Pronouncing 'Belanger' turns out to be harder than you think

1 month_ago 21

Saskatchewan

Is it bell-ON-jay oregon buh-LON-jur? It became a burning question among CBC Saskatchewan's newsrooms and the nationalist aft the CBC began utilizing the buh-LON-jur pronunciation successful regards to Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River MP Buckley Belanger.

Trying to wide up the disorder betwixt 2 pronunciations

Scott Larson · CBC News

· Posted: May 19, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Buckley Belanger is sworn successful arsenic a furniture subordinate arsenic Prime Minister Mark Carney looks connected successful the background.

How would you pronounce the sanction Belanger? Is it bell-ON-jay oregon buh-LON-jur?

It became a burning question among CBC Saskatchewan's newsrooms and the nationalist aft the CBC began utilizing the buh-LON-jur pronunciation successful regards to Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River MP Buckley Belanger.

CBC was inundated with emails and telephone messages stating that was not the close pronunciation.

But speaking to Peter Mills connected the CBC's The 306, Belanger says helium has utilized some pronunciations successful the past.

"I conjecture connected immoderate fixed time we tin alteration it. On a Friday I use bell-ON-jay, connected Saturday I usage buh-LON-jur, just to confuse radical more," Belanger said, somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

The 30614:26Lone Sask. Liberal MP gets a relation successful PM Carney's caller ministry

Buckley Belanger, Saskatchewan's sole Liberal MP, talks with The 306 big Peter Mills astir being appointed Secretary of State for Rural Development successful Prime Minister Carney's caller ministry. Buckley Belanger talks astir the pronunciation of his name, and however helium prefers to pronounce it (00:33).

He said his surname is French, arsenic his gramps was French and his grandma was Indigenous.

"Back location successful Île-à-la-Crosse, they ever accidental Buckley Bell-ON-jay."

"We bash privation to get it right," Mills told Belanger. "We went backmost a mates years and you had said, yourself, that it was buh-LON-jur.

"But we bash privation to get close due to the fact that similar I said, our listeners are acrophobic that we're messing it up. Is bell-ON-jay the authoritative name?" Mills asked.

"Yes," Belanger said.

Cabinet post

Prime Minister Mark Carney selected Belanger to beryllium his caput of authorities for agrarian development.

"I privation to marque definite that bluish Saskatchewan views are heard," Carney said. "I privation to marque definite that Saskatchewan views are heard, that agrarian Canada views are heard."

Belanger said helium thinks helium has a bully narration with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe.

"We've had galore conversations implicit my clip arsenic an MLA and we've ne'er truly had immoderate atrocious conversations. We person had quality of opinions, of course, but intelligibly we've had immoderate bully speech arsenic well," Belanger said.

"I worth the relation of Saskatchewan and of people the premier successful presumption of moving guardant and gathering this large country."