Canada: Justin Trudeau's campaign anthem makes Francophones leap

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigning for legislative elections in Fredericton, New Brunswick, September 18, 2019. Reuters

In Canada, the French version of the Liberals campaign's official song remains in the throats of French-speaking Canadians. Social media has never stopped mocking the words of a Toronto rock band, the Strumbellas. Since its launch at the beginning of the week, the negative comments rain down, to such an extent that the party that seeks a new mandate had to remove the famous clip.

From our correspondent in Canada ,

If you do not understand the lyrics of Justin Trudeau's official legislative campaign song, that's normal. You share the great confusion of Quebeckers about the attempt of an anglophone group to adopt the language of Garou or Charlebois. In their defense, these musicians, the Strumbellas, come from the very English-speaking Toronto. The Liberal Party of Canada currently in the field has approached them to use one of their titles, " One Hand Up ", for their campaign.

So far so good. The problem is that in a great burst of bilingualism , the Strumbellas suggested to translate and record also the French version. And obviously, there was no professional translator in their studio. The title simply became "A Hand High", against the background of images of Prime Minister Trudeau, raising his arm with his supporters. Which does not mean anything ...

📣Make the sound to listen to our official song of the campaign by @thestrumbellas! pic.twitter.com/3xkjHoDOQS

As soon as the clip was put online, the harsh comments rolled this version, except French-speaking. It took 15 attentive listening to a former Quebec minister to understand the words, without however finding them a meaning. Another user repeats like a mantra, " no Google Translate does not sing ", while most consider this version as an insult to the French language.

There is a Franco-Ontarian in the room to translate? 🧐
This will give me a head start and they will not go. pic.twitter.com/7yETEPUgdz

I think there is still time to delete this tweet and this song. Please, respect the language and the French voters you are courting. This sends a very bad message. The marketing manager responsible for this fiasco should be sanctioned on the spot.

pic.twitter.com/7IeptfYCe9

The worst part of all this is that the Liberal Party of Canada does not seem to be moved by the outcry on the web. The officials did not apologize. They only recognized that the French version was not perfect, and promised a new song.

A musical faux pas that pleases the opponents of the Liberals

For Bloc Quebecois sovereignists, this poor translation illustrates that the bilingualism the Liberal Party claims is simply not there. Obviously, nobody around Justin Trudeau took the trouble to listen to this clip in French before putting it online. A true heresy for Elliot Trudeau's son. The former Prime Minister who had made the fight for both official languages ​​in Canada his political legacy.