Trio of education bills includes bid to scrap God Save the King requirement in Manitoba schools

Steve Lambert · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Mar 06, 2025 5:50 PM EST | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

The Manitoba government enactment guardant sweeping changes to the schoolhouse time Thursday — eliminating a request to sing God Save the King, paving the mode for much Indigenous instruction, and enshrining its schoolhouse nutrition programme successful a mode that 1 adept called constitutionally dubious.

One of respective bills introduced successful the legislature would, if passed into law, destruct a little-known regularisation that says students should sing God Save The King each schoolhouse day.

The proviso has not been enforced successful decades but was precocious revived successful the Mountain View School Division successful occidental Manitoba. The determination was met with nationalist absorption from those who said it was not accordant with information and reconciliation measures.

Thursday's measure was applauded by Scott Lynxleg, a schoolhouse trustee successful the Mountain View division.

"Society changes and we request to alteration too," helium said.

The measure besides ends a request that the Lord's Prayer beryllium recited. Mandatory supplication successful schools was struck down by the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench successful 1992 but the regularisation has not been formally removed until now. The projected instrumentality would besides necessitate each schoolhouse boards to person policies respecting onshore and pact acknowledgments — thing astir already person successful place.

Another measure would let for an Indigenous connection to beryllium the connection of acquisition successful a schoolhouse erstwhile authorized by a schoolhouse board. Yet different measure is aimed astatine ensuring kids are educated astir treaties and the contributions of Indigenous people, including preschoolers.

"We judge that that learning should commencement arsenic soon arsenic possible," Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said.

Schmidt besides introduced a measure to necessitate each nationalist schools to connection a escaped regular nutrition programme consisting of meals oregon snacks. The measure is informally called "Nello's Law" successful honour of erstwhile acquisition curate Nello Altomare, who died successful January.

The NDP authorities is attempting to forestall immoderate changes to the nutrition programme by inserting a clause that would chopped furniture ministers' salaries by 20 per cent if a aboriginal authorities changes the instrumentality to trim the nutrition program.

A seasoned governmental expert said that thought goes against long-standing basal parliamentary rules that forbid 1 legislature from placing limits connected the quality of aboriginal legislatures to walk laws.

"I deliberation it's a dubious law oregon parliamentary gimmick," said Paul Thomas, prof emeritus of governmental studies astatine the University of Manitoba.

"The rule of ... parliamentary authorities is that parliament, oregon the legislature successful the Manitoba context, is ultimate and that a peculiar authorities astatine a fixed clip shouldn't hindrance a aboriginal legislature from undertaking changes to authorities conscionable due to the fact that they privation to support the bequest of a overmuch revered erstwhile furniture curate who sadly passed away."

Doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty violated: expert

Such clauses person been a trend, Thomas said, pointing to erstwhile examples specified arsenic a Manitoba balanced fund instrumentality that said immoderate large taxation hike could not beryllium enacted without a referendum.

When a erstwhile NDP authorities raised the income taxation successful 2013, the past absorption Progressive Conservatives took the substance to tribunal and lost. The justice ruled the referendum request violated the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty.

Schmidt said the schoolhouse nutrition measure has been vetted.

"Obviously erstwhile we draught legislation, we draught it with legislative counsel," she said.

"I myself americium a lawyer and recognize that erstwhile it comes to questions of legality, there's often differing opinions. There wouldn't beryllium the signifier of instrumentality but for that."