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However, even if the bill gets enough support in both houses, it almost certainly won’t pass both the Commons and Senate before Parliament adjourns for the summer and would need to wait until the fall before it could become law.

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Bélanger’s health has deteriorated rapidly in recent months. The longtime MP for Ottawa-Vanier was diagnosed last fall with the fatal neuromuscular disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

He can no longer speak and communicates with a voice generator program on his iPad.

There has been a push by the Liberals and NDP to get Bélanger’s bill through Parliament quickly, but the Conservatives want to take time to debate what they say is an emotional issue.

Conservative MPs Michael Chong, Michelle Rempel, Peter Kent, Deepak Obhrai and Len Webber voted Wednesday to support the bill.

“We are in 2016. The Canadian population will understand why we want to make the change. It is not a big change, and there will not be a big difference in the national anthem, but the difference is significant for women all across Canada,” New Democrat MP Christine Moore said in the Commons late Tuesday during debate on the bill, before it came up for a vote Wednesday.

“It is the right time to do it. Let us make our national anthem inclusive.”

Liberal MP Greg Fergus, who has been championing the bill on Bélanger’s behalf, said he recognizes that changing a national symbol can spark emotional debate and that people are reluctant to give up traditions. Nevertheless, he said the time has come to change the anthem’s words to be more inclusive.