University lifts ban on the singing of Newfoundland and Labrador’s official anthem

A Newfoundland flag flies in the wind in Rocky Harbour, N.L., on Sept. 4, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

ST. JOHN’S — Newfoundland and Labrador’s Memorial University has lifted a ban on the singing of the “Ode to Newfoundland” at convocation ceremonies, saying the prohibition was too divisive.

The ban was imposed in 2022 as the university’s senate responded to complaints that the province’s official anthem omits Labrador, contains outdated language and does not reflect the “many communities” within the institution.

At the time, then-university president Neil Bose said the decision was intended to “create safer and more welcoming spaces for all students.”

The decision sparked a public backlash. In May 2023, members of the provincial legislature staged a vocal protest by standing in the house of assembly and singing the anthem. They also unanimously endorsed a motion that called on the university to reverse its decision and add the singing of the “Ode to Labrador” at all graduation ceremonies.

“It’s an insult to the people of this province,” Barry Patten, a Progressive Conservative member of the legislature, said at the time.

As the debate heated up, the university’s Indigenous vice-president, Catharyn Andersen, said the song was written by and for settlers, and she argued that the ode leaves some students feeling excluded. As well, Andersen said the song was written at a time when Europeans were exploring the island for valuable resources with little thought given to its Indigenous population.

The senate voted to reinstate the singing of the anthem late Tuesday after it was presented with a report from a committee that recommended the change following months of consultations.

University president Jennifer Lokash issued a statement Tuesday saying the song will be sung during convocation ceremonies scheduled for next month. “We apologize for the divisions that were created through this process and the impact that it has had,” she said.

“We acknowledge that the university has work ahead of us to rebuild relationships with the people who were negatively impacted by the initial decision, and also with those who are disappointed by the decision of senate, particularly Indigenous people and Labradorians.”

The committee’s report includes results from a survey of students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members, which found that more than 70 per cent of respondents said the anthem and convocation ceremony should have been left as it was.

The report says the consultation process gathered diverse opinions, including concerns that the song was composed by someone who wasn’t from Newfoundland or Labrador. It was originally written in 1902 by Sir Cavendish Boyle, a British civil servant who served as colonial governor of Newfoundland, then a British colony.

“One respondent noted that the ‘Ode to Newfoundland’ was written with no input or consultation from across the territory that comprises the present-day province,” the report says. “Another highlighted that some of the lyrics indicate a lack of historical knowledge on the part of the author. Others shared a desire to see Labrador represented.”

The committee also received many responses from people who said international students were somehow responsible for complaints about the ode, and it said some of the responses “revealed xenophobia.”

Others complained the ban amounted to nothing more than “window dressing” or a symbol of political correctness.

“If you are not addressing systemic issues at (the university), then changing a song does nothing other than create outrage,” said one respondent.

The report goes on to say the committee also heard from people who said the anthem unifies Newfoundlanders and “reminds them of their shared history, identity, and sacrifice. Pride in the ode also takes the form of pride in the uniqueness of Newfoundland culture relative to the rest of Canada.”

The provincial government adopted the ode as the province’s official anthem in 1979.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2025