No Santa, no Rudolph: B.C. mother questions lyric changes for son's school concert

A Saanich, B.C., mom is questioning why her son came home from school with the words “Santa,” “Rudolph” and “Christmas” crossed out on a lyric sheet for his winter concert.

Marie Garvin said her son, a Grade 4 student at a school in the Vancouver Island city, was told the lyrics to Candy Cane Lane were changed to be inclusive.

“I'm in full support of all inclusion and diversity,” Garvin said. “It just felt like we were erasing Christmas.”

Garvin said she understands school staff may want to avoid songs about religious figures, but said Santa and his red-nosed reindeer seem pretty innocuous.

“I get that Christmas originated as a Christian holiday. However, I feel now many people celebrate Christmas in different ways that don't have a religious aspect to it,” she said.

“There are so many ways that we can include people without cutting things out. To me, that's not the answer.”

Garvin emailed her concerns to superintendent Dave Eberwein, who told CTV News there’s no directive from the Saanich School District that bans certain words.

“We're not cancelling Santa or Rudolph in our schools. I can't speak as to why the teacher changed that particular lyric. That would be something for the teacher to have a conversation with the parent about directly,” Eberwein said.

“Public schools are a place where every child should feel welcomed and should feel included and should feel represented in what the school offers in terms of its teachings and its learnings.”

The school district is secular, he added.

“We don't actively promote a particular religion or belief system over another. It doesn't mean we don't talk about them (and that) we don't talk about diversity and the importance of recognizing the diversity in our communities,” he said.

“But at a seasonal celebration like a winter concert, that's not the proper venue to be talking about or celebrating one particular religious belief over another.”

Garvin disagrees.

“We want to be a part of the community and learn about other traditions and holidays. So why can't we learn about a few and sing a song from (them)?” she said.

“I just don't want to offend anyone. And I don't want anyone to think that I'm, you know, pushing Christmas down people's throats.”

Inclusion consultant weighs in

What may be written off as a squabble over a select few words is actually part of a larger conversation about inclusivity, an inclusion consultant said.

“These are conversations we need to be having, but we need to have them in ways that it doesn't create division,” said Andrea Carey, chief inclusion officer with INclusion INcorporated.

There’s no need to stop name-dropping Santa and his trusty steed, Carey said, but she also doesn’t have a problem with the lyric changes.

“It does actually make (the song) potentially more inclusive,” she said. “The way it was done is maybe what I would question.”

What was missed, she said, was an opportunity to explain the rationale behind the adjustments.

“While the intention was good, the impact is that our family in this case — but probably other families — are feeling like Christmas is being cancelled. That's not the intention of the work. The intention is actually to build greater community and inclusion,” she said.

“There needs to be an educational component that shares about the different religious holidays and cultural celebrations that are part of our holiday season.”