Lawmakers vote to make Canadian national anthem gender neutral

 Canadian lawmakers voted on Wednesday to alter the country’s national anthem to make the lyrics gender neutral, a move that comes as the new Liberal government focuses on being more inclusive toward women. 

The bill would change the English version of “O Canada” to remove the words “in all thy sons command” and replace them with “in all of us command.” The changes, brought forward as a private member’s bill by a Liberal Party lawmaker, passed easily in the House of Commons, which is controlled by the Liberals. 

It now goes to the appointed Senate, which generally approves measures passed by the elected House. PM Justin Trudeau has made gender inclusivity a focus since he was elected last October and named an equal number of men and women to his Cabinet.