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rfmcdonaldNancy Ruth says she pumped her fist, hissed an exclamation and then thanked the Prime Minister on his way out of the room.
"I had no idea," the Conservative senator says of her surprise at hearing the federal government would ask Parliament to examine the original lyrics of the English version of the national anthem so that "O Canada" could pay some attention to daughters as well as to sons.
The woman behind last week's anthem furor was in her front-row seat of the red chamber and could barely contain her excitement when she heard her proposal summarized in last week's throne speech.
Officials confirmed later last Wednesday the government would ask a parliamentary committee to study whether "In all thy sons command" should be changed to the gender-neutral "Thou dost in us command."
On Friday, however, it dropped the plan, citing an outpouring of opposition from Canadians.
So this Wednesday, Ruth plans to bring a set of new – but not unrelated – suggestions to her colleagues in the Conservative caucus.
Ruth's crusade to rejig the national anthem should come as no surprise to anyone who knows her. The sister of former lieutenant-governor Hal Jackman, Ruth is a long-time feminist who dropped the last name Jackman in the 1990s in a protest against patriarchy. A millionaire Toronto philanthropist, she came out publicly as a lesbian in 1993 during a run for provincial office as a Progressive Conservative candidate.
"Language is the power of the ruling class to define reality in its own terms to make invisible all others!" Ruth, 68, a short woman with grey hair and a contagious cackle shouts to the rafters in the empty Senate chamber. "I haven't got the exact quote, but it's like that."
The paraphrased message was delivered by feminist Catholic theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether and Ruth says she took it to heart when she first came across it three decades ago.
That philosophy inspired her quest to render the Canadian national anthem more gender-neutral – an issue that she says has been kicking around for decades – and she suggested the idea to Harper before the holidays. She says he had asked his caucus for low-cost proposals and other bright, shiny objects that could be put on the agenda for the coming months.
Ruth may have a point, although it's not a very popular one among my circle of friends. It's a pity that it got used as part of a desperate effort to try to cover up possible crimes.
My attention this afternoon was caught by Edward Keenan's tailored version from eye weekly, even if it doesn't scan all that well.
O Canada!
Our home and
native[outdated terminology and lack of possessive attribution] aboriginal peoples' land!
True patriot love
in all thy sons[gender restrictive] in all thysons, daughters and transexual offspring[oh, wait, I see you have a suggestion already covering this] thou dost in uscommand[imperialist language] inspire consensus.
With glowing hearts we
see[insensitive to the sight-impaired] become aware of thee rise,
The True North
strong[this is masculine-value normative and insensitive to the differently powerful] empowered andfree[does not fully reflect the Charter of Rights and Freedoms] free subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed
by law as can be demonstrably justified in a
free and democratic society!
From far and
wide[is this a crack about weight? In any event, it's nonsensical and leaves out those who are not from far, such as aboriginal peoples] not from far,
O Canada, we
stand[neglects the differently abled] exist on guard for thee.
God keep[intolerant of varied belief systems] This is our land glorious and free subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed
by law as can be demonstrably justified in a
free and democratic society!
O Canada, we
standexist on guard for thee.
O
Canada, westandexist on guard for thee.
I wish that the version of the anthem published in eye weekly was on the web, musical notation and all. It's glorious.
