Prime Minister Stephen Harper seemed to be still living off the high from performing in October with cellist Yo Yo Ma after it was announced in last week's throne speech wording of the National Anthem was under review.
Perhaps fancying himself to be quite the accomplished musician since his rendition of A Little Help With My Friends by the Beatles at the National Arts Centre, we can only suspect while government was prorogued for the duration of the Olympics the PM felt the National Anthem needed some help - all those people proudly singing Oh Canada after Sidney Crosby scored the winning goal against the United States in overtime. Just how could we make that anthem sound more like it had some of Stephen Harper's golden touch?
The Conservatives proposed to change the line "All thy sons command," and pursue a less-gender specific option, as found in the poem which inspired the anthem, "True patriot love thou dost in us command."
Canadians lashed out and by Friday the PM's office announced it would not make any changes to the anthem.
Now for a juxtaposition.
Children have a funny way of offering distractions when they are confronted with getting in trouble. In an instant they can tell you what someone else did, where they saw your keys last or who is using swear words at school if they think they are about to get into trouble. Some children grow out of this habit while others carry it with them for the rest of their life.
Has the Prime Minister done anything differently? He cancelled government saying the Conservatives were to consult with Canadians on its economic action plan then introduced a budget Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and many others have scoffed at for being recycled, old news.
The PM should not encourage Canadians to sing a different tune unless he wants to return to the opposition leader's side of the legislature.
What would you do if...
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Published on
March 10, 2010
- Published on April 5, 2010
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