Lyrical reform of ‘O Canada’ not likely to happen anytime soon

For a country that's often credited with keeping the spirit of political correctness alive, there seems to be one area where Canadians aren't willing to compromise: our national anthem.

Following Austria's move to adopt a more gender-neutral set of lyrics for its own anthem this week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office said they would not be revisiting last year's ill-received attempt to do the same.

"No, the issue is not up for consideration," the prime minister's press secretary, Sara MacIntyre, told the Ottawa Citizen.

"Canadians are very proud of their national anthem as it is," she added.

On Wednesday, Austrian legislators passed a motion to definitively tweak the words to the country's national anthem. As of Jan. 1, the new lyric will read "homeland of great daughters and sons," amending the original "homeland of great sons".

The change has long been debated in the European country, with left-leaning politicians pushing for reform since the 1990s.

Last year, Prime Minister Harper floated around a similar idea during his Throne Speech, when he suggested a more inclusive way of expressing the line, "in all thy sons command."

Public reaction was swift and deadly, causing Harper to abandon his suggestion post haste. Even then-Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff criticized the move, saying that while he thought the move toward gender inclusiveness was a step in the right direction, perhaps that initiative should be put toward more productive means.

"There are a lot of things to do for women that are more important than changing the words of the national anthem," he argued at the time.

Despite the browbeating it received, Harper's proposal still has one staunch ally. Senator Nancy Ruth, who first suggested the idea to the Prime Minister back in 2010, said she believes Austria's move provides a glimmer of hope for lyrical reform.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could follow (the Austrians)," she told the paper. "The cause is never lost, as is any cause for women's equality. After all, we have women soldiers fighting in Afghanistan, or did."

Ruth clarified that she doesn't want to rewrite the English lyrics, but rather she'd like to see them restored to their original version, written by Robert Stanley Weir in 1908. In that version, the line reads: "true patriot love thou dost in us command" instead of the current line "all thy sons command," which she said the government then changed to help recruit soldiers during the First World War.

Although the senator said she doesn't plan on revisiting the issue with Harper any time soon, that doesn't mean she's giving up.

"I rather suspect we'll have to wait for another government, much to my disappointment," she said.