let’s Talk About It” by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan, a graphic novel that includes drawings of genitals and sex acts, as well as characters with genitals that differ from their biological sex. The authors describe sexual intimacy as a way to “feel good and bond with another person, whether it’s for a night or a lifetime.”
The book is available in several different schools in the province, even a private Christian school.
Fox is one of several parents across Canada who have raised concerns about books in school libraries they believe are age-inappropriate. Advocacy group Parents as First Educators (PAFE) says many parents have spoken out, but their concerns often go unanswered.
“We know that this is a widespread issue across Canada, because school boards across the country have age-inappropriate books with sexually explicit content,” Celine Traynor, director of communications for PAFE, told The Epoch Times.
“We often hear about this from parents and teachers, and unfortunately, complaints and concerns of parents are not always taken seriously.”
On May 26, Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides announced that the province will engage with the public to develop guidelines for school library book selection after finding “sexually explicit” content in several Edmonton and Calgary school libraries. The minister said a group of parents had approached him and provided evidence of books with such content in elementary school libraries. The province then conducted a two-month review and confirmed the parents’ findings, he said.
The books flagged by the province include content on sexual activity, nudity, and molestation, as well as profanity, self-harm, violence, and alcohol and drug use. Samples shared by officials show explicit sexual graphics involving both heterosexual and same-sex couples, as well as references to sex between people with large age differences.
Titles cited include graphic novels such as “Fun Home” by Alison Bechdel, “Blankets” by Craig Thompson, “Flamer” by Mike Curato, and “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe.
At the press conference, Nicolaides said he would show sample images to the media and the public, but noted they were “too graphic” to be shown at a livestream media event.
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The books in question were available to students in grades K–9 or high school within some schools overseen by the Edmonton Public School Board or the Calgary Board of Education, according to the province.
Soon after the announcement, the two school boards issued a joint
statement saying they were “deeply concerned” about the province’s “unilateral announcement.” They said both boards follow “established, rigorous processes” to ensure the material available to students is age-appropriate and relevant to their learning.
“We recognize that coming-of-age books, often available for students to choose independently, have historically been topics of discussion,” they said.
“We remain committed to ensuring students have access to library resources that support their learning and development, while upholding community values and established protocols.”
The Alberta NDP’s education critic, Amanda Chapman, has said that library materials need to be age-appropriate but that the decision shouldn’t be made by government.
Meanwhile, grassroots organization Action4Canada, which was involved in bringing the matter to Nicolaides
’s attention, described the province’s announcement as an important one to protect children. “We’re very, very grateful that morality and common sense are returning to our education system, and that we can take a step towards protecting our children from being exposed to graphic, pornographic, sexually explicit books and materials in the school system,” Tanya Gaw, founder of Action4Canada, said in an interview.
Gaw said the minister was “shocked” when her team showed him evidence of the sexually explicit material available at some schools in Alberta. “I’m so pleased that they had the integrity to do the research and then to put something in place,” she said.
Voicing Concerns
Former Manitoba trustee Christine Ronceray started sounding the alarm in September 2022 about books considered age-inappropriate for children in libraries. A mother of five, her journey started when her son took a book from a public library shelf that she described as containing mature content.
She raised the issue with the library board, then escalated it to local government officials, and later to the province’s MLAs, MPs, and senators, but nothing changed, she told The Epoch Times.
“Every MLA in our province is very much aware,” she said, adding that all MLAs “have been notified about these materials,” referring to books with sexually explicit content in school libraries.
Ronceray was among those who supported Fox when Fox brought her concerns to the school division after finding the book in her daughter’s room in 2023.
Fox wrote to then-Manitoba Education Minister Nello Altomare in November that year. Rhonda Shaw, executive director of the education department’s Learning and Outcomes Branch, responded on behalf of the minister. The selection of materials for school libraries is the responsibility of school divisions, Shaw replied in a Dec. 11, 2023, email, noting that while the province is responsible for curriculum development, it does not review or recommend resources for schools.
“An important role of professional staff in schools is to draw on their professional judgement to select materials that are developmentally appropriate for the children and families that they serve,” reads the email, reviewed by The Epoch Times.
It also said that all classroom learning experiences should “align with the Human Rights Code, anti-bullying and human diversity policies.”
Jennifer Friesen, another parent in Manitoba, wrote a letter to Premier Wab Kinew in May 2024 detailing her concerns about sexually graphic material being “increasingly” available in places like “libraries, classrooms, and on school grounds.”
“This material by its very nature elicits arousal as it introduces children to sexual acts, normalizes underage sexual activity as sexual exploration, and provides detailed depictions of child sexual abuse,” Friesen wrote in the letter, reviewed by The Epoch Times.
She pointed to the book “Let’s Talk About It,” a title also flagged by Fox, noting the second page of the book includes a statement that “the authors and publisher expressly disclaim responsibility for any adverse effects that may result from the use or application of the information contained in this book.”
Friesen concluded by asking the premier to amend the Public Schools Act and the Public Libraries Act to prohibit the material in question from being in places accessible to minors.
