CANADA MAKES NATIONAL ANTHEM GENDER NEUTRAL

CANADIANS : will soon be singing a new tune after parliament passed a bill to change the lyrics of the  national anthem to make it gender neutral.

Only in line in O Canada was amended from : ''True patriot love in all thy sons command'' to ''True patriot love in all of us command.''

But it has caused quite a stir.

''It's about two words,'' Senator Frances Lankin told reporters, ''But it's huge in term of one of our major national symbols, the anthem we sing with pride about our country.''

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the move  ''another positive step towards gender equality,'' while feminist author Margaret Atwood, who has been pressing for this since 1980s, tweeted her thanks to lawmakers.

Others decried the new lyrics and vowed to continue to sing the older version.

''Disappointed to hear the Liberals changed the national anthem. Somethings [sic] shouldn't change.'' said MP Bob Saroya in twitter message.

The late MP Mauril Belanger had proposed the change to the English Language version of the anthem.

Belanger was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or A.L.S, shortly after his party, under Trudeau, took power in 2015.

The proposal passed the House two months before Belanger's death in 2016, and late Wednesday-

The Senate added its support for the bill.Now it needs only the  governor general's signature to become a law, which is a formality, but a date for that has not yet been set.