Iqaluit parents vote to keep O Canada in schools

Parents in Iqaluit want students in schools to keep singing O Canada.

Out of the 279 parents who responded to the Iqaluit District Education Authority survey, 210 voted to keepthe tradition.

The survey was sent out the last week ofMarch. It askedthree questions:

• Shouldthe anthem be sung at schools every morning?

• Should the anthem be sung only on special occasions, such as Remembrance Day?

• Should the anthem not be sung at all?

"We had a couple emails from parents that concerned us as board members," said Doug Workman, chairperson of the Iqaluit District Education Authority. These emails are what prompted the survey.

"We wanted to find out as a board, is this a really, really big issue," said Workman.

The education authorityhas no plans to change the policy around how the schools use the anthem. It will be up to the school principals to decide what they want to do with the results.

Workman said some of the education authority's board members felt that the number of responses was low. There are 1,330 students registered under the district education authority.

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Some parents commentedthey believe the anthem should be sung, but students should also be taught the colonial history behind the song. Other respondents said the anthem should be sung in three languagesEnglish, French and Inuktitut.

The results of the survey will be posted on the Iqaluit District Education Authority website. Workman said he invites parents with questions or concerns to come to the next board meeting.

Anthem protest

The national anthem became an issue of debate in Iqaluit schools in September, after 12-year-old Miles Brewster was sent to the principal's office at Aqsarniit Middle School for refusing to stand for the national anthem.

Brewster was protesting against the facthis class was not discussing the meaning behind Orange Shirt Day, which is dedicated to survivors of residential school. Hisgrandfather had experienced abuse at a residential school in Inuvik, N.W.T.

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The Nunavut Department of Education is planning on introducing the topic of residential schools andreconciliation to the curriculum before Grade 10 by 2023.

Currently, the topic is first addressed inGrade 10 social studies. The department of education said the subject will be addressed in an age-appropriate manner involving lots of input from Nunavummiut.

Complete responses

Aqsarniit Ilinniarvik School

36 respondents

34 voted to keep O Canada in school

2 voted to remove O Canada

Nakasuk School

72 respondents

56 voted to keep O Canada in school

16 voted to remove O Canada

Inuksuk High School

101 respondents

64 voted to keep O Canada in school

37 voted to remove O Canada

Joamie School

70 respondents

56 voted to keep O Canada in school

2 voted to remove O Canada

9 voted to sing the anthem only on special occasions, such as Remembrance Day

3 voted to have O Canada sung every morning and on special occasions