After writing about the hateful Gil LeBreton's article comparing us to Nazi Germany, i assumed it would be the last attack i would hear or read for awhile against Canadian Pride. I guess with the Olympic's "modified" version of our anthem at the openning and closing ceremonies has given our own government an idea. Our "wonderful" Conservatives, 3 days after the Olympics ended and after proroguing Government for a second year in a row, announced in the throne speech it will ask Parliament to examine the original wording of the Canadian anthem. They want to change O'Canada lyrics. What? Come on....do they have nothing better to do than waste tax payers dollars to change our anthem? It was proclaimed Canada's national anthem on July 1, 1980, 100 years after it was first sung on June 24, 1880. Now for those unfamiliar with the lyrics and to show the current version adopted pursuant to the National Anthem Act in 1980, it reads as follows:
"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."
The basis for the change is the phrase "In all thy sons command" has some women calling for a gender-neutral version. Now wasting our tax dollars, they will create a parliamentary committee to study whether the phrase "In all thy sons command" should be changed to "Thou dost in us command", which the Prime Minister’s Office says is the wording from the original version, which they are at least correct on that.
Now I understand it was the original wording, BUT you need to keep in mind the version on which the official English lyrics are based on was written in 1908 by Mr. Justice Robert Stanley Weir. Key word is BASED ON. By the way, the French lyrics remain untouched to this day. Even Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff doesn’t object to a more "gender-sensitive" anthem, but said the government should take serious steps to improve the status of women. WOW, Liberals are agreeing with the Conservatives. Well if that is the case, why not join forces and spend the money where it will be useful and have a much larger visible and beneficial impact? Can we say health care? what about education?
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