A Halifax elementary school has retracted its request that veterans and active military members refrain from wearing their uniforms during the school’s Remembrance Day services.
Sackville Heights Elementary School, located 25 minutes from Canada’s largest military base CFB Halifax, made the request in its November newsletter.
“We recognize and celebrate the diverse makeup of our school community, and in being responsive to our students, we warmly invite any service members who would like to attend,” the newsletter reads. “To maintain a welcoming environment for all, we kindly request that service members wear civilian clothing.”
Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Party Leader and incumbent Premier Tim Houston criticized the school’s decision.
“In demanding that veterans and members of the Canadian Armed Forces not wear their uniforms while observing Remembrance Day, the leaders at this school are disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country,” Houston wrote in a Nov. 7 social media post.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately. In the Nova Scotia and Canada I know, our veterans will never be asked to hide who they are.”
Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also weighed in on the issue.
“I call on Sackville Heights Elementary School to immediately reverse their shortsighted decision and welcome Veterans and service members in uniform,” he said on social media. “Seeing our service members in their uniforms is an essential part of Remembrance Day, it lets the rest of us know who to personally thank for their service.”
The school reversed its decision after the political leaders criticized its initial request.
The Halifax Regional Centre for Education, the public school district in the city, said the original decision was made to accommodate students who come from countries in conflict. Many of these students have “expressed discomfort with images of war,” including individuals in military uniforms, spokesperson Lindsey Bunin said in an emailed statement.
“HRCE and the school have the highest respect for what the uniform represents,” Bunin said. “As such, the school has reconsidered their approach, and family members who are past and present service members and have RSVP’d to the event at the school are welcome to wear their uniforms.”
She said families can contact the school if they think their children will be upset and they “will be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe.”
Nova Scotia is home to more than 40 percent of Canada’s military assets including the country’s largest military base, CFB Halifax, according to the province’s website. It serves as the headquarters for Maritime Forces Atlantic.
Other military bases include 12 Wing Shearwater in Halifax Regional Municipality and CFB Greenwood in the Annapolis Valley.
CFB Greenwood is the largest air base on the East Coast and 12 Wing is responsible for providing maritime helicopter support to the Royal Canadian Navy.
