There are 5000 customs officers under the Prohibited Importations Directorate. They are totally unaccountable bureaucrats who may freely interpret the law according to their own judgment and do not require a warrant.* They have been granted these far reaching powers by parliament. Once one officer declares something illegal, it remains so across Canada until someone undergoes the expense of taking the decision to court. Customs officials neither take responsibility for loss or damage of detained material, which often goes missing, nor can they be charged with abuse of power.

The following is a short list of some of the material that has been deemed illegal by Customs, the complete list is far too long to include herein:

Bad Attitude, an erotic magazine by, for and about lesbians, was seized and declared illegal. This was the first use of Butler Decision, which was particularly intended to protect women from the allegedly harmful effects of pornography on men.

Andrea Dworkin's books Women Hating and Pornography: Men Possessing Women were seized and declared illegal in Canada., even though it is one feminist's radical position against pornography.*

A Place I've Never Been Stories by David Leavitt was seized October 8th, 1993 on its way to Glad Day Book Shop and was declared illegal in Canada. Leavitt is a critically acclaimed American author who writes about gay life. He was scheduled to read at Toronto's International Festival of Authors on October 23rd, a mere two weeks after the seizure.*

Clips, Hungry Hearts, Shadows, Private Pleasures, Bathrooms Sluts & Suburban Dykes by Fatale Video and Erotic In Nature by Cristen Lee Ruthermund, were refused entry to Canada for the 1993 Toronto Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival.

Prowling By Night by Gwendolyn, a section of the National Film Board's Five Feminist Minutes series, was refused re-entry into Canada in May 1991.

Slam and Home Movies, two super 8 films by Bruce La Bruce were seized by Canada Customs upon re-entering Canada after being exhibited in New York City. They were later burned. Super 8 being diapositives (i.e. no negative) they no longer exist.

Research is a New York based periodical published once or twice a year, with articles on a specific subject or individual artist. It is now illegal in Canada.

Many Gay Erotic Drawings by the late Tom of Finland are determined illegal in Canada by Canada Customs. Presently the Tom of Finland Foundation keeps a library of erotic art, and an extensive laser disk documentation of works for distribution. The foundation hopes to build a museum which specializes in erotic art from around the world. It obviously won't be built in Canada.

"When Tom's Work was first published, homosexuals were thought to be imitation women, and spent their lives hiding in the shadows. Thirty five years later, gays were much more likely to be hard bodied sun-lovers in boots and leather, masculinity personified. Tom's influence in that direction was no accidental byproduct of his art. From the beginning, he consciously strove to install in his work a positive, up-beat openness. When asked if he was not a little embarrassed that all his art showed men having sex, he disagreed emphatically: "I work very hard to make sure that the men I draw having sex are proud men having happy sex!"*