Halifax — Despite all the hubbub in Ottawa surrounding the changing lyrics to Canada’s national anthem, it turns out that most Maritimers had no idea our anthem was “O Canada,” instead believing for decades that it was the lyric-less Hockey Night in Canada theme song.
The Manatee took to the streets of Atlantic Canada to ask citizens what they thought about a Senate committee changing the words from “in all thy sons command” to “in all of us command”; we were shocked to discover that nobody had a clue what we were talking about.
“Duh-duh-duuh-duh-duhhhhh..!” hummed Halifax man Ryan Pembroke. “That’s the national anthem, right? It’s the only song you’ll catch me standing up for, anyway.”
“HNIC is what makes us Canadian,” stated Lyla Allen of Minto. “And that song — I can’t think of the words right now, but it means everything to me and my family. Has for generations. Go Maple Leafs!!”
“I remember when they played it every morning in school,” reminisced Terry Newman of Rexton. “It was a staple of Bonar Law Memorial High. We even called it ‘Hockey Morning in Canada.’ To think anyone would want to change that tune really pisses me off!”
Our survey revealed other Maritimers to be almost scarily clueless about Canadian politics and history.
“Hockey Night in Canada began airing back in ’52, which is when I assume our national anthem was written,” rambled amateur historian Fred MacDonald of Truro. “I think since then they changed the name to ‘Molson’ Hockey Night in Canada, but that’s OK with me. The rest of the country should get with the times instead of belly-achin’ about change. Molson’s a great beer and it’s a great song to boot.”
“Heck yeah, any time ol’ Prime Minister Don Cherry gets up there and starts talkin’ on Saturday night, it brings a tear to my eye,” said Charlottetown resident Neil Duguay. “I’m some proud to be Canadian. That’ll never change.”