Altomare responded to Friesen in a letter dated June 11, 2024, saying the department was committed to ensuring students receive “comprehensive, scientifically accurate and developmentally appropriate health education information.”
“Dedicated staff within schools and school divisions use their professional judgement and expertise to select health education resources that meet the needs of their local communities,” Altomare wrote in the letter, provided to The Epoch Times. “This extends to the selection of resources found in school libraries.”
The Epoch Times reached out to the department to ask whether it has measures in place to ensure the age-appropriateness of materials in school libraries, but did not receive a response by publication time.
In one of her videos, Fox reads an excerpt from the book “Identical” by Ellen Hopkins that included a scene involving incest between a father and his daughter. The book is listed in the library catalogue of Westdale School, which serves students in Grades 6 to 8 in the Pembina Trails School Division. At the time of writing, the book is marked as checked out. The Epoch Times contacted the school division for comment but didn’t hear back by publication time.
Across Canada
Pierre Barns, a father of four from Abbotsford, B.C., has been calling attention to sexually explicit material in school libraries since 2021. His concerns began after he looked through some of the books displayed on a “Pride wall” at his daughters’ school.
“I started to look at the type of books that they had, and I realized some of the books they had were very explicit,” he told The Epoch Times.
Since then, he has taken it upon himself to compile and review books in school libraries he believes are not appropriate for minors. So far, he has
reviewed more than 30 titles and
found them in a number of jurisdictions across Canada, including B.C., Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, and Yukon. Two of the books flagged by the Alberta government are among the titles he has reviewed.
Barns says he has previously raised the issue to B.C.’s ministry of education but has not received a response.
“I even contacted the police, and the police told me to deal with the school board,” he said, adding that the school board told him to “call my MLA. Then my MLA at that time told me to contact my MP, and my MP told me to contact my city council.”
The Epoch Times asked the ministry in B.C. whether it has procedures in place to ensure age-appropriate materials in school libraries, but spokesperson Reece Mack said in a May 27 statement that the province “won’t be able to provide a comment at this time.”
The Quebec education ministry said school boards or school service centres have the freedom to develop their own guidelines for selecting materials in school libraries.
The provincial department also said that while it offers a resource with suggested titles for classroom use, “teachers remain free to choose books that are not listed on the site, in accordance with their professional autonomy.”
“The Ministry emphasizes the importance of offering a variety of resources selected using rigorous criteria, so that users can confidently make use of their school library,” ministry spokesperson Esther Chouinard told The Epoch Times in a May 28 statement.
She added that all the works listed in the resource for teachers are “based on a rigorous editorial policy that considers each book’s educational potential.”
The education ministries of Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut did not respond to requests for comment on the safeguards they have in place. Spokespeople for the ministers in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and the Yukon acknowledged receiving the request but did not provide a response by publication time.
The Newfoundland and Labrador education department said decisions on the appropriateness of school library materials rest upon school administrators or learning resource teachers.
“Within the K-12 public education system in Newfoundland and Labrador, learning resource teachers and/or school administrators are responsible for ensuring appropriateness of materials available to students in school libraries,” a spokesperson told The Epoch Times in a May 30 statement.
Challenges
Former Ontario teacher Carolyn Burjoski made headlines in 2022 after being silenced during a board meeting while she was raising concerns about the age-appropriateness of the content in some elementary school library books. She was removed from the board meeting, expelled from her classroom, and subjected to a disciplinary investigation.
The books she called attention to included depictions of gender identity and gender transition. The school board chair later
said he ended Burjoski’s presentation early because he believed her remarks violated the Ontario Human Rights Code. Burjoski has been involved in legal proceedings over the issue.
Burjoski says that while the concerns she raised were not about sexually explicit materials but about gender identity concepts she believes are mature content, she has heard from others and received information about “really explicit” books that are “pouring in” to schools.
“I think it crosses the line where we’re sexualizing children, or awakening their sexuality much younger—it’s inappropriate,” she told The Epoch Times.
“I think we’re breaking some laws and some good practices around protecting children and protecting childhood itself.”
Fox, for her part, received a cease and desist letter dated Jan. 21, written by a legal team retained by the Manitoba Teachers’ Society on behalf of its members at the Prairie Rose School Division, which oversees the school Fox’s daughter used to attend.
The legal representatives say Fox has been making “false and unfounded allegations” against the school, its employees, and the principal, including allegations that the division is “promoting pornography” or “encouraging” making such content available to children.
“Your conduct constitutes defamation, harassment, and unlawful interference with economic interests, among other things, all of which are actionable at law,” reads the letter, provided to The Epoch Times.
The Epoch Times contacted the Manitoba Teachers’ Society for comment but didn’t hear back by publication time.
In her video series, Fox reads excerpts from books she considers age-inappropriate, sometimes showing its illustrations and sharing which schools have these books. She says these materials amount to pornography and urges viewers to raise their concerns with their school division’s board of trustees.
Fox says letters such as the one from the teachers’ society have the impact of driving parents to “silence” on the issue. She adds that while she feels “discouraged,” she continues making videos to expose what she views as age-inappropriate content.
“There’s plenty of other schools in the province to review,” she said. “Educating the public has been the aim.”
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
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