Apparently a school in New Brunswick no longer sings the national anthem in the mornings. That’s fine with me — these brainwashing-of-students-into-blind-obedience techniques rub me the wrong way. This well-reasoned editorial in the National Post makes some interesting points. But the Conservative Party of Canada is all in a tizzy! Bring it back! Bring it back!
I don’t know why I’m on his mailing list, but I got a press release just now from the MP in that region, but all it does is show off his ignorance:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2009CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA CALLS FOR RETURN OF O’CANADA AT NEW BRUNSWICK SCHOOL
OTTAWA – Today Conservative Party Member of Parliament Mike Allen (Tobique – Mactaquac) made the following statement in the House of Commons:
“Mr. Speaker, Canadians were outraged to learn that the Principal of a New Brunswick school banned the playing and singing of O’Canada. Apparently he wanted to be “inclusive”.
Mr. Speaker, this is political correctness run wild. There is nothing more inclusive than O’Canada. It is a song that belongs to each and every Canadian. The singing of O’Canada is an expression of our collective pride in being citizens of one of the most prosperous and peaceful nations the world has ever known.
Mr. Speaker, I hope we all can join together and urge the Principal to reverse his decision and bring back O’Canada.”
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For more information contact:
Ryan Sparrow
Director of Communication
Conservative Party of Canada
(613) 755-2000
Sorry dude, it’s not O’Canada, because it’s not Irish. It’s O Canada, with a space, not an apostrophe.
I hope this is embarassing for Mr. Allen, and I look forward to the followup “correction” press release. Perhaps instead of schoolkids, it should be Members of Parliament who need to sing the national anthem a little bit more. Hey, why not email him and suggest that! His email address is AllenM@parl.gc.ca.
(Waving flag graphic from 3DFlags.com.)
Grant Hamilton
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JUEL