By Teresa Latchford

The bill brought forward by Cambridge MPP Gerry Martiniuk, dealing with the sex offender registry and electronic sexual material, has made it through the first reading. But it infringes on the intellectual rights of individuals, the Ontario Library Association argued.

The Newmarket and Aurora libraries are standing strong with the message sent out by the Ontario and Canadian library associations that it is the duty of public libraries to uphold Canada's Bill of Rights and Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by providing access to all expressions of knowledge, creativity and intellectual activity.

This includes material that, in some cases, would be considered unconventional, unpopular or unacceptable by society, according to the released statement.

"The problem is filters can block useful information," Newmarket Public Library acting CEO Linda Peppiatt said. "If someone searched for information on breast cancer, the filter will pick up the word breast and block the content."

Instead of blocking content, both public libraries have policies and procedures in place to deter the viewing of inappropriate material at public computer stations. Each library user must sign an Internet agreement that outlines the expected code of conduct while surfing the Web. The agreement clearly states users agree not to use the Internet access to view illegal material including child pornography or view threatening, abusive, harassing, vulgar, obscene, racially hateful or inappropriate sexual material.

"It is right in there that anyone who doesn't follow the rules of the contract will have their Internet privileges revoked or suspended," Aurora Public Library CEO Louise Proctermaio said.

While both libraries host safe web surfing workshops from time to time, post tips for using online search engines and have the computers placed in a prominent and public area, both maintain it is the responsibility of parents to monitor children accessing the Internet in the library.

The Aurora library also provides a mix of computer labs, with half having filters so parents can direct their children to use the computers that block access to inappropriate material.

"There is no 100-per-cent guarantee the filter will block everything," Ms Proctermaio pointed out.

The libraries oppose the proposed legislation, arguing it is their service to the public to resist any attempt by an individual or group to curtail access to information in any form.

On the other hand, the York Region and York Catholic district school boards have the responsibility to protect students predominantly under the age of 18, so neither board opposes to the proposed law. In fact, both are already in compliance with what is being proposed.

"Our students are required to sign an appropriate use policy," public board senior IT services manager Paulla Bennett said.

Both boards use technology to block inappropriate Internet content, including the use of social networking sites such as Facebook and MSN, which are not used for educational enhancement in the classroom.

The public board uses software that blocks material by category rather than keywords, including pornography, gaming, gambling, hate, racism and advertising, Ms Bennett said.

"The software we are using is smart enough to recognize educational material and will allow access to the sites that contain it," she said.

There are instances when the filters will block a legitimate site, such as the Dove website, which a teacher may want to use while teaching females about body image, but school principals and IT staff at the board office have the authorization to manually unblock any website.

"There have been some instances where secondary students have complained about this being an infringement on their educational rights," she admitted. "But we ask them to send us the sites and we review them, but, in most cases, we don't hear back."

If a student gets around the filtering software and view inappropriate material at school, it is the policy of both boards to revoke the student's Internet privileges.

"Unfortunately, this is necessary. It is the reality," Newmarket-Aurora MPP Frank Klees said. "We have a responsibility to provide our children a safe place to learn."

Parents know how accessible this kind of material is since the Internet is not regulated, he added.

When parents drop off their children at school or a public library, it is expected appropriate steps have been taken to make this material unavailable, he added.

He commends the facilities that have taken it upon themselves to put these measures in place, but notes the legislation would ensure all facilities across the province would use the same safety measures.

"I don't believe it can be overkill when you are talking about the protection of our children," he said.