Trudeau ‘open’ to changing O Canada lyrics, says it’s up to Canadians

The prime minister says he’s not opposed to the idea of changing the lyrics of Canada’s national anthem, but said rewrites will only come after consultation with Canadians.

Calls are growing to change the words “home and native land” to “home on native land” after singer Jully Black sang the latter while performing O Canada at the 2023 NBA all-star game. The Assembly of First Nations honoured Black in response to the lyrical tweak.

Bonnie Crombie, the mayor of Mississauga, a former Liberal MP and candidate for the Ontario Liberal leadership has endorsed changing the lyrics. Crombie presented a motion to Mississauga City Council that requested Ottawa make the change, which the council deferred.

WATCH | Trudeau ‘open to the changes that Canadians want to see’ on anthem

Trudeau said he’s interested in Canadians’ opinions on the matter.

“I look forward to talking with Indigenous Canadians about how they feel the anthem could or might change. I want to talk with a lot of Canadians,” Trudeau said in a Canada Day interview with CBC’s Catherine Cullen.

“It’s not any government’s anthem, it’s Canadians’ anthem.”

O Canada officially became the country’s anthem in 1980, 100 years after musician Calixa Lavallée first composed it. Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier wrote the French lyrics, which were the basis of several English versions of the song, including one by Robert Stanley Weir that later became the official version.

The government last altered the lyrics in 2018, when Parliament passed a bill to change “True patriot love in all thy sons command” to “True patriot love in all of us command.”

But Trudeau did not commit to any specific lyrical changes on Saturday.

“I’m open to the changes that Canadians want to see,” he said.