I grew up singing the national anthem every day in public school. We didn’t sing it in high school but we heard it every morning on a recording.
 
I am so old that when I first started school, we didn’t sing O Canada until I was in about grade four. Up until then we sang The Maple Leaf Forever, which was a very pro British song that had a stirring passionate tune and chorus. We also sang God Save the Queen. In fact all the kids in the class I was in were on the vanguard of that song because I started public school right after her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne. Before that, everybody sang God Save the King for King George. I still remember some of the teachers and older kids at Fern Avenue Public School getting it mixed up. It took a while until they all got used to it.
 
Sometime in the early 1950s, O Canada replaced The Maple Leaf Forever as the song we sang in the morning and it became the official national anthem that I have come to know and love.
 
As an immigrant, I especially love O Canada because of all it represents to me and my family.
 
When I think of the world my parents came from and arriving in Canada, I cannot begin to describe my gratitude for the life this country permitted us all to live. We never had a lot of money but we were all rich the moment we stepped off that boat.
 
Many years later, I remember when my oldest son Zakary first learned the anthem in
kindergarten, even though he got a few words wrong and sang it as, “O Canada, our home all made of land.” I still could not help the tears in my eyes as I listened. To this very day I cannot sing the song at the beginning of a hockey game without choking up. Today I take Zakary’s children. My grandkids,  to hockey games.
 
I write all that because I want to explain how much this country means to me, but I also believe that the concept of patriotism and extreme nationalism is wrong and detrimental to the world we live in. It may seem that I am at odds between my love of this country and my patriotism for Canada. I believe we can be both things at the same time.
 
We just should not be over the top about our country, our religion and our culture.
Celebrating culture is one thing. Being passionate about our country and our religion to the point of hurting others is quite another. When someone does that they are foolish. They are stupid.
 
Their life is a waste.
 
I understand the fundamentals of a country – the law citizens live by and the rules of citizenship. I believe in being a good steward of Canada. I think Canada is a culture itself. A culture of togetherness. A place where everybody lives together with different backgrounds and faiths.
 
I think we are at a point in the world where all countries joining together is a great idea. I think the example set by the European Union is inspirational. We should all join together here in North America and then all join the whole world together. No more countries, but rather provinces that have all kinds of different celebrations of religion and culture to offer.
 
When I become emotional about the Canadian national anthem, it is for what it all represents.
 
This is a special country wide open to all. Walk in any different neighbourhood in any city in Canada and you will see all manner of different dress, hear all sorts of music and come upon all kinds of customs. To top it all off, we have two official languages here. And just so no one is left out, we still have rednecks and grumpy people.
 
It seems to me that when we sing the national anthem, we are singing about all of that. We are not singing about how our country is superior to others in military strength or the great might of the people. God forbid! We are singing about the most fundamental important things we all have – all the great gifts this magnificent country gives us.
 
I recently heard that some schools in Canada have dropped the practice of singing O Canada. I am not sure what to make of that. If it is a problem, they shouldn’t sing it, I guess. But I cannot understand why singing O Canada is a problem. What is the matter with them?
 
Heino Molls is publisher of REM. Email [email protected].