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National anthem should not be tinkered with again

by Ken Johnston
Editor

O Canada I can’t remember the words!
Ask Canadians to recite the words to their National Anthem and for the most part many of them can not remember them all.
I often find that when there is a singing of it at a public gathering, that many people fall off throughout the anthem, only to come back when familiar parts of it return to the song.
Over the weekend several prominent women started efforts to have the lyrics changed to reflect what is being called political correctness.
The line “In all thy sons command,” is considered to be out of touch with the times. After all both men and women defend this great land, work in political positions of power and just about any profession one can think of.
Some women said that they do not feel the anthem is their’s with the word “sons” in it.
So what would be a good substitute? Maybe our or it’s?
We have tinkered with the words in the past and if you are like me, I find that there always seems to be very little publicity about the changes and that leaves me feeling foolish when I go to sing the anthem and I am singing the wrong words.
Perhaps that is why so many Canadians do not sing it when at a function. Now some are proposing to change the wording again.
It is no wonder Canadians can not remember the words. Just as they get comfortable with one version the rug is pulled out from under them.
Some argue that they should not be changed for traditional reasons; others say that “sons” is a generic term like mankind, that refers to all Canadians, no matter what gender.
If we change it to be politically correct today, will it remain as such 10, 20 or 30 years down the road? Should we be tinkering with something so many of us have a hard enough time remembering as it is?
I think not.
–Until then,
Ken