Editing O Canada (section)

===Inclusive language debates===
In June 1990, [[Toronto City Council]] voted 12 to 7 in favour of recommending to the [[Government of Canada|Canadian government]] that the phrase "our home and native land" be changed to "our home and cherished land" and that "in all thy sons command" be partly reverted to "in all of us command". Councillor [[Howard Moscoe]] said that the words "native land" were not appropriate for the many Canadians who were not native-born and that the word "sons" implied "that women can't feel true patriotism or love for Canada".<ref>{{Cite news| last=Byers| first=Jim | title='O Canada' offensive, Metro says| newspaper=Toronto Star| page=A.2| date=June 6, 1990}}</ref> [[Senate of Canada|Senator]] [[Vivienne Poy]] similarly criticized the English lyrics of the anthem as being [[Gender-neutral language|sexist]] and she introduced a bill in 2002 proposing to change the phrase "in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command".<ref name=Hansard2002/> In the late 2000s, the anthem's religious references (to God in English and to the [[Christian cross]] in French) were criticized by [[secularist]]s.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.americanhumanist.org/hnn/archives/?id=242&article=7| last=Thomas| first=Doug| title=Is Canada a Secular Nation? Part 3: Post-Charter Canada| publisher=Institute for Humanist Studies| date=May 17, 2006| access-date=March 27, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620010135/http://americanhumanist.org/hnn/archives/?id=242&article=7| archive-date=June 20, 2010| url-status=dead| df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In the [[speech from the throne]] delivered by [[Governor General of Canada|Governor General]] [[Michaëlle Jean]] on March 3, 2010, a plan to have parliament review the "original [[gender-neutral]] wording of the national anthem" was announced.<ref>{{Cite news| title=O Canada lyrics to be reviewed| publisher=MSN| date=March 3, 2010| url=http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/cbc-article.aspx?cp-documentid=23570847| access-date=July 6, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100306130321/http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/cbc-article.aspx?cp-documentid=23570847| archive-date=March 6, 2010| url-status=dead}}</ref> However, three-quarters of Canadians polled after the speech objected to the proposal and,<ref>{{Citation|title=English-Speaking Canadians Reject Changing Verse from "O Canada"|publisher=[[Angus Reid Public Opinion]]|date=March 5, 2010| page=1}}{{Nonspecific|date=September 2019}}</ref> two days later, the [[Office of the Prime Minister (Canada)|prime minister's office]] announced that the [[Cabinet of Canada|cabinet]] had decided not to change the original lyrics.<ref>{{Cite news| title=National anthem won't change: PMO| publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation| date=March 5, 2010| url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/national-anthem-won-t-change-pmo-1.897850| access-date=April 11, 2016| archive-date=April 20, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420194621/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/national-anthem-won-t-change-pmo-1.897850| url-status=live}}</ref>

In another attempt to make the anthem gender-neutral, Liberal MP [[Mauril Bélanger]] introduced a [[private member's bill]] in September 2014. His Bill C-624, ''An Act to amend the National Anthem Act (gender)'', was defeated at second reading in April 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/LEGISInfo/BillDetails.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&billId=6691453|title=Private Member's Bill C-624 (41–2)|website=LEGISinfo|publisher=Parliament of Canada|access-date=March 3, 2018|archive-date=February 26, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160226084743/http://www.parl.gc.ca/LegisInfo/BillDetails.aspx?Language=E&billId=6691453&Mode=1|url-status=live}}</ref> Following the [[2015 Canadian federal election|2015 federal election]], Bélanger reintroduced the bill in the new parliament as Bill C-210 in January 2016.<ref name="C-210">{{Cite web|url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/LEGISInfo/BillDetails.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&billId=8068817|title=Private Member's Bill C-210 (42–1)|website=LEGISinfo|publisher=Parliament of Canada|access-date=June 6, 2016|archive-date=May 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501213024/http://www.parl.gc.ca/LegisInfo/BillDetails.aspx?billId=8068817&Language=E&Mode=1|url-status=live}}</ref> In June 2016, the bill passed its third reading with a vote of 225 to 74 in the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]].<ref>{{Cite news| title=Dying MP's gender-neutral O Canada bill passes final Commons vote| work=CBC News| date=June 15, 2016| url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/belanger-o-canada-gender-lyrics-bill-1.3636348| agency=The Canadian Press| access-date=June 15, 2016| archive-date=December 30, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230043627/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/belanger-o-canada-gender-lyrics-bill-1.3636348| url-status=live}}</ref> The bill passed its third reading in the [[Senate of Canada|Senate]] with a [[voice vote]] on January 31, 2018, and received [[royal assent]] on February 7, 2018.<ref name="passed in senate">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/anthem-bill-passes-senate-1.4513317|first=John Paul|last=Tasker|title='In all of us command': Senate passes bill approving gender neutral anthem wording|work=CBC News|date=January 31, 2018|access-date=January 31, 2018|archive-date=May 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528092926/http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/anthem-bill-passes-senate-1.4513317|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/o-canada-gender-neutral-melanie-joly-1.4524764|title=O Canada now officially gender neutral after bill receives royal assent|work=CBC News|last=Tasker|first=John Paul|date=February 7, 2018|access-date=February 7, 2018|archive-date=November 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109034330/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/o-canada-gender-neutral-melanie-joly-1.4524764|url-status=live}}</ref>