Local francophone schools embrace anthem
Published Saturday November 7th, 2009
O Canada | Other districts ask for exemption
Some francophone schools across the province are asking for an exemption from singing the national anthem daily, but local francophone school officials say their students have embraced making the anthem a regular part of their week.
"We play O Canada every morning and we feel our students and teachers enjoy having it," said Jean-Paul Demers, vice-principal of Ecole Sainte-Anne.
"There's been no pressure from anyone at our school to do anything different from what we're doing right now. Playing it daily is working well for us."
About 40 francophone schools have reportedly asked to be exempted from a new regulation set by the Education Department.
The regulation, which requires every school to play the national anthem daily, was set by the department after a school in Springfield caused a national debate when it stopped playing the anthem after two families complained about it.
Parents are allowed to exempt their children from singing the national anthem and the regulation gives schools the right to abstain as long as an alternative is provided.
Valerie Kilfoil, a spokeswoman for the Education Department, said some schools have been permitted to make other arrangements.
But she said that's not up to the department.
Schools must appeal to their respective district education councils to be exempted and they must propose another activity that promotes the spirit of patriotism.
"We are definitely not asking for an exemption at our school," said Tammy Akenley-Cyr, principal of Ecole Arc-en-Ciel in Oromocto.
"The national anthem is very important in a military town like ours.
"The kids all feel very patriotic here. Most of their parents are in the military, so they want to sing it."
Akenley-Cyr said her students weren't always asked to stand for O Canada each day.
A few years ago, they sang it once a week and at special assemblies.
But when the regulation was announced over the summer, she said, the students had no problem hearing the anthem daily.
"It wasn't a big deal for us to switch to doing it every day," she said.
"It was something we used to do in years past anyway, so it was an easy change. And, like I said, it's important to our students anyway."
Schools in districts 5, 9 and 11 have all asked for exemptions.
To date, none in the Fredericton area have.
"At the beginning of the year, we did hold a vote with our staff to see what they wanted to do about the anthem and whether they wanted an exemption," said Tanya Roy, principal at Ecole des Batisseurs in Fredericton.
"They didn't want to be exempted, so we're still singing it daily and it's going very well."
Demers said he understands why some schools might want a change from the same song every day.
But he said it's not something his school is pursuing at this time.
"There might be a time where we'll want to seek permission to play something other than the version of the anthem we have now, and we have thought about getting our students to sing it for a recording so we could play that," he said.
"But when you see how well the students respect it - right down to stopping for the anthem when they are stuck in the hallway after being late for class - it's unlikely we'd ever ask for an exemption ... maybe just a modification."
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Hey Bruins Fan Still Hoping.
You should have said:
They want equal rights, They want to have everything the Anglophones have...and MORE.They're special, distinct.