A group of notable Canadian women has launched a campaign for gender-neutral language in the English lyrics of 'O Canada'. The group says the change would restore Canada's English national anthem to its original gender-neutral intentions.The coalition -- which includes author Margaret Atwood and former prime minister Kim Campbell -- has set up a website to promote the idea. It calls on Canadians to join the campaign and encourage Prime Minister Harper's government to change the line "in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command."
The group says for no documented reason the lyrics were changed in 1913 from "thou dost in us command" to "in all thy sons command" and that it is time to make a change to reflect the inclusive intentions of the original lyrics.
Atwood said, "The words 'All thy sons command' in the English national anthem suggests that only male loyalty is being invoked. Restoring these lyrics to gender-neutral is not only an easy fix to make our anthem inclusive for all Canadians, but it's also long overdue."