Canada's Daughters Up in Arms Over Anthem - The New York Times

archived 8 Mar 2022 15:11:23 UTC

Canada's Daughters Up in Arms Over Anthem

By Clyde H. Farnsworth
Credit...The New York Times Archives
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July 15, 1993, Section A, Page 5Buy Reprints
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After singing the line in Canada's national anthem that goes, "true patriot love in all thy sons command," the hands of 7-, 8- and 9-year-olds often went up in Judith Olson's music classes in Chester Public School.
"Inevitably the children would ask, 'When do we get to the part about thy daughters?'," Mrs. Olson recalled, "and I'd have to say, 'There isn't any,' and then they'd say, both boys and girls, 'That isn't fair.' Anyone who has taught small children knows they have a very strong sense of fairness."
Although Canada's public schools are trying to eliminate sexism from the curriculum, every morning when "O Canada" is sung in English, half the population is effectively excluded.
"The words 'our sons' imply that only male persons are capable of patriotism," said Mrs. Olson, a mother of five and grandmother of one, and head of the O Canada Fairness Committee, fighting to change the lyrics. "We can't fix starvation and other bigger problems of the world, but this is an easy fix, something we can do."
To do it takes an amendment of the National Anthem Act. Thanks to Mrs. Olson's lobbying, a bill has recently been introduced in the House of Commons that would replace the phrase "in all thy sons command" with "in all our hearts command."
Maureen Forrester, a contralto and one of North America's leading performers of the classical repertoire, has given her blessing. She calls the new words "just perfect" for singing. Other notables supporting the committee's campaign include the novelist Margaret Atwood, two social commentators, Pierre Berton and June Callwood, and the editorial writers of The Toronto Star.
John Nunziata, a Liberal member of the House of Commons from Toronto and the chief sponsor of the proposed amendment, predicted: "This is something that will happen. The national anthem has to change with the times. Women in this country should not be expected to sing an anthem that leaves them out."
But he acknowledged that elections, probably this October, will dissolve Parliament, and the change might not come till next year, when he promised he will reintroduce the bill.
"O Canada" was composed around 1880 by a Quebecer, Calixa Lavallee, who played piano, violin and cornet, studied composition in Paris, opened a studio in Montreal, and died in 1891 in Boston. Although the lyrics in both French and English were also written many years ago, only the English version creates a sexist problem.
The sexist issue is not a new one. Howard Crosby, a Progressive Conservative member of Parliament from Halifax, introduced a bill in 1986 to substitute "of us" for "our sons."
He, too, wanted to get rid of the notion that, as he put it, "only male persons are capable of patriotism." But his bill died in 1988.
So far Mr. Nunziata has been able to swing only 32 of 295 House members to the Olson text.
A full-scale debate in the House has yet to occur, but after The Toronto Star published an editorial backing the Nunziata bill, the paper, which has the largest circulation in Canada, printed letters attacking its stand.
William P. Rowley, of Rexdale, Ontario, said: "I guess the best thing to do about the anthem is to play or hum the music and let each individual form whatever words he or she like. That way we all can be correct."
So resentful are some Canadian women that they are already either making their own substitutions in the lyrics, or remaining silent.
"My personal response when I sing the national anthem is that I do not sing that line," said Glenda Simms, president of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women. "It is my own silent protest. I am certain there are many other women who protest that way."
Prime Minister Kim Campbell, in an exchange of correspondence with Mrs. Olson, put herself squarely on the side of change. She has declined to commit herself to Mrs. Olson's text, but did signal "the importance I place on recognizing the implication of exclusive terms such as 'sons' in our national symbols and institutions."

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