Have Your Say
Over the span of two months, a student team from York University’s Histoire Vivante program collected your thoughts on O Canada, Canada’s National Anthem. Canadians were asked about what makes the National Anthem important and how we interact with its historical and contemporary lyrics on a daily basis. To participate in the survey in English and have your say, click the button below!
Q: When did you learn the Anthem?
Approximately 58% of our survey responses reveal that learning the anthem happens early on in our lives.
91% credit schools for developing a patriotic attitude towards performing the anthem as an nationalistic endeavour.
The Citizenship and Immigration Canada corporate signature and the copyright message “Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2014” are displayed followed by the Canada wordmark.
Timestamp at 08:16 to learn about the national anthem protocols during the citizenship ceremony for New Canadians.
The Anthem & Citizenship
According to the Government of Canada, the protocols involving preforming the National Anthem during citizenship ceremonies regulates that “Citizenship staff must play the bilingual version of the anthem during citizenship ceremonies and invite new citizens to sing the bilingual version of the anthem” and New Canadians can choose to either sing the English or French version if they prefer.
“[The last time I heard the anthem was] A few months ago when my stepdaughter became a citizen (on line, at home).”
— Anonymous survey response
Q: Is there a word or phrase that you would like to see changed?
27% of English survey respondents said that they do not want to see any further changes made to the National Anthem lyrics.
However, the remaining respondents had a lot more to say…
Gender Neutral Lyrics
An overwhelming majority of respondents voiced their support for 2018 update to the second line of O Canada from "in all thy sons command” to "in all of us command." This has been in the works for a long time.
Home and Native Land
Many respondents noted that they would like to see the change in the lyrics “our home and native land” and replace it with “our home on native land” or something similar to recognizing Indigenous land sovereignty. Others noted that the word native should be updated.
Secular Vocabulary
23% of anonymous (English) survey respondents mentioned that the lyrical composition of the Canadian anthem should reflect secular attitudes, referring to the phrase “God keep our land” in the English version. In that 23% pool, respondents also stated that they wanted to see “Il sait porter la croix!” also removed in the French version.
"Since 1980, when O Canada officially became the country's anthem, 12 bills have been introduced in the House to strip the gendered reference to 'sons,' which some have argued is discriminatory."
— The CBC“It’s not your home and native land. It’s your home ON unceded Indigenous land”
— Anonymous survey responseWhile I approve of gender inclusivity (all OF US command) in all cases, I would like the implicit (stand on guard, etc.) and explicit (porter l'épee) militarism to be deleted. The hegemonic Christianity (porter la croix) could go too. Doesn't leave much, does it?
— Anonymous survey responseQ: Give two words that describe your feelings when performing the National Anthem
45% used the word pride or proud to express their identity. Out of our 100 responses, most reported having mixed or conflicted feelings in demonstrating Canadian patriotism; regarding Canada’s colonial history and found the words to be problematic or controversial. Others expressed solemnity and mindfulness for Canada’s veterans, as well as describing a sense of unity and gratitude, joy and even overwhelming emotions. Many felt nostalgic or bored when preforming the anthem, with a large percentage using the words respect, obligation, tradition as well as responsibility towards our home.
Q: Should the Anthem be played before sporting events?
Most survey respondents describe how watching, listening to, and attending Canadian sporting events (with hockey being the most recurrent reference) is when they hear the national anthem. 18% of our survey takers collectively agreed that the national anthem should stop being played during sports events, while 54% agreed that it should be a continued practice.
Many Canadians depend on social and cultural cues during cultural events to express a multicultural yet shared national identity.
Playing the anthem during sports games, for instance, is considered a ceremony and is a great example of how codes of conduct are learned from and constructed by Canada’s cultural and national media, whether watching a sports game on TV, listening to the radio, in the stadium, and even on the field.
In a letter written by Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe in 1952, the principal owner and founder of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League from 1927 to 1961, he expressed to the TML coach how the athletes should stand at attention during the national anthem, and that included no gum-chewing!
Memo from Conn Smythe directing coaches to prohibit the chewing of gum during the national anthem, December 3, 1952. Conn Smythe fonds, F 223-3-1-45, Archives of Ontario.
“My grandkids looked at me when I sang it loud at the Leafs game but now they sing it loud too. ”
“I really like O Canada being played at international sporting events, like the Olympics where celebrating national pride at an international event is appropriate. However, I’m not a fan of using the anthem at commercial sporting events like the NHL/CFL where nationality doesn’t play a part.”
What else people are saying:
“I am old enough to have learned God Save The King as my first anthem. Given that the French and English words are so radically different (in my opinion, the French lyrics are, frankly, cringeworthy), it would be a chance for the Indigenous Peoples who find themselves on territory currently claimed by Canada to decide whether they attach any value to an indigenous national version of the anthem or whether they see Canada as an unwelcome colonial power whose anthem erases their distinct identity. Obviously, it’s complicated, but there are, as far as I know, three Indigenous versions of the anthem but I don’t know the words of any.”
“Everyone was sharing ‘famous songs’ from their country, and as I was the only Canadian on the bus - I had to come up with something and I could think of was the anthem.”
“‘with glowing hearts we see thee rise’ - I just love the sound and rhythmic contour of that line.”
“‘in all of us command’ because my grandma was the one who fought for these lyrics to be changed from ‘all our sons’ and I think it is a small but nonetheless powerful change. ”