Canada's Senate has adopted a bill which would make the English version of the country's national anthem gender neutral by replacing the words "thy sons" with the words "of us", according to the Senate's Twitter account.
The words are part of the anthem's sentence which now will be read "True patriot love in all of us command".
Governor General of Canada Julie Payette is yet to sign the bill into law.
The document does not mention any amendments to the French version of the anthem, which contains no words distinguished by gender.
Wow, Canada has changed its national anthem to be gender neutral! It's now "Sk8er Person".
— Andrew Wheeler (@Wheeler) 1 февраля 2018 г.
O Canada officially became Canada's national anthem in 1980, and since then as many as 12 bills have been introduced in the Senate to scrap the reference to "thy sons", which some perceived as discriminatory. None of these bills have ever been adopted.
As a Canadian I have nothing against this https://t.co/pF8vL8VSyT
— who puts an @ in their name (@Melakalan) 1 февраля 2018 г.
Twitter users immediately responded to the news, with many remaining at loggerheads over the new version of Canada's national anthem.
We just passed the national anthem bill in the Senate. Thank You Frances Lankin- Thank You Chantel Petitclerc.
— Jim Munson (@SenatorMunson) 31 января 2018 г.
“ in all of us command.”
And Mauril Belanger, my dear friend, you can finally Rest In Peace.
Oh Canada — we stand on guard for thee.
Rights are rights. pic.twitter.com/NR8kC2Bsus
Oh Canada hasn’t been around for 150 years (written 1906), it’s only been our official national anthem since 1980, and the (English) lyrics have been changed twice before. Plus this was a backbench MP’s private bill, not something the gov’t spent time or money on.
— Sacha Forstner (@sachaforstner) 31 января 2018 г.
Oh Canada…In all of us command! It's about time! We will finally have a gender neutral national anthem. A great step fwd for #genderequality in Canada. Thanks to Senators @lankin_f Nancy Ruth @CPetitclerc & my other colleagues for their persistence #cdnpoli #SenCa pic.twitter.com/gaCBi5rbMO
— Sen. Ratna Omidvar (@ratnaomi) 1 февраля 2018 г.
Shame on Canada changing there national Anthem to appease the Whiny Ass Liberals who find everything offensive, Well I hope they find this post offensive because they can FU** OFF!!! #Canada #canadianNationalAnthem #OhCanada #LiberalismIsAMentalDisorder #NHL #Canada #tcot
— Dave Gosh (@dave_gosh) 1 февраля 2018 г.
The Trudeau Liberals have approved changes to Canada’s historic national anthem. Which version will you sing?
— Spencer Fernando 🇨🇦 (@SpencerFernando) 1 февраля 2018 г.
Now that Canada's national anthem is officially 'gender neutral' it will probably become a hate crime to sing it the original way.
— Bill Dean (@CanaDean) 1 февраля 2018 г.
