187-475: Asia Middle East Europe North America South America Oceania Franco-Ontarians ( French : Franco-Ontariens or Franco-Ontariennes if female, sometimes known as Ontarois and Ontaroises ) are Francophone Canadians that reside in the province of Ontario . Most are French Canadians from Ontario. In 2021, according to the Government of Ontario , there were 652,540 Francophones in
374-521: A Franco-Ontarian of Irish and French descent, served 33 years as a member of the House of Commons of Canada , and was a Cabinet minister in the Liberal governments of Prime Ministers W. L. Mackenzie King , Louis St. Laurent , Lester B. Pearson , and Pierre E. Trudeau . His mother, Eleanor "Nell" Alice (née Adams), was of Scottish and Irish descent. He had one sister, Mary-Anne Bellamy, who
561-499: A Quebecer who worked in Ontario for much of her professional career as a lawyer and judge. As a result, both women have been referred to as "the first Franco-Ontarian Supreme Court justice", although the technically correct practice is to credit Charron, Franco-Ontarian in both senses, with that distinction. Conversely, two of the most famous rock musicians from Ontario, Avril Lavigne and Alanis Morissette , are Franco-Ontarian by
748-635: A second language . In 2016, approximately 16.1 per cent of francophone Ontarians identified as a visible minority. More than half of Ontario's francophone visible minority population reside within Central Ontario (including the Greater Toronto Area ), with 37.8 per cent residing in Eastern Ontario , and the remaining 5.7 per cent in other areas of the province. In 2016, 59.5 per cent of francophones in Ontario were born in
935-801: A "historic language of Ontario," and as an official language of the province's education system, judiciary, and legislature. However, the Act did not make the French language an official language in its entirety; with other provincial services only made available in French in designated communities and regions with a significant Franco-Ontarian population. The term Franco-Ontarian has two related usages, which overlap closely but are not identical: it may refer to francophone residents of Ontario, regardless of their ethnicity or place of birth, or to people of French Canadian ancestry born in Ontario, regardless of their primary language or current place of residence. In June 2009,
1122-744: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
1309-707: A French-language institution was incorporated in April 2018 as the Université de l'Ontario français , expecting to accept its first cohort of full-time students in 2021. On September 21, 2020, Legislative Assembly of Ontario passed an amendment to the Franco-Ontarian Emblem Act, 2001 , first proposed by Progressive Conservative MPP, Natalia Kusendova , to designate Franco-Ontarian flag as an official emblem of Ontario . It received royal assent and became law on September 24, 2020. On September 25, 2020,
1496-575: A barrier to economic development in their home communities. As well, even today many students of Franco-Ontarian background are still educated in anglophone schools. This has the effect of reducing the use of French as a first language in the province, and thereby limiting the growth of the Franco-Ontarian community. Quebec writer Yves Beauchemin once controversially referred to the Franco-Ontarian community as "warm corpses" (« cadavres encore chauds ») who had no chance of surviving as
1683-671: A community. In a similar vein, former Quebec Premier René Lévesque referred to them as "dead ducks". The late 1960s saw a schism form between the francophones in Quebec, and the other francophone communities of Canada, notably the francophones in Ontario. The emergence of a separate québécois identity during the Quiet Revolution ; also resulted in the development of a unique Franco-Ontarian identity, with francophones in Ontario forced to re-conceptualize their identities without relying on francophones in Quebec. Recommendations from
1870-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,
2057-559: A controlling share in Canada Steamship Lines . On December 2, 1970, Paul Martin, the 32-year-old executive assistant to Power Corporation Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Maurice Strong , was appointed to the CSL board of directors. In 1971, CSL minority shareholders sold outstanding shares to Power Corporation, making CSL a Power Corporation subsidiary. CSL suffered losses in 1972 when forced to cover unexpected cost overruns in
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#17327798260682244-564: A diplomatic row with the United States administration after accusing, with Bill Clinton , the US of not listening to global environmental concerns . Martin rejected US Ambassador David Wilkins 's rebuke and said he was standing up for Canada's interests over softwood and other issues. Martin promoted the expansion of the G8 into a larger group of twenty nations, G20 , whose inaugural chairman
2431-493: A distinct cultural identity – having only identified as French Canadians before. Francophone rights were furthered in the 1970s as a result of C'est l'temps , a Franco-Ontarian civil disobedience movement that pressured several provincial departments to adopt bilingual policies. The provincial government passed the French Language Services Act in 1986 which recognized the French language as
