“True patriot love in all thy sons command”
Patriotic or sexist?
Canada’s national anthem is once again under scrutiny for a line some people say excludes women. A coalition of prominent Canadian women, including former Prime Minister Kim Campbell and author Margaret Atwood, have launched RestoreOurAnthem.ca .
The campaign’s goal is to restore the gender-neutral intention of the original English lyrics written by Judge Robert Stanley Weir in 1908. His original line was “thou dost in us command.” It was changed to the current version in 1913. According to RestoreOurAnthem.ca, supporters want to see it changed again to “in all of us command” – a modern version of the original.
This is not the first time an effort has been made to change the anthem. A plan to have parliament review the issue was included in a throne speech as recently as 2010.
What do you think? Should we change Canada’s national anthem to make it more gender-neutral? Have your say below.
