Lawmakers in Canada vote to make national anthem gender-neutral

Members of the Canadian Women's Soccer Team in London in 2012.
(Image credit: Stanley Chou/Getty Images)

On Wednesday, Canadian lawmakers voted to change the English version of "O Canada," the country's national anthem, to make the lyrics gender-neutral.

The bill would remove the words "in all thy sons command" and insert "in all of us command," Reuters reports. The Liberal-controlled House of Commons passed the bill, and it now goes to the appointed Senate, which usually approves legislation from the House. "I think it's really important as a very strong symbol of our commitment to gender equality in this country," Status of Women Minister Patty Hajdu said before the vote. There were some Conservative lawmakers opposed to the bill, saying the Canadian people were not consulted on the matter.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.