1980-1989
     
  • The Wendy King Story by Robert Wilson.  This book contains transcripts of conversations between former prostitute Wendy King and one of her clients, John Farris, the provincial Chief Justice.  After the RCMP discovered Farris' relationship to King and the Judicial Council of Canada began an investigation into his conduct, Farris resigned.  In 1980, when the book was released for sale, Justice E. Davie Fulton of the BC Supreme Court, a former federal justice minister, commenced a libel action against Robert Wilson, King, and the book's publisher.  Bookstores in Vancouver received letters from Fulton's lawyers threatening legal action if they sold the book.  The books were withdrawn, but the publisher rented a vacant commercial space, called it "The Wendy King Bookstore", and sold the book from this location.  [Book Ends Secrecy on Judge Who Quit, Globe and Mail, 20 December 1980, p. 11]
  • Nobody Has to be a Kid Forever by Hila Colman and Blubber and Then Again, Maybe I Won't both by Judy Blume. These 3 books were recalled from Castlegar elementary schools after complaints from a mother that they were "soft-core pornography" and "filth". The mother went on to say that "I think there's something seriously wrong with our society if nobody thinks there's anything wrong with these books." Janice Douglas, coordinator of children's services at the Vancouver Public Library said the books belong to a "teenage problem" genre and that "many parents moved from Treasure Island to the adult novel and are unaware of the teenage problem genre until their kids bring one of the books home." [Schools Recall 'Teen' Books, Vancouver Sun 25 February 1981, p. A10]
  • Newsweek.  Safeway grocery stores in British Columbia did not carry the June 7, 1982 issue of Newsweek because it depicted a topless woman on the cover.  Safeway in the United States had also banned this issue.  [Safeway Drops Newsweek Nude, The Vancouver Sun 7 June 1982]
  • In 1983, a poetry reading by John Lane was cancelled by the Prince George public library because a swear word was found in one of his poems.  [Prince George Citizen 25 October 1986]
  • Boys and Sex by Wardell Baxter Pomeroy.  Challenged in 1984 by Julia Serup, a parent of a child in a Prince George school, due to its content of "deviant sexual activity."  The book was removed from the school library in April 1984, but was later returned.  [Peace Arch News (White Rock) 14 January 1995] 
  • Girls and Sex by Wardell Baxter Pomeroy.  Prince George Parent Julia Serup also challenged Girls and Sex in June 1984.  Serup had been visiting the library since 1983 to review the books available.  The school then gave her limited access to the library, but prevented her from borrowing the books.  She sued that this was against the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but the courts ruled that her rights were not infringed. [The Vancouver Sun 16 June 1987]
  • Breaking Up by Norma Klein. In October 1984, the Vernon School Board ordered the removal of all copies of this book from junior secondary school because parents objected to references to female masturbation and lesbianism, and descriptions of male sex organs and sex scenes. [Book Pulled from School Following Sex Complaint, Vancouver Sun 11 October 1984, p. B7]
  • Penthouse.  The December 1984 issue was banned by the Canadian government because it contained bondage photos of  women.  [Women Against Censorship, ed. by Varda Burstyn, p. 1]
  • Talking Back.  In 1985, this sexual education booklet was created by high school students as a summer work project through the Terrace Women's Centre.  The Terrace School Board decided that it lacked "educational value" and prohibited it from being distributed in schools. [Terrace Book Ban Perplexes Teenage Authors of Study, The Vancouver Sun 18 September 1985]
  • In 1985, one year after publisher New Star Books released New Reality: Politics of Restraint in BC, partially funded by the Canada Council and BC cultural content lottery revenues, the company applied to the BC government for funding of other books. They were refused on the grounds that lottery funds would no longer subsidize books on "economic, political and social history and comment." The publisher felt that funding was denied because New Reality had been critical of the Social Credit government.  Two years later, before the next election, this lottery fund rule was revoked. [Censorship Alive and Kicking, The News (Burnaby) 4 March 1992]
