A 2022 video of Canadian MP Chandra Arya speaking in Kannada is shared as recent
On 09 January 2024, Chandra Arya, an Indian-origin Canadian MP, announced (here, here, and here) that he is in the running to be the next Prime Minister following the resignation of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on 06 January 2024. In this context, a video going viral on social media (here, here, and here), claiming to show Chandra Arya delivering a speech while filing his nomination to be the next PM of Canada. In the video, MP Chandra Arya is seen speaking in Kannada in the Canadian Parliament. Let’s verify the claim made in the post through this article.
Claim: A video shows Chandra Arya, an Indian-origin Canadian MP, speaking in Kannada in the Canadian Parliament as he files his nomination for the Prime Minister’s position.
Fact: The viral video is from May 2022, when MP Chandra Arya delivered a speech in Kannada in the Canadian Parliament. The Indian-origin MP posted the same video on X on 20 May 2022. This confirms the speech is old and not after his announcement that he is in the running to be the PM of Canada. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
A reverse image search of the keyframes from the viral video led us to the same video (archived) on the CPAC (Cable Public Affairs Channel) YouTube channel, dated 19 May 2022, titled “Question Period – May 19, 2022,” where MP Chandra Arya was delivering a speech in Kannada in the Canadian Parliament.
We then used relevant keywords and found several news reports (here, here, and here) (archived here, here, and here) from May 2022. According to the reports, MP Chandra Arya, from Sira in Tumakuru district, spoke in Kannada in the Canadian Parliament. He said, “Respected Speaker, I’m happy to have got an opportunity to speak in Kannada in Canada’s Parliament. It is a proud moment for 5 crore Kannadigas that a man born in Dwaralu village, Sira Taluk, Tumkur (Tumakuru) District, Karnataka, has been elected as a Member of Parliament in Canada”.
We also found an X-post (archived) dated 20 May 2022 by Canadian MP Chandra Arya himself, featuring the same clip that went viral. In the post, he stated, “I spoke in my mother tongue (first language) Kannada in the Canadian Parliament. This beautiful language has a long history and is spoken by about 50 million people. This is the first time Kannada has been spoken in any parliament outside of India.”
To sum up, a 2022 video of Canadian MP Chandra Arya speaking in Kannada is shared as the one made after his announcement that he is in the running to be the PM of Canada.