This week’s notable internet meme was about as self-consciously Canadian as a video could be without featuring moose, maple syrup or coureurs de bois. That included a whole lot of Canadian self-deprecation.

Actor and icon William Shatner got a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Governor General this month. To honour him, the National Film Board shot a five-and-a-half-minute video where Shatner takes a crack at singing our national anthem, with mixed results.

The Shat treats the lyrics to “O Canada” as beat poetry, speaking them rather than singing them. Then he tries to improve on the “outdated” lyrics, adding verses about “same-sex partnership” and “free health care.”

He opts, memorably, for “O Canada, our home on Native land.”

The video had garnered nearly 32,000 views on the NFB’s website. Okay, so few non-Canadian viewers — besides a few diehard Shatner fans — likely passed around the video. Does that make it any less of a delight?

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