To Sing or Not to Sing: But is That the Question?

A school principal in Springfield, New Brunswick (too bad his name isn’t Skinner) is making international headlines today and has sparked a national debate over the singing of O Canada in schools across the country.

Erik Millett, principal of Belleisle elementary school, is on the defence today as a decision he made over a year ago to do away with the daily sing-along has caused quite the flag-flap, and not just in Canada. Media outlets in both the U.S and in Europe have picked up this story, but why such a to-do over a daily tradition that is seen by many as un-necessary and outdated?

Ultimately it comes down to how you handle a situation, and Mr. Millett has provided us a Class A example of how not to make a statement. His response to the whole situation involved of a variety of different responses, not entirely consistent which each other.
Mr. Millett says that in 2007 a “couple of parents” had voiced their concern about the singing of the anthem and that: “We try to balance the needs of every student, and we want every student to feel welcome in our school.” Mr. Millett has also suggested that the song is “distracting” to students (could someone please explain that to me?) and that it takes too much time out of morning classes. Mr. Millett also went on to say that the playing of O Canada through a low quality PA system doesn’t do it justice and that the song loses its meaning when heard everyday. He also added by reserving the playing of O Canada for events such as assemblies helps to preserve its meaning.

At the risk of sounding irreverent and unpatriotic, I would suggest that the issue of singing the national anthem daily is not front and centre here. I can remember hearing O Canada at school played through the PA system and can’t say it was the most patriotic feeling in the world. The fumbling of cassette tapes, the clicking of the microphone on and off and the occasional “Due to technical difficulties there will be no O Canada today.” You knew when you heard this someone had forgotten to rewind the tape or someone had lost it altogether. But in a lot of ways it is not the a question of whether or not the song should be sung at schools every morning but instead about a personal agenda expressed inapproprietly. Mr. Millett claims he did away with the anthem singing because of the complaints of a couple of parents; complaints which he refuses the elaborate on; but what about the hundreds of students and parents who didn’t complain? Who are these parents to make them so powerful? For myself it doesn’t really add up. Ultimately it comes down Mr. Millett’s own values and beliefs. I’m sure he wouldn’t have been so quick to listen to these parents if he didn’t himself have some qualms with the anthem himself.

In actuality Mr. Millett did nothing wrong in doing away with the morning tradition. The law says it is up to each school’s principal to decide if O Canada will be played or not. The big to-do has to do with his motivation and the lingering sense that what he is saying is not completely the truth. If he had come out and had a story and stuck to it he might have saved him face, but his dithering on the issue and conflicting stories have left him looking more like a politician. (which he coincidently is as Mr. Millett has previously run for the Green Party)

Whether the national anthem should be sung or not (many countries, like Sweden for example, would think this practice unusual and over-patriotic) it now seems that Millett has more to worry about than “a couple of parents.” Is this negative press justified? Probably not; but one can’t help but think Mr.Millett brought it on himself.

Will Grassby

Check out http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/01/28/nb-o-canada.html?ref=rss for the full story.