'In All Thy Political Correctness Command!'

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on March 5, 2010.

The following post is an editorial from the author.  So remember, it's just an opinion.  Smile, everybody!

I've read in the news recently that the Canadian Conservative government's throne speech (for those not of Canuck origin, this is when the Governor-General, a Commonwealth representative, makes a keynote speech outlining the goals of the parliamentary government) consisted of a few points of interest: budget cuts, a "tough on crime" bill, and a proposal to adjust the national anthem of Canada to be more gender-neutral.

Here's the offending stanza of our anthem: "True patriot love, in all thy sons command!"


Here's the offered lyric in its place: "True patriot love, thou dost us all command!"


This suggestion came at the hands of Janet Keeping, president of the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership in Calgary.  She says that the anthem as it is does not reflect modern women who "are side by side with their male counterparts, showing that patriotic love, making those sacrifices," she totes to CTV News Channel. 

"We know that that language was not meant to include all of us.  I would just change it to 'In all of us command' and be done with it," she says at the end of her statement.


The suggestion is not of modern invention; it comes from an original version of a poem written in 1908 by Mercy E. Powell McColloch, which includes this stanza.  McColloch had submitted his version of O Canada into a contest hosted by Collier's Weekly Magazine.  He did win the contest, but his version didn't garner wide acceptance.  Well, we are about to repeat history, according to popular polls all around the internet.

Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games: I Believe in Canada!

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on March 1, 2010.

 
I believe, Canada!  I believe!

I've never really been a big sports fan - except for hockey; it's a rite of passage for all Canadians, really.  So with the Olympic Games ending in sweet victory with Team Canada taking the gold medal for men's hockey, it had turned into an overwhelming swell of pride that we, as a nation, take our passions seriously and with dignity. 

Yes, sweet indeed.  But merely a jewel in the crown that was the presentation of the Olympic Games in Vancouver.  We, as Canadians, proved ourselves worthy hosts to the world, shattering the presumption that we are a reserved, quiet people with hesitation of our place in the world.  The Opening Ceremonies showed the poetry of the vast wheat fields in the Prairies, the relentless energy of the Eastern Coast fiddlers, the passion in performance of our greatest artists and musicians, the youth of our nation that step on their soapboxes with a mission to change what the world knows about our incredible country.  Our Opening Ceremonies gave way to conversation about what the world thought they knew about us as a people, and I think they now understand us a little better.