Living in Balance
By Jenipher Appleton
Do you stand tall and proud for the Canadian National Anthem? Do you sing it out with a sense of pride in your country? If you are wearing a hat, do you remove it? Apparently we are living in a time when many people not only avoid singing the anthem, some don’t even know all the words or melody!
According to a study conducted by the University of Victoria in B.C., 30 per cent of choir students polled did not know all of the words; 46 per cent had the melody incorrect. And these were choir students! Perhaps this disheartening situation is a result of high schools choosing not to sing the anthem each day. Perhaps it is because music specialists are no longer valued in our educational system. Or, even worse, maybe we just don’t feel the patriotism. By the way, Newfoundland scored the best in the national anthem survey. Good for them!
View of a new Canadian
If I were a new Canadian, depending on my country of origin, I might be heard to say, “I am so happy and proud to become a Canadian citizen. Life in the old country was so hard. No jobs, no democracy, oppression everywhere. Canada is the answer to all my prayers. It is the best country in the world! I am so grateful and feel such a deep emotion toward her flag and her anthem. I am so proud to stand up tall and sing it out loud!”
View of war veteran
If I were a Canadian war veteran, I might be heard to say, “I am deeply saddened that our young people do not show respect to the Canadian flag and the national anthem. If it had not been for my fellow veterans, in all areas of the military, Canada would be a terrible place to live. Thousands upon thousands of Canadians gave their lives to protect us from the supreme evil; they fought tooth and nail for our freedom, for peace, and for democracy. Because of them, we live in the best country in the world! Many of my brothers and sisters who have gone before would be so sad and disappointed if they knew our youth didn’t care about our national anthem and had no sense of pride in their country. I think maybe they do know, and are rolling over in their graves. Something must be done to stop the ignorance and the sense of entitlement many of our young people seem to possess!”
Perhaps we could pause and take some advice from a truly great Canadian, none other than Stompin’ Tom Connors. The lyrics from the chorus of his song Canada Day say it all:
O Canada, standing tall together.
We’ll raise our hands and hail our flag,
THE MAPLE LEAF FOREVER!!