O Canada proclaimed as our national anthem

June 27, 1980 – The House of Commons and Senate unanimously pass the National Anthem Act presented by Secretary of State Francis Fox, that O Canada be proclaimed as Canada’s national anthem replacing God Save the Queen as soon as possible in this year of the centenary of the first rendition; the bill allows for minor changes to Robert Stanley Weir’s original English lyrics. Parliament had approved the song as the national anthem 13 years earlier, but the National Anthem Act made it official. O Canada was written by Calixa Lavallée and Adolphe-Basile Routhier, and was First performed in Québec City in 1880; originally known as le Chant nationale, it was not heard outside Québec until the early 20th Century.