Canadian Senate passes bill to make anthem gender neutral

OTTAWA, Ontario — Canada's Senate has passed a bill to make the country's national anthem gender neutral.

The legislation to change "O Canada" won its final approval with the Senate vote. The bill changes the second line of the anthem from "true patriot love, in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command."

The bill had stalled in the Senate as the opposition Conservatives fought its passage, but it won Senate approval on a voice vote Wednesday.

The change was proposed by late Liberal lawmaker Mauril Belanger, who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and did not live to see it become law.

The unelected senate usually rubber-stamps legislation passed by the House of Commons.