  • "In 1986, New Press put out an unflattering biography of wealthy entrepreneur Jim Pattison [Pattison: Portrait of a Capitalist Superstar by Russell Kelly] which was heavily marketed in supermarkets.  In 1986, the book sold 22,000 copies (the equivalent of two million in the U.S.) until Pattison bought out Vancouver's magazine service industry and the biography's main distribution source.  Needless to say, the new Great Pacific News no longer carried the book." [Censorship Alive and Kicking, The News (Burnaby) 4 March 1992]
  • In 1986, a booklet was removed from the Aussie Bookstore at Expo in Vancouver because it showed women's breasts. [Book-Ban Brigade is Back, The Province 20 July 1986] 
  • In 1986, a lay preacher complained to Coquitlam public library that a children's picture book contained "vampirism".[Protecting the Right to Read, Coquitlam Now 2 March 1994]
  • The Advocate.  Banned by Canada Customs in 1986 enroute to Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium.  [Little Sister's Loses Customs Appeal, The Vancouver Sun 25 June 1998, p. B1]
  • Dzlerhons: Mythology of the Northwest Coast by Anne Cameron.  Seized on June 4, 1986 by Canada Customs while being imported by Little Sisters.  One story of this collection is the retelling of a legend where a woman marries a bear and has two children.  Customs seized it on the basis that it contained "bestiality"; they later released it. [Customs Releases ëBear' Book, Globe and Mail 26 June 1986]
  • Penthouse, Playboy, and Playgirl.  In June 1986, the retail chains 7-11 and London Drugs banned these magazines from their stores in BC.  [Book Ban Brigade is Back, The Province 20 July 1986]
  • The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Robin Muller.  In February 1987, there was a demonstration outside the New Westminster Public Library during the writer-illustrator's talk to students in grades two and four.  Protesters felt the book taught about witchcraft and black magic.  Due to the protest, he chose another book to talk about.  [Foe of Occult Raps Talk by Writer, The Vancouver Sun 20 February 1987, p. C5]
  • Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein and Edmund White.  Prohibited by Canada Customs, until it was declared not obscene by the courts on May 3, 1987. [Freedom to Read Week Kit 1996 A Chronology of Freedom of Expression in Canada, Book and Periodical Council, p. 4] 
  • The Five Chinese Brothers by Claire Huchet Bishop and Kurt Weise. In 1987 this book (which was originally published in 1938) was removed from use in Vancouver schools because it was seen as stereotypical and derogatory. Eric Wong, the School Board's consultant on race relations defended the decision by saying that, "the time we have our students in schools, we role-model a lot of things. Education isn't just random, you have to organize it. If you use a book like that, it's going to have a profound effect on children, not just on the majority group, but also on the minority group." [Banned: Some Throw Book at Censors, Vancouver Sun 16 June 1987, p. B1]
  • Wheels for Walking by Sandra Richmond. This book about an 18 year-old girl who becomes quadriplegic after a ski accident was removed from Abbotsford schools in 1987 because it uses strong language and has sexual content. [Banned: Some Throw Book at Censors, Vancouver Sun 16 June 1987, p. B1]
  • Earth Child Series by Jean Auel.  In 1988, books in this series were removed from the Williams Lake School (District 27) library due to passages that were felt to be sexually explicit. [Peace Arch News (White Rock) 27 February 1988]
  • Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer.  In 1988, a request was made to the Central Okanagan School Board to remove this book from secondary school libraries, on a charge that it was pornographic. The Board refused. [Out With the Old, Not Porno, The Province 25 March 1988, p. 35]
  • For All the Wrong Reasons by John Neufield.  Removed by the Central Okanagan School Board.  A reason given was that it was "dated, not pornographic."  [Out With the Old, Not Porno, The Province 25 March 1988, p. 35]
  • Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie.  Canadian Customs placed an import block on this novel, six months after it had been for sale in Canada.  They decided that it was not hate literature as defined by the Criminal Code, and rescinded the ban within 48 hours.  Canada became the only western democracy to detain this book. Coles bookstores pulled all the copies of this novel from their shelves.   [Rushdie's Book Hard to Find, Nanaimo Daily Free Press, 22 February 1989; The Vancouver Sun, 22 February 1989; Freedom to Read Week Kit 1996 A Chronology of Freedom of Expression in Canada, Book and Periodical Council, p. 4; Dixon Deplores Book Seizures, The Vancouver Sun, 22 February 1989, p. B8]
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