An Ontario teacher who was denied unpaid leave to take his 90-year-old father to a Second World War ceremony in Holland is getting support from strangers across the country thanks to the efforts of a Canadian musician.

Loreena McKennitt, a Celtic musician from Manitoba, started an online petition on behalf of Rick Boon, who had asked for time off to take his veteran father, Art Boon, to the ceremony. The event will be marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Holland from German occupation.

Boon had travelled with his father to other commemoration events in the past and he is the only family member available to accompany him, according to the petition.

But the Avon Maitland District School Board in Stratford, Ont., denied Boon’s request for unpaid leave because “they have supported (Boon) and his father sufficiently in past years,” the petition says.

Art Boon told CTV Kitchener by phone Sunday that he’s very upset. He said he wants his son to accompany him to Holland because it may be his last trip overseas.

As of Monday evening, more than 1,700 people had signed the petition. Many of them slammed the school board’s decision as “unpatriotic” and disrespectful to veterans and their families.

“I am appalled about the lack of respect that this shows for Mr. Boon and his son,” Glen Miller from Vancouver wrote. “Do you not have substitute teachers?”

McKennitt said she felt compelled to take a stand in the matter.

“Historically, both he and his father have come back into the schools wonderfully, and have shared their experiences with the students,” McKennitt told CTV News.

The petition, along with dozens of letters of support, was delivered to the school board on Monday, McKennitt said.

According to The Beacon Herald newspaper, Art Boon fought on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. He is known in Stratford for speaking to students in classrooms and at Remembrance Day assemblies.

In a statement, the school board said denying Boon’s request for unpaid leave “was never intended to be a slight” against his father.

“The issue of in-year leaves of absence for school-based staff, particularly for teachers, is one that the board takes very seriously,” the statement said.

The board said a number of factors are considered when a teacher requests a leave of absence, such as how many previous absences had been granted, how long the teacher will be away and how that will impact the students.

The school board confirmed to CTV News that Boon had been granted several previous absences. The board said he agreed that last year would be the final one. But when his father was invited to attend the ceremony in Holland, he requested another leave.

Despite the response from the school board, McKennitt said she was “pleased” to see the response from Canadians, and others around the world.

“I think it’s grown to be a community story as well as … a story for the Dutch people, who remember the Canadian (soldiers) coming in to places like Rotterdam,” McKennitt said.

The ceremony the Boons planned to attend will take place from May 1 to 10.

With files from CTV Kitchener and CTV’s Peter Akman