National Policy

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Oor fader lef' ole France behin', dat's
  many year ago,
An' how we get along since den, wall! ev'ry
  body know,
Few t'ousan' firse class familee was only come
  dat tam,
An' now we got pure Canayens; t'ee million
  peop' bedamme!

Dat's purty smart beez-neese, I t'ink we done
  on Canadaw,
An' we don't mak' no grande hooraw, but do
  it tranquillement
So if we're braggin' now an' den, we mus' be
  excuzay,
For no wan's never see before de record bus'
  dat way.

An' w'y should we be feel ashame, 'cos we
  have boy an' girl?
No matter who was come along, we'll match
  agen de worl';
Wit plaintee boy lak w'at we got no danger
  be afraid,
An' all de girl she look too nice for never come
  ole maid.

If we have only small cor-nere de sam' we
  have before
W'en ole Champlain an' Jacques Cartier firse
  jomp upon de shore
Dere's no use hurry den at all, but now you
  understan'
We got to whoop it up, ba gosh! for occupy
  de lan'!

W'at's use de million acre, w'at's use de belle
  riviere,
An' t'ing lak dat if we don't have somebody
  leevin' dere?
W'at's mak' de worl' look out for us, an' kip
  de nation free
Unless we're raison' all de tam some fine large
  familee?

Don't seem long we buil' dat road, Chemin
  de Pacifique,
Tak' honder dollar pass on dere, an' nearly two
  t'ree week,
Den look dat place it freeze so hard, on w'at
  you call Klon-dak,
Wall! if we have to fill dem up, we got some
  large contrac'!

Of course we're not doin' bad jus' now; so
  ev'rybody say,
But we dunno de half we got on Canadaw to-
  day,
An' still she's comin' beeger, an' never mak'
  no fuss,
So if we don't look out, firse t'ing, she'll get
  ahead of us.

De more I t'ink, de more I'm scare, de way
  she grow so fas',
An' worse of all it's hard to say how long de
  boom'll las'
But if she don't go slower an' ease up leetle
 bit,
Bimeby de Canayens will be some dead bird on
  de pit.

Den ev'ry body hip hooraw! an' sen' de
  familee
Along de reever, t'roo de wood, an' on de
  grande prairie,
Dat's only way I'm t'inkin arrange de w'ole
  affaire
An' mebbe affer wíle dere won't be too moche
  lan' for spare.

© William Henry Drummond