Canada now has a gender-neutral national anthem.
On Wednesday, the Liberal-dominated Senate passed a private member’s bill that will make “O Canada” inclusive, according to Ontario Sen. Francis Lankin.
“I’m very, very happy,” she told CBC News. “There’s been 30 years plus of activity trying to make our national anthem, this important thing about our country, inclusive of all of us.”
The bill, once it has received Royal Assent, will change the lyrics of the anthem from “in all thy sons command” to “in all of us command.”
The bill was first introduced almost two years ago by Ontario Liberal Member of Parliament Mauril Belanger, who has since died of Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
The legislation made its way through the House of Commons with some Conservative Party opposition but has been stalled in the Senate for over a year — thanks to the efforts of Manitoba Conservative Sen. Don Plett who argued that the change was not only an example of extreme political correctness but something that Canadians should decide for themselves in a referendum.
“Clearly, I’m disappointed… it’s been a long fight, I believe the Canadian public wanted a say in our national anthem, just like they had in the great Canadian flag debate. This is an issue for the Canadian public to decide…” Plett old reporters on Wednesday.
The change to the national anthem is just the latest initiative of the Trudeau government to promote a gender-neutral agenda. Last June, Canada made “gender equity” a part of the country’s Criminal Code, potentially making it a criminal act to not use gender-neutral pronouns.