‘O Canada’ Will Become Gender Neutral With New Lyrics

It’s just two lyrics. But it took decades to change them.

Canada’s Senate on Wednesday approved changing the words of “O Canada,” the country’s national anthem, to make the English-language version gender neutral. The move came after decades of unsuccessful efforts, and some last-minute political drama.

Now the second line of the anthem, which gained official status only in 1980, will soon become “True patriot love in all of us command” rather than “in all thy sons command.”