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Mayor John Tory doesn’t think the issue of O Canada’s lyrics should be one for Toronto City Council to decide.Peter Power/The Globe and Mail

Toronto's executive committee debates the idea of asking Ottawa to change the lyrics of O Canada next week, but at least one prominent member of council – the mayor – appears to already be against it.

The idea of changing the lyrics of O Canada make the national anthem more gender-inclusive has been floated at City Hall and in Ottawa several times in recent years. The issue was referred by council back to committee late last year, but ahead of next week's debate, the mayor told reporters he doesn't think the issue should be one for Toronto City Council to decide.

"I had previously indicated to you that I'm not going to be taking on every one of these matters that relate to the responsibility of other governments and things that are before Parliament," Mr. Tory said to reporters Thursday.

He said that he had received a letter from Senator Nancy Ruth, who asked that the City of Toronto refrain from dealing with the issue until MPs had voted on it. Since 1980, Ottawa has seen nine separate private member's bills seeking to make the song more gender-inclusive, though none of those bills have succeeded.

"On a lot of these kinds of things, that's exactly what I'd say: Parliament will deal with it, and we'll then see what happens after that."

The motion at city hall was spearheaded by former interim councillor Ceta Ramkhalawansingh, although the idea has been championed for years by a prominent group of women, including former prime minister Kim Campbell and writer Margaret Atwood.

The idea brought forward by Ms. Ramkhalawansingh and others is to change the lyrics from "all our sons" to "all of us."

Meanwhile, Councillor James Pasternak, who is a member of the executive committee, echoed the mayor in saying he doesn't believe Toronto council should be dealing with the issue.

"I don't think politicians should be rewriting our national anthem," he said. "It is not something I would have the appetite for. The people of Toronto want us to work on more important things."

With a report from Elizabeth Church.

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