Two Little Words

Changing the lyrics to O Canada to “of us” from “thy sons” set social media on fire. Here’s a sampling of comments from the CJBK Facebook page. 

“If you want to be a gender bender, or whatever you call it..keep it to yourself..I don’t push my believes on to anyone.”

“I don’t know about you, but I am sure getting tired of all of this. Change the words, take down historical statues, and let’s charge everyone for looking at people sideways. Really when is it all going to end.”

“I will never sing the new version. I’m sorry, but if you sing the line “In all thy sons command.” then sing “In all of us command” you quickly realize that the new wording sounds stupid. I’m as liberal thinking as the next person. However, this is idiotic political correctness run amok.” 

What every one of those comments had in common: they were written by a man. This is not to say that all men feel this way, but from what I’ve seen, the only people who feel this way are men. As a woman, it’s not gender-bending or stupid to want to be included in my own country’s national anthem. And then, after dozens of comments in a similar vein, along came this woman to try to set everyone straight:

“In 1908 the original lyrics were “in all of US command”. In 1914 it was changed to “sons”. This is a reversion to the original. Everyone with their tits in a twist should calm down and learn some history.”

If your tits are twisted for more than five hours, please consult a physician.

The bottom line is, referring to Canadians only as sons leaves women out. Changing two little words lets us back in. It’s not Liberal madness or anything of the sort. It passed in the House of Commons by a vote of 225 to 74 and just cleared the Senate after lots of debate. It was the dying wish of MP Mauril Belanger, a man, who died of ALS before he was able to see the bill come into law. Two little words. They make a difference to me and my sisters; Canada’s daughters.