BURST
A Toronto high school has been issued a rebuke from Ontario’s Minister of Education, after he learned that it played the national anthem in Arabic on Tuesday morning, the second anniversary of the Hamas terror attack on Israel that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and resulted in more than 240 hostages, of which some 48 remain in captivity .
Earl Haig Secondary School is a public school near Yonge and Sheppard in north Toronto, with about 2,000 students. It is also home to the Claude Watson Arts Program, which opened in 1982 and offers artistic as well as academic education.
“It is hard to believe that no one recognized the significance of this day, where the world recognizes the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack perpetrated against the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Paul Calandra, the Minister of Education , released a statement on social media Tuesday evening. “This further underscores that school boards should be focused on creating safe learning environments for all students, never at the expense of one community over another,” he wrote.
See my statement below about the singing of the national anthem at a Toronto school this morning. pic.twitter.com/pma1tvwDru
— Paul Calandra (@PaulCalandra) October 8, 2025
Media reports Tuesday indicated that the school broadcast O Canada in Arabic on that morning over its PA system.
“They have a CD that includes O Canada in English, French, Métis, Farsi and Arabic. Today, they decided to play the Arabic one,” a source at the school told Juno News.
The source added that the principal then made a brief announcement. “He said it was a tough day for our community and encouraged students to reach out to friends if they needed support. He didn’t mention October 7 specifically.”
Calandra said he was “disappointed” that he had to reach out to the school and remind them of their responsibilities.
“The federal National Anthem Act sets out that the official lyrics are in English or French, and if the school boards choose not to represent our national symbols and federal legislation, then I will take action,” he added.
Kevin Vuong, former Member of Parliament for Toronto’s Spadina–Fort York riding (he did not run in the most recent election) also took to social media, saying: “This was, at best, insensitive, and more than likely intentionally meant to cause distress & harm to their Jewish students.” He added, referring to whoever made the decision: “That person should be fired.”
Someone at Earl Haig Secondary School thought today, #Oct7th, was the day to play our 🇨🇦 national anthem in Arabic.
— Kevin Vuong 🇨🇦🎗️ (@KevinVuongxMP) October 7, 2025
This was, at best, insensitive, and more than likely intentionally meant to cause distress & harm to their Jewish @TDSB students.
That person should be fired.
Earl Haig’s website lists a Jewish Students Union (JSU) among its clubs, and a contact for Jewish Family and Child Services in the English version of its parent handbook, which is also available in Chinese, Korean and Farsi. Media reports say that approximately 100 of the school’s students are Jewish.
National Post has reached out to the school, its principal and the JSU for further information.
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