Hi everyone!
For this article I want to discuss the decision that Canada made to change the wording of their national anthem. At the end of January this year, the Canadian parliament passed a bill that permanently changed the national anthem, replacing the words “in all thy sons command” to “in all of us command”.
Nancy Ruth, an ex-Senator for Canada, had campaigned hard for the change but retired right as the bill passed in the House; thanks to Justin Trudeau, Canada’s Prime Minister, and Mauril Bélanger, one of Trudeau’s MPs it moved onto the Senate. With Ruth retired, Senator Frances Lankin took over the fight. Lankin is known as a strong advocate of women’s rights and for not giving up on issues. After trying for over a year to get Conservative senators to agree a vote on this bill, Lakin eventually forced the issue with a rare procedure to move the vote.
This change by Canada made me think, our Constitution begins with “We the People” but continuously uses the word “man” and in the Declaration of Independence it is stated that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”. I had never felt left out because of this phrasing, I always thought of it contextually. At the time, women and minorities were not considered when writing these document, and were written by land-owning white males. But this move by Canada made me pause, it is 2018, do we need to update some things? I do not think we should take a black marker and edit two of the most important historical documents in the United States, but what I am saying is the move by Canada should be discussed because of the many questions that it raises for women’s rights.
Does this change really do anything for the furthering of women’s issues, how much of an effect does it have? Does the more inclusive tone allow for women to feel more a part of their society and government? Is this move messing with the history of the song or the country?
I can not answer all these questions, but I think it is important that they be posed so when Americans look at their own important historical documents, they use critical thinking and not only contextualization. These are living documents, still being followed today, should they update with the times?
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/01/americas/canada-gender-neutral-national-anthem-trnd/index.html
Photos via: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/anthem-bill-passes-senate-1.4513317
https://www.pakmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/canadian-flag.jpg