Is it time to change the sexist lyrics of Canada's national anthem?
In its throne speech on Wednesday (March 3), Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government opened the door to revising the English version of "O Canada".
"Our Government will also ask Parliament to examine the original gender-neutral English wording of the national anthem," the throne speech, read out by Governor General Michaí«lle Jean, said.
Updates
Stephen Harper government says sexist lyrics will stay in anthem "O Canada"
"O Canada" became Canada's national anthem in 1980.
First sung in 1880, the anthem's music was composed by Calixa Lavallée. The French lyrics were penned by Adolphe-Basile Routhier, and haven't changed.
The same can't be said of the English lyrics. "Many English versions have appeared over the years," the Department of Canadian Heritage's Web site states.
The official English lyrics are based on those written in 1908 by Robert Stanley Weir and include revisions recommended in 1968 by a special joint committee of the House of Commons and Senate.
In case you've forgotten, the official English version of the anthem reads:
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
However, the original poem written in 1908 by Weir actually employs the words "thou dost in us" in place of "in all thy sons". Weir's poem goes:
"O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love thou dost in us command.
We see thee rising fair, dear land,
The True North, strong and free;
And stand on guard, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.Refrain
O Canada! O Canada!
O Canada! We stand on guard for thee.
O Canada! We stand on guard for thee.O Canada! Where pines and maples grow.
Great prairies spread and lordly rivers flow.
How dear to us thy broad domain,
From East to Western Sea,
Thou land of hope for all who toil!
Thou True North, strong and free!Refrain
O Canada! O Canada! etc.O Canada! Beneath thy shining skies
May stalwart sons and gentle maidens rise,
To keep thee steadfast through the years
From East to Western Sea,
Our own beloved native land!
Our True North, strong and free!Refrain
O Canada! O Canada! etc.Ruler supreme, who hearest humble prayer,
Hold our dominion within thy loving care;
Help us to find, O God, in thee
A lasting, rich reward,
As waiting for the Better Day,
We ever stand on guard.Refrain
O Canada! O Canada! etc."
By the way, the French lyrics for "O Canada" are completely different from the English ones. The English translation of the French version reads:
O Canada! Land of our forefathers
Thy brow is wreathed with a glorious garland of flowers.
As in thy arm ready to wield the sword,
So also is it ready to carry the cross.
Thy history is an epic of the most brilliant exploits.Ch.
Thy valour steeped in faith
Will protect our homes and our rights
Will protect our homes and our rights.
So, what do you think? Is it time to make "O Canada"—sung by children at school assemblies, hockey fans at games, athletes at the Olympics and Paralympics, et cetera—gender-neutral?
Should any other lyrics be changed?
For instance, should "Our home and native land!" become "Our home on Native land!" in recognition of the history and rights of aboriginal peoples—the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis—in Canada?
This substitution is found in the "Poverty Olympics Anthem", which was sung to the tune of "O Canada" at street-theatre events held before the 2010 Games to embarrass the Canadian, B.C., and Vancouver governments into addressing poverty and homelessness. Its lyrics go:
Oh Canada
Our home on Native land.
A billion for security,
Instead of building homes.
Olympic spending has gone sky high
While thousands sleep outside.From far and wide
Oh Canada
Invite the world to see
A quarter million souls,
Poor and freezing cold.
Oh Canada, where is e-qual-i-ty?
Oh Canada, we are ashamed of thee.
You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenhui.
Comment (37)
Comments
Instead of wasting time singing "O Canada" - they could think of hunger of decent people and where they are going to sleep at night. Then if they want to sing it Then why not? But I never will. I sang it as a child and I Wish I knew the hypocrisy of my elders thne! I would have Refused to sing it in Elementary school no matter at what age I was at. Thats for sure. Fix the problems First - then Sing to the Accomplishments of Man/Womankind. Glory to GOD in the Highest.
I think it's the God part, we'e a country not a cult.
I'm sure millions of people don't believe in God.
Keep that stuff in your churches and catholic schools.
Still, it is a wonderful anthem, free of bombs and blood flowing, and with my minor changes I'm always happy to sing it. The original poem also has some great lines, with a little tweaking - could we add the bit about gentle sons and stalwart maidens?
Go ahead and change sons, makes no nevermind to me.
The obvious crime here is that of religious discrimination. Maybe we could even have a day with no god at all to be celebrated by those evil atheists.
I think we should wait 20, 30, 100 years or so; mull it over for a while. What's the rush?
If so, since there is no daughter of God, how can Oh Canada be changed to refer to both "children" in a gender neutral way?
I think someone has WAY too much time on their hands to be stirring up issues like this so close to our celebration of our Olympic victory - leave Oh Canada alone!
