this land rich with resources
oil, the blood, extracted
gold, the treasure, extracted
diamonds, a girl’s best friend, extracted
people came from far and wide
to disgrace you
O Canada
your rivers once ran free
your lakes once ran clear
your oceans once ran with the mighty salmon
now, the water is brown
backed up with waste
nuclear and sewage,
O Canada
people rise up
together they stand, united
like the many strands of hair
braided, they are one
people cry out in protest
a plea to use reason
and common sense
to stop the clear-cutting
to stop the destruction of sacred land
to stop the extracting of oil
to stop the contamination of the water
O Canada
the people are protesting
and are targeted by the police
who attack from horse back
and from behind black shields they pepper spray
and drag them down to prison
in plastic hand cuffs
because they are standing up for their human rights
the people are still protesting the dumping of mercury
in Grassy Narrows,
the tar sands extracting whatever they can in Alberta,
the streets in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal
Ottawa and all the places in between,
the people are rising, O Canada
men are taken for a ride by the RCMP
in the middle of the night
they are left on the side of the road
in the middle of winter
anyone who knows you, O Canada
knows that the winters are cold
frost bite freezes beneath the skin
and the men are carved in snow
O Canada, women are missing across the land
no one sees them, they are shadows that disappear
in the first ray of light, no one hears them
screaming, yelling, pleading for help, muffled by busy streets
aunties, sisters, mothers, daughters, and
grandmothers are missing, are murdered on your land
O Canada, is this the land of the true north and free?
O Canada, the water is contaminated
in Kashechewan, and the people broke out in a severe rash
like a wild fire spread across the community
and this happens in many first nations
water is a human right a treaty right
and a treaty right a human right
O Canada!
there is a grandmother walking
around the great lakes
the rivers, the creeks
and people are joining her from the four directions
they are praying, they are protecting
the rights of Water
this human right for everyone
we are all treaty people
yet the people are gathering, O Canada
they are here to listen, O Canada
to share, O Canada
to witness stories, O Canada
of many living here in Canada,
O, we are here, Canada.
