That old and faded Maple Leaf still flies strongly in the wind,
It's colour now faded by it's time in the sun.
We are still very proud of that old faded Maple Leaf.
Oh Canada, our own beloved native land!
Our true north strong and free!
Oh Canada where pines and maples grow.
Great prairies spread and lordly rivers flow.
Help us find oh God in thee
A lasting rich reward,
As waiting for the better Day
We ever stand on guard.
*( The anthem has other verses. Some lines we might remember from our past, both English and in the original French versions we deemed sexist or too religious by the year 2000. Some sexist words referring to Canada as “he” and religious references to God, or alter ,were trimmed, native land was under scrutiny but was kept.) The anthem was once quite aggressively written.
He wears the halo of fire on his brow,
Enemy of tyranny
But full of loyalty
He wants to keep in harmony
His proud freedom,
and by the effort of his genius
Set on our ground the truth,
Set on our ground the truth.
Oh Canada, a First Nations word for village.
Nearly ten million square kilometers,
A place where a person can get lost or be found.
A place not fully explored,nor understood.
A place so closely aligned with Great Britain,
It carries the sins of it's colonial master.
That old and faded Maple Leaf proudly flies high in the wind.
Oh Canada,we stand on guard for thee.
WE stands out, as well as exclamation marks.
WE separated from the kingdom by a peaceful pens stroke.
A hewer of wood and mineral extractor, and bread basket to the world.
We are a destination with 3 ocean coasts,
The Rocky Mountains, Great Lakes, wild rivers, raging falls,Canadian shield with endless forests,
and calm still waters and it's people came here from every corner of the world.
Famous for Tim's coffee, Canadian Tire stores and maple syrup, winter wheat,Louis Riel, Tommy Prince, Governor General Mary Simon, Donald Sutherland, Justin Bieber, Phil Fontaine, Celine Dion, Drake, Jim Carrey, the RCMP, Ovide Mercredi, ,polar bears, Crispy Crunch bars, poutine and the Canadian Hockey, Gordie Howe , The Rocket and Wayne Gretzky to name a few. We are famous for being forever sorry and being not too proud to say it.
We are also Eh! Sayers and,
Historic, petty cross border smugglers. Whisky and rum runners. Money laundering is a new economy skill for the 21 Century.
Yet, we are best known for the Maple Leaf. First Nations people called the 49th Parallel The Medicine Line a land of peace during the American Indian Wars.
Conflict and wagons brought Loyalists and freed slaves by an under ground railroad,
Refugees came in ships, by plane and walked over land.
That Old Maple Leaf still proudly flies strong in the wind although it's colour is getting a bit faded.
Oh Canada, true patriot love.
With English ,French and First Nations and a hundred other nations,
it made one country,
ten provinces and three territories,
A country so big it has two solitude's and now add a third.
It is Upper and Lower, East and West,the North and the GTA,
the tundra and rocks and prairie soil, and four NHL teams,
Five if you count the Leafs. WE are famous for our humour.
We are big enough for cutting regional rivalries.
One of our best fought wars might be the Battle of Alberta.
At our best is our art and sports , science, literature and humour.
At our worst is the historic treatment of First Nation's peoples especially the children
and no apology can fix that.
It is all about what we do next as a people.
That old and faded Maple Leaf, Oh Canada strong and Free.
It is peaceful and our Blue Helmets exported peace with the United Nations,
It has fought in the Great Wars on the right side of history.
We bombed cities supporting allies.
Fought bravely in the Battle of Britain and stormed Normandy's beaches
Our flag was deemed too British for Peacekeepers during the Suez Crisis.
It has been persistently and stubbornly colonial and is trying to do better.
And fought one obscure conflict called the Beaver War
as well as the Seven Years War known best by it's length.
Our smartest and best fought the flu and cured polio, created pablum, insulin,
used cold temperatures to make open heart surgery possible,
transplanted stem cells. Made medicine bottles childproof,
created an HIV and an Ebola treatments,
and created breakthroughs for cancer treatment.
WE invented basketball ,built the Avro Arrow and the CN Tower and a rails through the Rockies.
We believe in welfare for all and taxes on everything and universal healthcare.
Oh Canada! Beneath thy shining skies
May stalworth sons,and gentle maidens rise,
To keep thee steadfast through the years
From east to western sea.
Our own beloved native land!
Our true north strong and free!
That faded Old Maple Leaf still flies strong and proudly in the wind.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise, a developed country,
A member of the G-7,G-10 and G-20 the United Nations, NATO
and a good place to live that trades with the world.
It has garage sales,flea markets, church bazaars and cross border shopping
You can gamble in casinos,play the numbers and bet on sports but never bet on the Jets.
Canada a safe place, where fairness is the goal over everything else.
Oh Canada Strong and Free.
Opinion By Ken Gigliotti
Topic: That Old Faded Maple Leaf Still Strong and Free (Read 2858 times)