Anthem in Arabic? TDSB had no need to apologize
Last Tuesday, Israel’s supporters and detractors alike acknowledged the 2nd anniversary of the Hamas attack that killed some 1 200 people and trapped another 251 hostages. Meanwhile in Gaza, Israel continued to mete out death as Democracy Now reported 8 Gazans killed Tuesday morning. Another 100 people died in the previous few days after Donald Trump asked Benjamin Netanyahu to halt the bombing campaign that to date has contributed to the genocide of at least 67 000 people and left 2 000 000 Gazans homeless – about 90 percent of the population.
But Education Minister Paul Calandra had weightier issues on his mind apparently when he heard on Tuesday that TDSB’s Earl Haig Secondary School had played Canada’s National anthem with an Arabic translation. Stop the presses! Calandra complained that it was hard to believe no one at the school noticed the significance of playing that national Anthem in Arabic on that “anniversary of the worst terrorist attack perpetrated against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.” The National Post, loath to let investigation get in the way of opinion, proclaimed that the Arabic version of ‘O Canada’ was “…not an act of inclusion. It was a calculated political statement.” It was an “unmistakeable act of defiance.” No need to go to the trouble of finding out what happened; the statement itself was fact enough.
But there are a couple of actual facts worth raising. October is Islamic Heritage Month at the TDSB, a time the board notes, “to reflect on the strength of faith and the power of purposeful action. It encourages learning about Islamic traditions and values while fostering a sense of hope and unity.” There are about 2 billion people of Islamic Heritage around the world. According to the site Encountering Muslims about 20 percent of them speak Arabic. So, it’s not unseemly that a school wishing to reach out to its Arabic speaking kids during Islamic Heritage Month might play a version of the National Anthem in their language. It’s a good idea, one that engages families rather than shutting them out. Contrary to the unsupported claim by both Calandra and the Post that singing in ‘O Canada’ in Arabic is unlawful, I was unable to find any section of the National Anthem Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. N-2) that says you must sing the National Anthem in only English or French.
Calandra calmed down a bit after the TDSB explained that playing the Arabic translation was inadvertent, a mistake. Earl Haig principal, Steve Yee apologized assuring us that it wasn’t done with “any ill intent” and recognized the “hurt that playing this version caused those in our community.”
For what did Principal Yee or the TDSB have to apologize? Arabic speakers aren’t responsible for what happened on October 7, 2023. Neither are Muslims. The only mistake made by anyone at the TDSB was an illusory political one: don’t be seen to be doing something that might appear to be an affront to people with power. I doubt that Paul Calandra could care less about the manner in which ‘O Canada’ is sung. But the timing of it presented a political opportunity to take a shot at a school board, already on its back foot, that supports Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI). At the same time, it enabled him to set parameters of acceptable expression on behalf of his government, one that is blissfully unconcerned about what it says or does.
Of course, no trustees in Toronto will oppose whatever Calandra says about inadvertent acts of DEI, because they’ve been sent home without pay for daring to present a balanced budget last spring. The TDSB is now run out of a dark tower by a supervisor who, from time to time, announces his decisions and a supine senior staff permanently unavailable for comment.
It’s the political mistake that is most significant to this story: regardless of common sense, fairness or desire to present real information, the political line is sacrosanct. Don’t say anything that might be regarded, however blandly, as contrary to it. The Tory government supports Israel. That was illustrated emphatically last Fall when it castigated Toronto teachers for taking students to an event in support of Indigenous people of Grassy Narrows at which anti-Israeli genocide protestors were present.
That was another phoney mistake for which the TDSB apologized in case any students might have experienced harm. Facts were immaterial as local media reported claims that students were forced to take part in an anti-Israeli demonstration, to chant anti-Jewish slogans and wear blue shirts to identify themselves as settlers or colonists. Retired Assistant Deputy Minister Pat Case chosen by the Ford government to look into the excursion, reported none of these things happened. Tellingly, he noted: “What is unfortunate is that, rather than seek facts before releasing a statement in response to the media coverage, the TDSB added fuel to the fire by apologizing for behaviours that were either exaggerated in social media or that did not in fact take place.”
We move bit by bit towards the hijacking of verifiable information by increasingly autocratic governments that make us question what mistakes we might have made. It makes responsible people hesitate and tend towards acquiescence and inaction. This is George Orwell’s nightmare world of “Nineteen Eighty-Four” beautifully rendered in Orwell: 2+2=5 by Director Raoul Peck. We worriedly look over our shoulders to check if we have breached right-wing political correctness defined by the very people who use falsehoods and misdirection to justify their power. We are ever ready to apologize not because, but in case we have made the mistake of honesty.
