A 57-second video of Chandra Arya, an Indian-origin Canadian MP, speaking in Kannada at the Canadian Parliament is viral on social media. The video is being shared as recent following Justin Trudeau resignation as Canada’s Prime Minister on January 6, 2025.
However, BOOM found that Arya delivered this speech in Kannada back in 2022.
Media outlets such as Mint, Hindustan Times, NDTV, ABP live, DD News misreported the 2022 speech as Arya speaking in Kannada during his nomination filing on January 9, 2024
Further, the executive editor of TV9 Network, Nabila Jamal also shared the viral video on X on January 17 and claimed in the caption that Chandra spoke in Kannada as he filed his nomination.
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Similarly, India Today editor and anchor Akshita Nandagopal and ANI editor Smita Prakash also shared the same clip claiming that Arya delivered a speech in Kannada after filing his nomination.
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Fact-check
BOOM found an X post with the same video posted by the Canadian MP himself on May 20, 2022. In the post, he said, “ I spoke in my mother tongue (first language) Kannada in Canadian parliament. This beautiful language has long history and is spoken by about 50 million people. This is the first time Kannada is spoken in any parliament in the world outside of India.”
We also conducted a reverse image search and found that multiple news outlets, such as Hindustan Times, Times of India, and The New Indian Express, had reported on Arya speaking in Kannada in the Canadian Parliament in May 2022.
These reports highlighted how his speech, delivered in his native Kannada, went viral on social media and garnered praise for his love for the language.