Change to make O Canada gender neutral has been too long coming

After more than 100 years, the Canadian Senate finally passed a bill this week to make the lyrics to O Canada, our national anthem, gender neutral.

And while it's been a controversial topic, the real surprise here shouldn't be that the change has been made but that it's taken us so long to make it.

Such, though, is the power of complacency and the sad degree to which so many of us accept gender inequality.

I have to admit many times when I was little, I sang the words to O Canada without questioning some of its lyrics.

The lyrics "in all thy sons command" have been sung by boys and girls, men and women alike since 1913, when Canada was on the brink of the First World War.

A long push to change lyrics

In 1990, and again in the late 2000s, itwas suggested that the words, "True patriot love in all thy sons command," be changedto "in all of us command."Those words came under scrutiny again in 2013, the 100th anniversary since the lyrics were changed to "in all thy sons command."

And now, the Senate has finally passed the bill to make the lyrics gender neutral.

The list of those in favour of changing the words to "in all of us command" has includedsuch notables as author Margaret Atwood, former prime minister Kim Campbell and Sally Goddard, the mother of a female Canadian soldier killed in combat.

Then of course there is the Liberal MP Mauril Blanger, who first introduced the recently passed bill and who died in 2016 ,before he got to see his wish for inclusivity become a reality.

It has taken us decades to get to this point to have the lyrics of our national anthem represent all of us.

Seriously?

Lyrics have changed before

Some have objected, saying we shouldn't mess with history, but according to the Canadian Encyclopediathe original 1908 version written by lawyer Robert Stanley Weir, a recorder for the city of Montreal, contained a much more gender-neutral phrase, "True patriot love thou dost in us command."

And the original version before that was actually written in French and was quite distinct from the English version we know and love today. So the lyrics have been changed before.

The same Canadian Heritage website, in fact, says the song has been amended, since the 1908 versions, in 1913, 1914, 1916 and again in 1980, when it was officially proclaimed the Canadian national anthem.

The measure of a country can often be seen in how we value ourselves. And equality should be the concern of all Canadians.- Cheryl Girard

American author Will Schwalbe, in writing an inspiring memoir of his mother's life, relates something that bears repeating in this regard.

He recounts how, while he was growing up the '70s, an episode of the TV showAll in the Family thatfeatured a riddle that stumped every character in the show, and many of those watching.

"A father and his son are in a terrible crash," the riddle goes.

"The father is killed instantly but the son survives, barely, his life hanging in the balance. He's rushed to the hospital and into surgery, but there's only one doctor there, and as soon as the doctor sees the boy, the doctor says, 'I can't operate on my own son!' How could this be, if the boy's father was killed in the crash?"

Schwalbe says that when the show aired, people walked around for days trying to figure out elaborate solutions to the puzzle and that it even stumps people today.

The answer, of course which eluded so many is that the doctor is a woman.

That was the '70s. But the truth is that sometimes, we don't really question certain things because they have become ingrained in us and we are so accustomed to them.

Steps toward equality

We are surrounded by brilliant women but in fact, we often still don't hear their voices. Even in recent years, sadly, statistics say that most opinion pieces oneditorial pages are written by men, for example.

When I was going to school our history books contained page after page of stories about notable persons, the majority of whom were men and predominantly featured pictures of more old, bearded men.

Women in Canada were not even allowed to vote when the words in O Canadawere changed to "in all thy sons command."

Manitoba's Nellie McClung helped, after much struggle, to bring that momentous occasion about for some Manitoban women in 1916. Other provinces followed later.

Thank heavens for forward-thinking people. The measure of a country can often be seen in how we value ourselves.

And equality should be the concern of all Canadians.

This column is part of CBC's Opinion section. For more information about this section, please read this editor's blog and our FAQ.