Bill to make 'O Canada' gender-neutral gets second reading Friday
Joanne Laucius
First posted: Thursday, May 05, 2016 06:35 PM EDT | Updated: Thursday, May 05, 2016 09:09 PM EDT
Mauril Bélanger’s colleagues are going door-to-door on Parliament Hill, trying to get all-party support for the ailing MP’s private member’s bill to make the national anthem gender-neutral.
The Ottawa-Vanier MP’s bill will get second reading early Friday afternoon. Bélanger, who has the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — also known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease — is making his second attempt to tweak the English lyrics of O Canada. He proposes altering the “true patriot love” line from “all thy sons command” to “in all of us command.”
Bélanger was in hospital Thursday, but is expected to make a 10- to 15-minute prepared speech in the House of Commons using a text-to-voice device, said his chief of staff, Alexandre Mattard-Michaud. While an hour has been set aside for debate, there won’t be any questions.
The bill had its first reading in January. Two things could happen on Friday. The bill might get a standing vote, or there may be a request for a recorded vote. Typically, if there is a standing vote and it passes, the bill would go to the standing committee on Canadian heritage. A recorded vote would happen next Wednesday. If that passes, the bill would also go to the standing committee.
Technically, it takes six weeks for a bill to be reviewed by a standing committee before being sent back to the House of Commons for third reading. If it passes, the bill goes to the Senate.
But it would not be unprecedented for events to move far more quickly. On several occasions in recent years, private members’ bills have passed all stages in one sitting after receiving unanimous consent, including two bills to change the names of electoral districts.
Senator Jim Munson says he would be pleased to sponsor the bill in the Senate. “It would be a wonderful tribute to a man who has done so much for Parliament and his country.”
Bélanger, who was first elected in 1995, was considered a frontrunner for Speaker of the House, but withdrew after he was diagnosed with ALS only a month after the federal election last October.
He introduced a similar bill early last year, but it was defeated at second reading in April after almost all Conservative MPs voted against it.
In January, Bélanger said although it was defeated, MPs from all parties supported it. “With my bill, I want to pay tribute to all the women who have worked and fought to build and shape the Canada we know today.”
Originally composed by Calixa Lavallée in 1880 with French lyrics, the English lyrics weren’t used until about 20 years later. The words were changed in the First World War era, probably to pay tribute to men fighting overseas.
O Canada was adopted as the official national anthem in 1980 and there have been several attempts to amend the lyrics to include women, but all have failed. In 2010, Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean said in Parliament planned to restore the original lyrics in a throne speech. However, an Angus-Reid poll found that three-quarters of Canadians objected, and the plan was dropped.
Last year, Bélanger commissioned his own poll, which suggested that 58 per cent favoured the gender-neutral wording.
jlaucius@postmedia.com
Bill to make 'O Canada' gender-neutral gets second reading Friday | Canada | New
Joanne Laucius
First posted: Thursday, May 05, 2016 06:35 PM EDT | Updated: Thursday, May 05, 2016 09:09 PM EDT
Mauril Bélanger’s colleagues are going door-to-door on Parliament Hill, trying to get all-party support for the ailing MP’s private member’s bill to make the national anthem gender-neutral.
The Ottawa-Vanier MP’s bill will get second reading early Friday afternoon. Bélanger, who has the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — also known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease — is making his second attempt to tweak the English lyrics of O Canada. He proposes altering the “true patriot love” line from “all thy sons command” to “in all of us command.”
Bélanger was in hospital Thursday, but is expected to make a 10- to 15-minute prepared speech in the House of Commons using a text-to-voice device, said his chief of staff, Alexandre Mattard-Michaud. While an hour has been set aside for debate, there won’t be any questions.
The bill had its first reading in January. Two things could happen on Friday. The bill might get a standing vote, or there may be a request for a recorded vote. Typically, if there is a standing vote and it passes, the bill would go to the standing committee on Canadian heritage. A recorded vote would happen next Wednesday. If that passes, the bill would also go to the standing committee.
Technically, it takes six weeks for a bill to be reviewed by a standing committee before being sent back to the House of Commons for third reading. If it passes, the bill goes to the Senate.
But it would not be unprecedented for events to move far more quickly. On several occasions in recent years, private members’ bills have passed all stages in one sitting after receiving unanimous consent, including two bills to change the names of electoral districts.
Senator Jim Munson says he would be pleased to sponsor the bill in the Senate. “It would be a wonderful tribute to a man who has done so much for Parliament and his country.”
Bélanger, who was first elected in 1995, was considered a frontrunner for Speaker of the House, but withdrew after he was diagnosed with ALS only a month after the federal election last October.
He introduced a similar bill early last year, but it was defeated at second reading in April after almost all Conservative MPs voted against it.
In January, Bélanger said although it was defeated, MPs from all parties supported it. “With my bill, I want to pay tribute to all the women who have worked and fought to build and shape the Canada we know today.”
Originally composed by Calixa Lavallée in 1880 with French lyrics, the English lyrics weren’t used until about 20 years later. The words were changed in the First World War era, probably to pay tribute to men fighting overseas.
O Canada was adopted as the official national anthem in 1980 and there have been several attempts to amend the lyrics to include women, but all have failed. In 2010, Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean said in Parliament planned to restore the original lyrics in a throne speech. However, an Angus-Reid poll found that three-quarters of Canadians objected, and the plan was dropped.
Last year, Bélanger commissioned his own poll, which suggested that 58 per cent favoured the gender-neutral wording.
jlaucius@postmedia.com
Bill to make 'O Canada' gender-neutral gets second reading Friday | Canada | New