2618-555: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
2805-504: A francophone minority is referred to with endings of -ois. In popular usage, the first meaning predominates and the second is poorly understood. Although most Franco-Ontarians meet both definitions, there are notable exceptions. For example, although Louise Charron was the first native-born Franco-Ontarian appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of Canada , she was preceded as a francophone judge from Ontario by Louise Arbour ,
2992-464: A halt, scaling down government to 1951 levels. In 1994–96, when these cuts were made, economic growth decreased by 3.5 percentage points, according to a study by CIBC-Wood Gundy. The resulting loss in tax revenue almost eliminated the savings made by the cuts and turned the economy away from the public sector toward the private sector. The cuts endangered the provinces' abilities to pay for social programs, health care, and public infrastructure. In response,
3179-570: A judicial inquiry called to investigate what came to be known as the Sponsorship Scandal , and nominated John Gomery to head it. During his term, Martin appeared as himself in a fictional, comedic context in several programs, including an episode of the CTV sitcom Corner Gas in 2006, and also in the CBC mockumentary series Jimmy MacDonald's Canada in 2005. The Liberals were facing
3366-715: A landslide majority government in the 1993 election . After the Liberals formed the government, Martin was chosen as minister of finance by Prime Minister Chrétien. At the time, Canada had one of the highest budgetary deficits of the G7 countries. Standard & Poor's had lowered its rating on Canada's foreign-denominated government debt from AAA to AA-plus in 1992, and in 1994, Moody's lowered its rating on Canada's foreign currency debt from Aaa to Aa1, partly due to Canada's growing public debt. In his debut as finance minister, Martin made huge budget cuts that almost ground economic growth to
3553-514: A minority (40,045 respondents in 2016) reported having proficiency in only the French language and limited or no knowledge of English. In the same census, more than 1.52 million Ontarians, or 11.5 per cent of the province's population, reported having proficiency in the French language ; while 11.2 per cent of the population reported to be bilingual in French and English. However, that figure includes both Franco-Ontarians and Ontarians who speak French as
3740-530: A minority situation, the first since Joe Clark 's tenure in 1979–80. The Martin government faced combined challenges from Quebec separatism and general hostility arising from the Sponsorship Scandal. The first test of the Liberal minority came following the Speech from the throne on October 5, 2004. The Conservatives announced plans to move an amendment to the speech. In this they were supported by
3927-467: A new united Conservative Party led by Stephen Harper , while the Bloc Québécois and NDP were also buoyed by the Sponsorship Scandal. Martin advised Governor General Adrienne Clarkson to call an election for June 28, 2004. The Liberals were also hampered by their inability to raise campaign money competitively after Chrétien passed a bill in 2003 that banned corporate donations, even though
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#17327798260684114-593: A number of communities where French-speakers constitute a majority or significant minority, as an area where provincial services are required to be provided in French and English. The following legislation saw pushback from several anglophone Ontario towns and cities, most notably Sault Ste. Marie , which was persuaded by the Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada to declare themselves "English-only" in
4301-600: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on
4488-462: A permanent member of the organization. On November 26, 2016, Ontario was granted observer status by La Francophonie. On January 10, 2005, Clarence-Rockland became the first Ontario city to pass a bylaw requiring all new businesses to post signs in both official languages. Clarence-Rockland is 60 per cent francophone, and the city council noted that the bylaw was intended to address the existence of both English-only and French-only commercial signage in
4675-417: A pledge not to raise taxes, hurt the federal party's numbers in Ontario, as did a weak performance from Martin in the leaders' debates. The Conservatives soon took the lead, prompting some predictions of an imminent Harper government. The Liberals managed to narrow the gap and eventually regain momentum. Martin was successful in winning a plurality of seats to continue as the government, though they were now in
4862-455: A proposal for overhauling the CPP, which was presented to Parliament and was approved soon after, averting a pension crisis. While Martin's record as finance minister was lauded in business and financial circles, there were undeniable costs. Some of these took the form of reduced government services, affecting the operations and achievement of the mandate of federal and provincial departments. This
