Sailors walk towards HMCS Ville de Quebec for the Royal Canadian Navy Change of Command ceremony in Halifax on June 12, 2019.Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press
The Royal Canadian Navy plans to replace its official march with a new composition after deciding the lyrics, which celebrate British military victories in the colonial era and sing of men but not women, are disrespectful and outdated.
Heart of Oak, which is inherited from Britain and dates back to 1759, before Canada’s Confederation, is played at Royal Canadian Navy parades and mess dinners.
But the march “contains language that does not align with values and ethos of today’s Royal Canadian Navy or the broader Canadian Armed Forces,” said Captain Matthew Rowe, a spokesperson for the navy, in an e-mailed statement Thursday.
“Specifically, it includes references to colonialism and slavery, and language that is not representative of all those who serve in today’s Navy.”
The military has been working on this revamp for about four years, according to records obtained under access-to-information law.
One briefing note, prepared for navy brass and dated Dec. 4, 2020, flagged concern about the lyrics. It says the line, “to add something new to this wonderful year,” is a nod to various British victories in 1759 “as part of colonial conquests including over the French colony of Canada.”
It also points out the march mentions “free men not slaves,” a reminder of a time when “Britain and the Royal Navy were actively engaged in enslaving and selling people, until Britain officially prohibited the practice in 1807.”
Doing nothing would fail to address “micro-aggressions of exclusion at each mess dinner, parade and concert,” the briefing note says.
Another internal briefing note from Jan. 28, 2021, notes that Heart of Oak makes five references to men or males in the first six lines, such as “my lads,” “sons of the waves” and “steady boys, steady.” It proposed three solutions: continue to play the march without singing the lyrics, rewrite the lyrics to be “more inclusive” or draw up a new march.
“The lyrics reflect the demographic of the Navy at that time (i.e., no women in the Royal Navy), but are now outdated and do not reflect the Royal Canadian Navy or its evolving values,” the note says.
As of October, 2024, 20.7 per cent of those in the navy are women, Capt. Rowe said.
The military consulted for more than one year on how to address the fact the march’s “words and phrases that are not reflective of a military which strives to be inclusive and respectful of all persons,” according to a July 13, 2022, e-mail, and ultimately decided to begin a selection process for new music and lyrics.
Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, commander of the navy, said in an interview that it has been working on finding the right music and lyrics to replace the march.
He also noted that Canada wouldn’t be the first to jettison Heart of Oak, as the Australians have already replaced it with The Royal Australian Navy March.
Heart of Oak “reflects the perspective of the British, and it doesn’t reflect the fact that the founding nations of Canada include the Indigenous peoples of Canada and the French, alongside the British,” Vice-Adm. Topshee said.
The “wonderful year” referenced in the song was “not a glorious year if you were a francophone or many of the Indigenous peoples of Canada.”
Conservative defence critic James Bezan criticized the effort to replace Heart of Oak, calling it an example of misplaced priorities when the military is facing personnel and equipment shortages.
“It is baffling that the government is seemingly spending years debating changing the navy’s cherished song, which has been proudly sung throughout the proud and storied history of the Royal Canadian Navy,” Mr. Bezan said.
“Adding a new song is one thing, but our history and tradition should not be erased and traded for woke agendas.”
Vice-Adm. Topshee himself acknowledged that it’s taking time revamp its march because there are many other more pressing matters to address.
“When I’m talking about a personnel crisis where I’m 20-per-cent short and I got resource commitments around the world, and I need to tackle a whole list of things, this is a song. This is not the most urgent thing in the world,” he said.
“And so why is it taking so long? Because we’re doing it at the pace we can afford to do it.”