N.B. school silences O Canada

The Boyd sisters have been raised singing the national anthem every day, but a New Brunswick school has silenced their morning ritual.

These days, the only time Julia Boyd, 11, gets to belt out the anthem's lyrics is at monthly school assemblies, other special occasions or at home with her older sister Kara.

That's because singing O Canada is no longer a daily morning event at Belleisle Elementary. The school's principal has dropped it in response to concerns from other parents.

"It makes me sad, upset," Julia said. "I didn't feel very good about it."

Julia said the national anthem is one way that she feels closer to the Canadian soldiers who are serving overseas.

'I like singing O Canada every day, and it reminds me of the troops that are over there.' Julia Boyd

The girls' cousin, Pte. David Robert Greenslade, was killed in Afghanistan in April 2007. Greenslade was one of six Canadian soldiers killed and two others injured when their armoured vehicle hit a roadside bomb west of Kandahar City.

"I like singing O Canada every day, and it reminds me of the troops that are over there," she said.

For Susan Boyd, the girls' mother, the anthem is one of the most important lessons for students.

"And not only sing the anthem but talk about the anthem so the children will understand what it means, where it came from," Boyd said. "What all the words [to the anthem] mean so they will know and take pride, and they should take pride."

The change started more than a year ago, but Boyd said she didn't find out until Julia started forgetting some of the lyrics.

Boyd has been speaking with Zoe Watson, the District 6 superintendent, and Conservative MP Greg Thompson and others about this and she is starting a petition to try to change the school's decision.

Cancelling anthem a delicate decision

Whether to sing the national anthem appears to be a delicate matter in the small southern New Brunswick community.

Erik Millett, the school's principal, said he made the decision partly to accommodate parents who didn't wanttheir children taking part in the daily anthem. He would not say why the parents didn't want their kids taking part, citing privacy reasons.

"We try to balance the needs of every student, and we want every student to feel welcome in our school," Millett said.

"If we need to make some accommodations or exceptions, then we'll try to put those in place regardless of what the issue is."

Nearly all elementary students in the district sing the anthem every day. But that decision is up to each school.

For his school, Millett said this change was part of a package of reforms designed to make the school feel more inclusive and to allow the school to run more smoothly.

He said kids who were arriving late on school buses were disrupting the anthem as it was piped in over the public address system.

Now, Millett said it's more special for students to have the anthem sung at the new "celebrate assemblies," where they can all stand together and sing O Canada.

He said it's a larger issue for administrators, trying to decide what the appropriate balance is in respecting the needs of all students.

The school principal said maybe the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission or Education Minister Kelly Lamrock should speak to administrators about what is reasonable accommodation because they don't really know.

Millett said he intends to tell parents more about the issue in a newsletter at the beginning of February.

Hockeygame teaching Canada's anthem

Annette Pollock has a grandson at the school and she also counts herself as among those upset about the kids' inability to sing the national anthem daily inside the classroom.

"He goes to hockey. It's pretty bad when you have to wait for hockey to teach him O Canada instead of in the schools," she said of her grandson.

"I'm sure he'll learn it. They play it at every game."

Susan Boyd isn't giving up the fight to bring the national song back to the classrooms in Belleisle Elementary, however.

She said she's hoping that she and other parents can convince the school to bring back the daily anthem.