Ailing Liberal MP Mauril Belanger To Try Again To Change Lyrics To Canada's National Anthem

OTTAWA — Liberal MP Mauril Belanger is losing his own singing voice but that's not stopping him from trying — for a second time — to change the English lyrics to O Canada to make the national anthem more gender neutral.

 

The veteran Ottawa MP, whose vocal chords have been weakened by Lou Gehrig's disease, is determined to end the song's inference that patriotism is something felt exclusively by men.

 

Hence, soon after Parliament resumes work today, he intends to table a private member's bill that would alter two words, changing the second line of the anthem from true patriot love "in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command."

 

Belanger introduced an identical bill in the last session of Parliament; it was defeated at second reading last April by a close vote of 144-127.

 

At the time, MPs from all the opposition parties supported the change but almost all Conservative MPs voted against it.

 

With the Liberals now in the majority, Belanger should have little trouble finally ensuring that women feel equally included in the national anthem.

 

Passage of the bill would be a fitting legacy for Belanger, who was diagnosed just a month after the Oct. 19 federal election with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. It is an incurable, progressive, neurodegenerative disease that causes muscle weakness, paralysis and, eventually, respiratory failure.

 

"I remain committed to proposing this legislative initiative," Belanger said in a recent posting on his Facebook page.