NAFTA, the WTO, the Security and Prosperity Agreement, and now the North American Union are the bricks in a wall of control that is taking power out of Canadians' hands and putting it into the hands of international bodies created and run by the trillionaire power elite.
It's time to do what our national anthem refers to. Canada's foreign and domestic policies are virtually indistinguishable from those set by the controlling elite in the USA. All our policing, security and intelligence agencies are being fully "harmonized" with those of the Americans, along with our business, immigration, financial and legal regimes. Canada is barely an independent country any more.
The international corporate invasion is nearly complete. Soon Canada will be a territory of a corporate administered continental police state.
Is anyone listening to the words of the national anthem? Do they think the Second World War is the last time Canada's sovereignty was threatened? Does anyone still care?
I don't know when they changed it, and I'm not sure when I first noticed it. But when I did, I was never able to think about it again without some low-level confusion in the back of my consciousness.
If anyone wants to change it back to the version I sang proudly as a child, I'll be all over that. I can at least remember how it went. Otherwise, the rest of this "conversation" is so much bull-dookie. Do whatever the hell you want to the anthem now, it hasn't been my anthem since "and stand on guard" was changed.
Bah.
So Quebec sang it for twenty years before there was an English version. So it's French.The rest of us started useing it almost a hundred years later trying to appease Rene'Leveque and his friends. They still have not been forced to change the lyrics and they sing about "thier proud race and great exploits" to this day. And they also have language police and "the Nation of Quebec". And we all have multicuturalism, bilingualism and English as a second language for new immigrants. And most politicions speak a few lines in French then few lines in English, they pretty much have to because if you want to move up in politics or in todays Canadian armed forces. You must speak French. I'm sorry but I don't get all tingly inside when it's sung anyway. It all sounds pretty questionable.
It occured to me last night that maybe this is a chance for the Conservatives to redeem themselves after the citizenship booklet caper. Besides making it gender neutral, make it orientation inclusive as well.
Here's an example that could be used to re-word the Refrain section:
O Canada, both gay and straight
We stand on Guard, ... [Rest as before]
Rod Smelser
Change "God" because God isn't what keeps our land "glorious and free". That's Steven Harper's job. (no offense intended to anybody who is Christian)
That's all I wanna change.
..So off topic, but I believe they should change the American coin "In God we Trust" to "In DOG we trust"...Something non-religious, to say the least..
I think we should get rid of the tax-payer funded pink-collar jobs that allow useless academics to keep coming up with this kind of ridiculous BS.
We can kill two birds with one stone: save some money and cure a headache! :)
I believe we should just please everyone (we are so afraid to offend) and go with the Air Farce politically correct version from 2001. You can Google the skit, which gives a good explanation of how the changes were made. Here are the politically correct lyrics:
O Canada, our living quarters and aboriginals persons, including Inuit, Métis, and First Nations land
True patriot love, implying affection, but not in a sexual way, in all thy gender non-specific spouse offspring's suggestion
With glowing hearts, we get horny, the true North strong and free
From far and weight-challenged, O Canada, we stand or sit on guard for thee
Non-denominational, gender-unspecified supreme being keep our land, glorious and free
O Canada, we stand ready to sit down and discuss our differences in a civilized manner for thee
O Canada, we stand ready to sit down and discuss our differences in a civilized manner for thee
Oh Kanata,
Our home our indigenous land..
True inherent right
Foreshore, earth, sea, mountains
Decolonized, autonomous
We’re the true people strong and free
While the sun shines, and the grass grows
we will fight for sovereignty
Creator keep our land
Indigenous and free
O kanata, we fought 500 years
O kanata we’ll forever fight for thee
(500 years give or take a a few hundred years)
STOP TRYING TO CHANGE EVERYTHING CANADIAN. Holy Cow... you people are all crazy!
ALL citizens of Canada have the right to be treated fairly, period.
Just because the majority don't believe we should change the anthem doesn't make it the right decision. At one time the majority of the world thought the earth was flat, the majority wasn't right about that and the majority isn't right on this issue.
I realize it's the politically expedient decision to make, but I was really hoping that some of our elected officials would have the courage to stand for what's right, not easy.
So leave our National Anthem alone and find something else to complain about.
I completely and utterly disagree with you. We would not be here if it weren't for Him; He is the Creator of the universe. Be happy that He is mentioned in our anthem. I'm not saying that you have to believe in God, I'm just saying that you would not be here without him and the removal of His name from the anthem would be pointless. It does not make any sense. People who have issues with God should get over their problems because God has been, does and always will exist. It is something that people should already be accustomed to because there is no getting around it.
Thank you.