O Canada?
The debate about whether to change the lyrics of “O Canada” or not goes beyond simply a debate of semantics, and has very real social consequences. At least, it does according to the CSA. On their website, they state that “the mention of God in the anthem is often cited as evidence that Canada is a ‘Christian nation’, and used to argue for substantive public policies that undermine church-state separation … thus, seemingly ‘trivial’ issues of symbolism have a tendency to become relevant to highly non-trivial debates about government policy.” They conclude that as a liberal democracy and a pluralistic country, Canada’s government should not take an official position on the existence of God, and whether or not organized religion has the right or ability to speak on that God’s behalf. They believe that all of Canada’s public institutions, including the national anthem, should reflect this.
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