Tone-Deaf Decisions: The Return of ‘God Save the King’ in Manitoba Schools
- Ingrid Jones
- Western Canada
- January 17, 2025

In a move that has left many people scratching their heads, the Mountain View School Division, which oversees 16 schools near Dauphin, Manitoba, has decided to reinstate the daily playing of God Save the King in its schools. This decision, steeped in colonial history and fraught with implications for Indigenous students and staff, raises significant questions about the priorities and thought process behind such a move.
First, a brief history lesson: the British monarchy is a symbol of colonization, a painful legacy that continues to resonate deeply with Indigenous communities in Canada. The imposition of colonial practices, languages, and symbols was a cornerstone of efforts to erase Indigenous culture and identity. In this context, asking students—many of whom are Indigenous—to stand for God Save the King each morning feels less like a harmless tradition and more like a tone-deaf exercise in historical erasure.
Add to that the fact that many schools already include the Lord’s Prayer and O Canada in their morning routines, and you’ve got what can only be described as a triple whammy of outdated practices that alienate rather than include. While these practices aren’t mandated, most schools across Manitoba have moved away from a daily salute to the Monarch and Christianity. The question then arises: what exactly was the Mountain View School Division thinking when they decided to resurrect God Save the King?
It’s hard to imagine this decision being made in a vacuum. Surely someone on the board must have recognized the fraught nature of forcing students, especially Indigenous ones, to engage with a song that glorifies a colonial institution. If they didn’t, it’s a damning indictment of their understanding of the communities they’re supposed to serve. If they did and chose to proceed anyway, it’s an even more troubling sign of indifference.
This decision seems designed to appease a small subset of people nostalgic for an imagined past, a time when the monarchy was universally revered and its symbols carried unquestioned authority. But the reality is that such symbols no longer carry the same weight they once did. For many, particularly those from communities harmed by colonialism, the monarchy and its rituals are relics of oppression, not objects of reverence.
This move to reinstate God Save the King underscores the disconnect between those making decisions and those living with their consequences. It’s a stark reminder that when people in positions of power fail to read the room—or the history books—their decisions can feel not only misguided but actively harmful.
Ultimately, this move does more to sow division than foster unity. It serves as a glaring example of how well-meaning or nostalgic decisions can backfire spectacularly, alienating the very communities schools are meant to support. If the goal was to honor tradition, it’s clear that this particular tradition might be better left in the past.