And while we're dealing with goofiness and the North . . .

we have the example of Canada changing the words to its National Anthem, to be gender neutral.

Which it had been in the first place.

This is just silly.

Okay, the lyrics of Oh Canada are, or now:

O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. 

You can see how shockingly sexist that is.

You can't? 

Well perhaps that's because you aren't hypersensitive.  But in recent years being over sensitive to such things has seemingly become a sort of Canadian thing.

Here's what that lien is being changed to:

True patriot love in all of us command.

What might be better noted here is that the line "True patriot love in all thy sons command" is incredibly awkward, even though Oh Canada is a pretty song.  What might also be noted is that "True patriot love in all of us command" is also incredible awkward.  Indeed, I'm not even sure if the grammar is proper.  It's certainly a rather odd sentence.

Of interest, the original English words (which weren't the original words) of the poem that was later set to music, written by Stanley Weir, were:

O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love thou dost in us command.
We see thee rising fair, dear land,
The True North, strong and free;
And stand on guard, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.

So it was also awkward, but gender neutral, if in archaic language.  It's grammar isn't strained, however, if archaic.

But perhaps no more archaic than having "thy" in a song, a word that hasn't been used in regular speech since the time that Cromwell was just a difficult child in the 7th grade.

Not everyone was keen on the change.  One Canadian member of parliament stated; "If this is Justin Trudeau’s Senate, we are certainly trampling upon democracy. And we’re putting the government on notice today"  Trudeau of course followed up with his comment on "peoplekind".  And this sort of hypersensitivity, which is spawning I'd note a serious debate in Canada with some columnist really taking this to be a serious matter, should given Canadians pause, but not because its serious.  It's a true "first world problem".  If this is a matter of real debate, can "Real Housewives of Quebec City" be far behind, which Justin Trudeau taking a weekly cameo role?

I wonder what the Canadian Senate intends to do with one of the later lines of the poem:

O Canada! Beneath thy shining skies
May stalwart 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!

Son?  Maidens?

Oh my.

Maybe that part isn't in it anymore.  Or is never sung, like the really aggressive later lines of The Queen, the British National Anthem that the original French language version of Oh Canada was written to counter (have you folks forgotten that?)

God save our gracious Queen!

Long live our noble Queen!

God save the Queen!

Send her victorious,

Happy and glorious,

Long to reign over us,

God save the Queen. 
 

Thy choicest gifts in store
On her be pleased to pour,
Long may she reign.
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause,
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the Queen.

And those are the cleaned up non militaristic lines.

Perhaps the Senate should go one further and take out all of the potentially offensive words, including nativists and and aggressive ones. The song could then start off:

O Canada! Our home and mmmmmm land!
True neutral non offensive  love thou dost in us mmmmmmm.
We see thee rising fair, dear land,
The mmmmm North, strong and free;
And stand mmmmmmm, O Canada,
We mmmmmmmmm for thee.

The song, by the way, was originally written with French lyrics.  Not English.  Perhaps it would be better to go back to the French ones, which have nearly 40 years on the English ones.  That would be a nice bone to toss to Quebec, after all, right.  So what are those lyrics?

O Canada! Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux.
Car ton bras sait porter l’épée,
Il sait porter la croix.
Ton histoire est une épopée,
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

So, how's that translate?

O Canada! Land of our ancestors.
Your brow is covered with glorious flower garlands.
Because your arm knows how to wield a sword
And knows how to carry a cross
Your history is an epic
Of brilliants exploits
And your valour is steeped in faith
Protect our homes and our rights
Protect our homes and our rights

Hard to see a Parliament that's so concerned with the PC of a single line being able to take up the tune of the original song at all.  After all, it expresses an opinion. That might offend somebody.

Speaking of French national anthems, consider Les Marseillaise:

Allons, enfants de la Patrie
Le jour de gloire est arrivé!
Contre nous, de la tyrannie
L'étendard sanglant est levé
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras
Égorger nos fils, nos compagnes!
Aux armes, citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons
Marchons, marchons!
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons!

The translation?

Arise, children of the Fatherland
The day of glory has arrived
Against us tyranny's
Bloody banner is raised
Do you hear, in the countryside
The roar of those ferocious soldiers?
They're coming right into your arms
To cut the throats of your sons, your women!
To arms, citizens!
Form your battalions
Let's march, let's march
Let an impure blood
Water our furrows!

Oh my.

It's almost like the French, and British, are proud of their countries and aren't that worried about offending you.  Gosh.