Canada Considers Anthem Edit

O Canada may get a rewrite soon, in an effort to eliminate all gender-specific pronouns. In a throne speech yesterday, Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean called on Canada’s parliament to review the song, which became Canada’s national anthem in 1980, replacing God Save the Queen. The English lyrics are based on a 1908 poem, and include the line, “True patriot love in all thy sons command.”

The proposal surprised parliament. Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff told the CBC he supported making the anthem more gender-sensitive, “but, for heaven's sake, we have some very important challenges and every time the government is asked to do something real, it does something symbolic. There's lots of things to do for women that are more important than changing the words of the national anthem.” (More Canada stories.)