Harvey Specter
03-04-2010, 12:22 AM
By Bruce Cheadle, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - All those renditions of O Canada during the Vancouver Olympics seem to have the Prime Minister's Office singing a new tune.
Maybe it was all those women athletes on the podium that did it. Whatever the cause, the Conservative government is not standing on guard for O Canada and has proposed re-examining the anthem's reference to "all thy sons command."
One of the surprises in Wednesday's speech from the throne was a promise to "examine the original gender-neutral English wording of the national anthem."
While a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper later insisted the government is not taking a firm position, Andrew MacDougall did confirm they are referring to an examination of the phrase "in all thy sons command."
"We are simply suggesting that a parliamentary committee examine the subject and report back to Parliament," said MacDougall.
He noted that the original 1908 poem on which the lyrics were based refers to "True patriot love thou dost in us command."
Politicians have been proposing a rewording of the anthem's third line since at least 1990, but every proposal has been shot down as political correctness run amok.
"REAL Women requests the Liberal government in Ottawa to address the real problems Canadians face, especially economic ones, instead of dancing to the tune of a handful of chronically dissatisfied feminists," the right-wing women's organization said in a 2003 news release.
Industry Minister Tony Clement now says it is a debate whose time has come.
"The prime minister has heard from some Canadians on this and I think it's better to have a fulsome debate, rather than just shuffling it off," Clement said Wednesday.
Clement said he has heard complaints from some of his constituents as recently as last week.
"I think this has been rolling around for a while actually," said the MP from Parry Sound, Ont.
"Maybe it was a bit subterranean . . . . (But) we got so used to singing O Canada at the Olympics, maybe it became more top of mind, I don't know."
Andrew Cohen, president of Historica Institute, said the history-promoting organization supports changing the lyrics.
"We think if you can modernize the anthem by returning to the past, it's a wonderful thing," Cohen said in an interview. "But if you can modernize it simply by having to make a change that is inoffensive, we're for it."
The leaders of both the NDP and Liberals are endorsing the change, although with some qualifications about the government's motivation.
"Anything that makes a national anthem more gender sensitive is a good thing," said Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.
"But I mean no disrespect for those who feel strongly on this issue but for heaven's sake, we've got some very important challenges and every time the government is asked to do something real, it does something symbolic."
NDP MP Irene Mathyssen said she's been advocating the change for a long time.
"I find it interesting though that they're caught up in this concern about language and they're forgetting absolutely that equality is dependent on a whole number of other things that are missing from this throne speech," said Mathyssen, noting there is no mention of a commitment to affordable housing or child care in the Conservative blueprint.
"It's lovely to have words but this is a government of words. I want to see some actions."
Liberal MP Judy Sgro said she has never been bothered by the lyric and accused the Conservatives of diversionary tactics.
"I think they look at all kinds of diversions to get people thinking and talking about other things rather than the $56 billion deficit and the unemployed and all the other issues we should be talking about," said Sgro.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100303/national/throne_speech_anthem.
OTTAWA - All those renditions of O Canada during the Vancouver Olympics seem to have the Prime Minister's Office singing a new tune.
Maybe it was all those women athletes on the podium that did it. Whatever the cause, the Conservative government is not standing on guard for O Canada and has proposed re-examining the anthem's reference to "all thy sons command."
One of the surprises in Wednesday's speech from the throne was a promise to "examine the original gender-neutral English wording of the national anthem."
While a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper later insisted the government is not taking a firm position, Andrew MacDougall did confirm they are referring to an examination of the phrase "in all thy sons command."
"We are simply suggesting that a parliamentary committee examine the subject and report back to Parliament," said MacDougall.
He noted that the original 1908 poem on which the lyrics were based refers to "True patriot love thou dost in us command."
Politicians have been proposing a rewording of the anthem's third line since at least 1990, but every proposal has been shot down as political correctness run amok.
"REAL Women requests the Liberal government in Ottawa to address the real problems Canadians face, especially economic ones, instead of dancing to the tune of a handful of chronically dissatisfied feminists," the right-wing women's organization said in a 2003 news release.
Industry Minister Tony Clement now says it is a debate whose time has come.
"The prime minister has heard from some Canadians on this and I think it's better to have a fulsome debate, rather than just shuffling it off," Clement said Wednesday.
Clement said he has heard complaints from some of his constituents as recently as last week.
"I think this has been rolling around for a while actually," said the MP from Parry Sound, Ont.
"Maybe it was a bit subterranean . . . . (But) we got so used to singing O Canada at the Olympics, maybe it became more top of mind, I don't know."
Andrew Cohen, president of Historica Institute, said the history-promoting organization supports changing the lyrics.
"We think if you can modernize the anthem by returning to the past, it's a wonderful thing," Cohen said in an interview. "But if you can modernize it simply by having to make a change that is inoffensive, we're for it."
The leaders of both the NDP and Liberals are endorsing the change, although with some qualifications about the government's motivation.
"Anything that makes a national anthem more gender sensitive is a good thing," said Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.
"But I mean no disrespect for those who feel strongly on this issue but for heaven's sake, we've got some very important challenges and every time the government is asked to do something real, it does something symbolic."
NDP MP Irene Mathyssen said she's been advocating the change for a long time.
"I find it interesting though that they're caught up in this concern about language and they're forgetting absolutely that equality is dependent on a whole number of other things that are missing from this throne speech," said Mathyssen, noting there is no mention of a commitment to affordable housing or child care in the Conservative blueprint.
"It's lovely to have words but this is a government of words. I want to see some actions."
Liberal MP Judy Sgro said she has never been bothered by the lyric and accused the Conservatives of diversionary tactics.
"I think they look at all kinds of diversions to get people thinking and talking about other things rather than the $56 billion deficit and the unemployed and all the other issues we should be talking about," said Sgro.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100303/national/throne_speech_anthem.