As you and some of your readers may already be aware Calixa Lavallee (1842-1891) was a French-Canadian musician and performer who wrote the music for “O Canada.”
He moved to the United States in 1859, served in the Union Army (1861-1862) as a bandsman and assistant to the medics.
After his release from the Army in 1862, he spent 10 years performing in blackface in minstrel shows throughout the northeast United States, before returning to Canada in 1873.
That would be from the age of 21 to 31.
Given all the upset about Justin Trudeau appearing in blackface at age 29 at a private function, where he was not paid to perform, I contend that since Lavallee did perform in blackface for money, we should no longer sing “O Canada” to his music. Instead, we should commission someone to write new music in order to rid ourselves of this shameful blot on our national character and pride.
However, before the contract is signed for this new composer to write the music, a Royal Commission should spend several years investigating the life and activities of the new composer to be sure that they did not do anything at any time in their lives that is not accepted within today’s societal norms or has offended anyone.
Since it will probably take at least five years for the Royal Commission to investigate, gather and sift through the information and write its report, we should just mouth the words of “O Canada” until this process is complete and the new composer has written the new score.
Bert Riggs,
St. John’s
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