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Arabic Anthem Translates Love for Canada
8-17-2015
Expressing true love and devotion to their country, an Arab Canadian institute has produced a new version of the national anthem in Arabic to encourage a larger participation in their country's political life.
“I got shivers and emotional when I first heard the anthem in Arabic. The song was so beautiful to begin with. And hearing it in your mother tongue was an overwhelming moment. It felt very special,” Raja Khouri, co-founder and president of the Canadian Arab Institute, told Toronto Star.
“This is an expression of the pride and commitment to Canada from our community, a tribute to Canada’s multiculturalism.”
The Arabic anthem Ya Canada was produced as an unofficial translation of the Canadian national anthem O Canada.
Although the Canadian anthem has only 10 lines, putting Arabic lyrics to a tune written 135 years ago was no easy task.
Producing the new version, the Canadian Arab Institute showed the anthem as a reflection of the community’s love for this country.
“You can’t do a word-for-word translation,” said Olga Kaddoura, a Toronto-based soprano and biomedical engineer who was consulted to perfect the Ya Canada lyrics, along with volunteer and certified Arab interpreter Fares Badr.
“In Arabic music, you can have millions of scales. You can start with an E major and change to D minor, then to A major. In Arabic, music we have quarter-tones. In western music, you only have semi. So it’s more complicated in Arabic,” she said.
Political Engagement
Producing an Arabic anthem marked the beginning of the institute’s Your Voice campaign, a non-partisan program of voter education and motivation for the October federal election.
“Seventy per cent of the community came to Canada in the last 20 years; many are from countries where there’s no civic engagement, because it’s not accessible or dangerous to one’s life,” said Khouri, a Lebanese Canadian of Palestinian descent and a commissioner with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
He added that the Arabic community comes from 22 countries, each with its own unique culture, ethnicities and religious mix.
“It takes people a long time to change that mindset. Democracy belongs to those who participate. We want to educate our community on democracy and citizenship, and the role we can play in civic engagement," he said.
"People want to feel integrated. This is a way for them to do that.”
Muslims are the fastest growing religious community in Canada, according to the country’s statistical agency, Statistics Canada.
Canada’s Muslim population increased by 82 percent over the past decade – from about 579,000 in 2001 to more than 1 million in 2011.
Muslims represent 3.2 percent of Canada’s total population.
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