O Canada now officially gender neutral after bill receives royal assent

The national anthem is now officially gender neutral after legislation altering the lyricsreceived royal assent Wednesday morning, Heritage Minister Mlanie Joly told reporters.

Joly, standing alongside Catherine Blanger, the wife of the bill's original sponsor Liberal MPMauril Blangerwho died of ALS in 2016, said the line "in all thy sons command" has now been officially replaced with "in all of us command."

"His long advocacyfor the subject has actuallychanged the course of our history. Now, women across this country will be well-reflectedin their own national anthem,"Jolysaid as she looked at Blanger's widow.

"This is a wonderful day. Mygranddaughtersand I are on cloud nine and I am sureMaurilis smiling,"Blangersaid.

Joly said she has instructed officials in her department to change the lyrics on the government's website and alter materials the federal government distributes to schools.Jolysaid no new money would be made available to promote the change, but existing departmental funds would berepurposedto make thepublic aware of the new lyrics.

The bill received royal assent this morning, and was signed into law by the Governor General's secretary,AssuntaDi Lorenzo, as Gov.-Gen. Julie Payette is in South Korea ahead of the Olympic opening ceremonies.

Jolysaid Canadian Olympians in Pyeongchang already sang the altered version of the song this morning during a flag-raising ceremony at the athletes' village.

Members of Parliament traditionally sing the national anthem each Wednesday before the start of business, andJolysaid she would proudly sing the new lyrics. She said she hopes ConservativeMPswill also sing the gender-neutral anthem.

• 'In all of us command': Senate passes bill approving gender neutral anthem wording
• Will Olympic gold-winning Canadians remember new anthem lyrics?

Some Tories opposed

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer voted against Blanger's bill in the House of Commons.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Scheer said he's "disappointed" by how the government went about changing the lyrics toO Canada.

MPs sing the gender neutral version of O Canada

7 years ago

Duration 1:20

MPs sing the gender neutral version of O Canada

Bill C-210passed the Senate last week after more than 18 months of debate. Many Conservative senators were staunchlyopposed to changing words written by a man long dead. Others, including Conservative Manitoba Sen. Don Plett,thought the new lyrics should have been put to the people in a referendum.

Tory senators ultimately boycotted the final vote in opposition to some procedural tools used by Independent senators to shut down debate once and for all and hold a vote.

Since 1980, whenO Canadaofficially became the country's anthem, 12 bills have been introduced in the Houseto strip thegenderedreference to "sons," which some have argued is discriminatory. All attempts have faileduntil now.

The English lyrics werewritten by Robert Stanley Weir in 1908and they have been changed beforeincluding an update that dates back to before the First World War when the author added the line that later sparked so much debate. Weir, a poet and judge,changed "thou dost in us command" to "in all thy sons command."