OTTAWA - The wrath of the dominion is raining down on a tiny elementary school in rural New Brunswick - a year and a half after it stopped playing O Canada on its morning public address routine.

Say's principal of Belleisle Elementary School in Springfield, N.B. Erik Millett: "It's not up to me, as a school administrator, to subject kids to something their parents don't want them exposed to. I have to protect the minority rights as well as the majority rights."

The anthem's elimination was one of several changes, he said, that made for a more productive start to the school day. The singing of O Canada was reserved for monthly assemblies.

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What could possibly be wrong with standing at attention for a few minutes to sing your national anthem? This school surely won't turn out any great patriots.

Maybe we just need to replace the word God with whoever the current prime minister is

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
Harper keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Um, since when has O Canada NOT been played at school every morning?????

Screw that, it's the national anthem play it as it was intended to be played. WTF is wrong with some people in this country? Is this principal ashamed to be Canadian? Only in Canada we stop playing the national anthem to not offend minorities. Complete BS if you ask me.

The minorities can go stand in the hall if they hate the anthem so much and sing their homelands anthem.

And BTW, I'm an immigrant myself so I don't get what the problem is. If I travel overseas I wouldn't expect them to stop singing their anthem in my presence because it may offend me. On the contrary, good for them for be patriotic about their country.

We have a lot to learn from the US in this regards.

I think this thread ties into the "Are Canadians too accommodating to other religious and cultural beliefs?" thread bigtime. And the answer is "yes, we sure as f**k are!"

grumpyrom wrote:Screw that, it's the national anthem play it as it was intended to be played. WTF is wrong with some people in this country? Is this principal ashamed to be Canadian? Only in Canada we stop playing the national anthem to not offend minorities. Complete BS if you ask me.

The minorities can go stand in the hall if they hate the anthem so much and sing their homelands anthem.

And BTW, I'm an immigrant myself so I don't get what the problem is. If I travel overseas I wouldn't expect them to stop singing their anthem in my presence because it may offend me. On the contrary, good for them for be patriotic about their country.

We have a lot to learn from the US in this regards.

1000% agreed!

EdWin wrote:I think this thread ties into the "Are Canadians too accommodating to other religious and cultural beliefs?" thread bigtime. And the answer is "yes, we sure as f**k are!"

It also relates to the teachers' thread...
The first thing that went through my mind was "WTF is this guy thinking?" Parents wanted it back but he refused.

Imo, he clearly is on the wrong side of this and as such, I question his judgement. Not only in this matter, but wonder what else he's out of touch with.

How did a dumbass like this become a Principal?

"It's not up to me, as a school administrator, to subject kids to
something their parents don't want them exposed to. I have to protect
the minority rights as well as the majority rights."

Two parents didn't want their kids involved in the national anthem (out of 200+). I can't even begin to think why they would object.

The real clown here is the principal. He needs to be replaced.

Cut off all funding to the school until he agress, bus the kids to other schools. He will soon see who he actually needs to listen to.

He should be fired along with the people that appointed him.

JTF wrote:
How did a dumbass like this become a Principal?

I don't think intelligence is high up on the list in choosing a principal.

It all boils down to those pesky rights we have now , but if you can't stop for this . In the morning and sing it, you should not be here go home or stay home .

And what about the lord's prayer? Can we bring that back too?

No, but we could bring back 'God Save teh Queen'. >.<

As the story unfolds, the Principal ran in the last election as a candidate for the Green Party. Tell me that there isn't some political agenda behind his decision!!

I'm an atheist and having god in the anthem doesn't offend me at all.

It seems to me that people are best not to practise their culture or their believes as they all are offensive to someone. Just sit in a corner and forget every thing you know and become a stone .

Nah. Hold on and cherish and celebrate your beliefs. That is why Canada is so great. Just stop forcing them on me. If I celebrate Christmas don't force ME to celebrate the holidays. Canada is what it is. Enjoy the freedoms but quit demanding more for every cultural and sexual and religious dogma.

Be Canadian!

From Saturday's Globe and Mail — The clot of angry e-mails plugging Zoe Watson's inbox is growing by the hour.

They arrive by the hundreds from every corner of the country, all with a singular message: Bring back the anthem.
“I can't keep up with them,” said Ms. Watson, school superintendent of the New Brunswick district that includes Belleisle Elementary in Springfield, where a decision to cancel daily renditions of O Canada has touched off a patriotic uproar.

That protest is having an effect. Ms. Watson said Friday she has asked Belleisle's principal to rescind his anthem policy.

“I'm asking him to reconsider,” she said.

But the rationale for their outrage is largely unfounded. A cursory survey of schools across the country shows that Belleisle is one of many where students don't sing the national anthem daily.

I guess the difference is most Canadians were unaware the national anthem was not being played in our schools every morning. Consequently we have this:

In a poll released last year, the Dominion Institute found that just 53 per cent of Canadian (sic) could recite the first line of O Canada.

I am not surpised by too few know the anthem since we screwed around with it to appease the french , and now we don't even take our hats off for it . And get offended by it being played in our schools, great Canada step in the dodo again .

Somewhere in the Canadian Law books or quite possible the Constitution that was resigned in 1982 I thought there was a point that if there were a gathering of more than 200 people in a public place (school, arena, stadium. etc) that the national anthem must be performed. I remember that piece from when I took history class back in the dark ages of high school. I know that doesn't happen at concerts but in schools it most definitely should happen. Just another example of how the minority are allowed to rule the majority in this country.

Yes yet they call them selves patriotic , just don't put Canada first.

Ummm...for all of you praising the US....you can stop now.

They stopped playing the US Anthem & doing the Pledge of Allegiance before I graduated from High School...20 years ago.

There are still a few schools who do them (mostly in the south)...but as a rule...if it's a Democratic Party state...then they stopped...to kiss the butts of the minorities and whiners.

Its reported in todays Free Press that the local school board has ordered the playing of O Canada at Bellisle Elementary School in New Brunswick.

Score: Good Guys - 1 Assholes - 0