OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper is rejecting calls to oust a member of his cabinet from a former New Brunswick school principal who stopped the daily playing of O Canada.
Erik Millett said Friday that Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson should be fired unless he apologizes for comments made earlier this year criticizing the anthem decision.
PMO spokesman Dimitri Soudas told The Canadian Press that Harper stands by Thompson and does not intend to dismiss him from cabinet.
In an e-mail, Soudas also said the government “makes no apologies” for being proud of the national anthem.
Earlier this year, Thompson told the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal that Millett is “proving he has no appreciation for the sensitivity of some issues.”