Tories call for daily singing of ‘O Canada’

WINNIPEG — A recent surge in Canadian pride has prompted the Manitoba Legislative Assembly to review its daily protocols and consider mandating the singing of “O Canada.”

Citing U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to national sovereignty and economic security, the Opposition Tories proposed MLAs take action to express their shared patriotism on Thursday.

“We expect our children to sing ‘O Canada’ at schools. We expect Jets fans to sing it at every game. If we expect ‘O Canada’ from Manitobans, Manitobans have a right to expect it from us,” Progressive Conservative MLA Rick Wowchuk told the house.

Wowchuk tabled a resolution to request an internal committee look at playing the national anthem on every sitting day after the opening prayer and land acknowledgment.

MPs sing the national anthem every Wednesday when Parliament Hill is in session.

A change in provincial proceedings — which Wowchuk described as “a permanent symbol of collective Canadian pride” — would take one minute and 14 seconds out of an MLA’s day, he said.

His resolution passed unanimously, but not without a heated debate in which members of the NDP caucus questioned the timing of the proposal and their colleagues’ sincerity.

Radisson MLA Jelynn Dela Cruz noted that few members of the official Opposition showed up to a government-organized Canadian pride rally that was held on the legislature grounds Sunday.

“That member opposite and their failed government had seven and a half years to get this done. He had seven and a half years to open up his government phone and use it for something productive — like sending one email requesting this to the rules committee,” Dela Cruz said.

Premier Wab Kinew was absent from the formal vote on Thursday, but he expressed support for the proposal at an unrelated event.

“We sing ‘O Canada’ all the time — we just did it on Sunday,” government house leader Nahanni Fontaine told reporters when she was asked about the subject before it was officially introduced.

Fontaine suggested the PCs raise the matter directly to the rules committee. She accused her colleagues of wasting time with a toothless resolution that distracts from debating legislation and other proceedings.

Earlier this session, the NDP introduced legislation that would do away with old regulations about religious exercises and playing “God Save the King” in schools.

Bill 40 would require boards to establish formal policies respecting land acknowledgments and replace regulations related to singing “O Canada” with obligations enshrined in the Public Schools Act.

Allen Mills, a retired professor of political science at the University of Winnipeg, weighed in.

“At this point, the greatest accusation that a politician can make of another politician is that you are slow to stand up to Trump.”

The results of a recent public opinion poll conducted by Leger Marketing found 86 per cent of participants indicated they were proud to be Canadian in March.

That’s up from 80 per cent of respondents surveyed in November, long before Trump returned to the Oval Office, where he has mused about turning Canada into the 51st state.

The president of the Association for Canadian Studies, which commissioned those surveys, said the U.S. administration’s attempts to “tariff us into submission” have sparked an emotional reaction and reminded citizens of what they have.

For Jack Jedwab, the revival of patriotism is “a long-overdue response,” following a decade of societal reflection on the historical atrocities that have taken place across the country.

“There’s a feeling that a pendulum of sorts, with respect to the introspection of Canada, has swung to the point where we’re losing sight of the reasons people come here and make it their home and value the country,” Jedwab said.

» Winnipeg Free Press, with files from Carol Sanders and Gabrielle Piche