Political activist Ezra Levant slams Canadian PM after controversial Punjabi rendition of O'Canada at NHL game - "More patriotic than Trudeau or his atrocious government"

By Abhishek Dilta

Modified Dec 18, 2023 06:01 GMT

Canadian conservative media personality and political activist Ezra Levant slammed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau following the rendition of O' Canada performed during an NHL game between the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

The Jets celebrated South Asian Heritage Night at home, at the Canada Life Centre. To mark the celebration, a rendition of the Canadian national anthem "O' Canada" was sung in Punjabi.

The group behind performing the rendition of O'Canada in Punjabi consisted of school kids from Amber Trails Kindergarten School, the first school in Manitoba to offer a bilingual English-Punjabi program.

Although fans at the Canada Life Centre applauded the students, Ezra Levant appeared dissatisfied with the rendition of the Canadian national anthem in Punjabi.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, the political activist slammed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government, while labeling the girls performing the anthem as "more patriotic":

"I'm going to dissent on this one," Levant wrote. "Yes, part of the song is in a foreign language (I presume it's the lyrics, translated). But in this case, isn't that a "variation" on the theme of patriotism, not a contradiction to it? Like if the anthem were sung in a jazzy way, or in a country western style?"

"Don't you agree that these earnest girls are more patriotic than Trudeau or his atrocious government, which took Sir John A. Macdonald off our $10 bill, tears down statues, renames streets, apologizes for our history and calls Canada a "genocidal" regime? Trudeau actually rewrote the anthem. Aren't these girls more patriotic than he is?"

The NHL is quite popular among Punjabi-speaking Canadians and also features Hockey Night in Canada, featuring play-by-play commentary and analysis in Punjabi language.

Notably, as per data from Stats Canada, the Punjabi language is the fourth most spoken language in Canada, with more than 500,000 people using it as their primary language.

---

More about Ezra Levant

Born on February 20, 1972, Ezra Levant is a Canadian media conservative, political activist, and former lawyer hailing from Calgary, Alberta.

The 51-year-old political activist came into prominence after the publication of the Jyllands Muhammad cartoons in his conservative magazine, The Western Magazine, in 2006.

Levant is an alma mater of the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta. He is also the founder of The Western Magazine, a conservative magazine. Moreover, Ezra Levant also serves as the founder and CEO of the far-right media website Rebel News.