Peace River-Westlock MP Arnold Viersen is disappointed the Senate voted to change one line in O Canada, calling the ruling Liberal party out of touch with rank-and-file Canadians.
Bill C-210: An Act to amend the National Anthem Act (gender) passed by an unrecorded vote in the Senate Jan. 31 after Independent Ontario Senator Frances Lankin introduced a motion to end 18 months of debate that will see the line In all thy sons command changed to In all of us command. The bill still needs royal assent from the Governor General to become law.
“The Liberals are showing that they are completely out of touch with mainstream Canadians,” said Viersen.
“Some of these things are meant to be unifying things. I don’t think changing the national anthem is bringing Canadians together whatsoever.”
Viersen said he voted against the change each time it was brought to the House of Commons, most recently during a 225-74 vote June 15, 2016. United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney, who was still a sitting MP at the time, also voted against.
Since O Canada became the national anthem in 1980 there have been 12 failed bills to remove ‘sons’ from the song.
Viersen said that he had not heard much support for changing the words during his tenure as MP.
“Just from my own research, the overwhelming response was to keep the anthem the way it was,” he said. “So not only is it my own opinion, it’s my constituents as well.”
While he is voicing his displeasure, Viersen said the Conservatives aren’t planning to spend resources to change the lyrics back.
“I don’t think we’ll be pushing this one way or the other,” he said. “It will be up to Canadians to choose how they sing it from now on.”
Changing the lyrics to O Canada to make it gender neutral was a legislative goal of the late Ottawa-Vanier MP Mauril Bélanger, who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, shortly after the Oct. 19 2015 general election that swept the Liberal party into power. Bélanger died Aug. 15, 2016.
O Canada was composed by Calixa Lavallée in 1880, with the original French lyrics written by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The English version was written by Robert Stanley Weir in 1908. While the song has been at official events for most of the 20th century it was not officially adopted as the national anthem until 1980.
Interestingly, this is not the first time the line in question has been changed. Weir changed the original Thou dost in us command to In all thy sons command in 1914. The French version of the song has never been altered.
“There’s been 30 years plus of activity trying to make our national anthem inclusive of all of us,” said Lankin.
“This may be small, it’s about two words, but it’s huge. We can now sing it with pride knowing the law will support us in terms of the language.”