5049-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
5236-471: A report from Auditor General Sheila Fraser on February 9, 2004, indicating that sponsorship contracts designed to increase the federal government's status in Quebec resulted in little to no work done. Many of the agencies had Liberal ties, and roughly $ 100 million of the $ 250 million in program spending went missing. The scandal hurt Martin's popularity, especially in Quebec, where Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe even accused Martin of planning to widen
5423-410: A respondent's mother tongue was the main measure used by the government to determined the number of francophones in the province. There were 590,000 Ontarians, or 4.2 per cent of the population, that reported having French as a mother tongue in the 2021 census, making it the most common mother tongue in the province after English. The majority of Franco-Ontarians are bilingual in both French and English;
5610-612: A review vote in January 2003. During the fall, Chrétien announced that he would step down in the spring of 2004 after less than half of caucus agreed to sign a commitment supporting him. The Liberal party called a leadership convention for the fall of 2003, to be held in Toronto. Several other potential leadership contenders, such as Brian Tobin and Allan Rock , declined to enter the contest. John Manley's attacks on Martin's refusal to disclose his campaign contributors did little to dent
5797-587: A second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as a working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and
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5984-526: A second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only
6171-941: A second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as
6358-598: A series of meetings between the finance ministers of all provinces to discuss the pending crisis in the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). Consequently, Martin oversaw the creation of a general public consultation process in February 1996 that eventually led to major structural reform of the CPP. The results of this public consultation process were collected and analyzed by the Finance department. Eventually, it led to
6545-443: A serious challenge, but Martin began to gain support from those who began to disagree with Chrétien. Chrétien, however, resolved to stay on after the Liberals were reelected in 2000, having regained much of the ground lost in 1997. By this time, Martin had gained control of much of the party machinery. The conflict between the two men reached a peak in 2002. Martin left Cabinet, being replaced by John Manley as finance minister. There
6732-547: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in
6919-597: A vote of no confidence, and they combined their votes to shut down the House of Commons early for two days in a row. The Speaker of the House of Commons later ruled in favour of the Liberal stance. On May 17, 2005, MP Belinda Stronach crossed the floor from the Conservative Party and joined the Liberal Party to become Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development . Martin claimed Stronach's move
7106-428: A written promise that Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia under a Conservative government would receive 100 percent of the revenue generated from their natural resources without an equalization clawback, a promise he reneged upon when elected Prime Minister. NDP leader Jack Layton followed suit soon after with a similar guarantee, and later Martin promised that under a Liberal government both provinces would receive
7293-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French
7480-779: Is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French
7667-472: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English
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7854-489: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given
8041-430: Is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including
8228-462: Is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in the world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share
8415-652: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
8602-503: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English
8789-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
8976-726: Is often considered the first francophone and European to have arrived in the region in 1610. During this time, most of Ontario formed a part of New France 's Pays d'en Haut region; with most of the European inhabitants in the region at the time being coureurs de bois and voyageurs , or Jesuit missionaries in Huronia ; most notably the settlements of Sainte-Marie among the Hurons (in present-day Midland ) in 1649, and another settlement in Sault Sainte Marie in 1668. During
9163-469: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
9350-828: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for
9537-465: Is some question about whether Martin resigned or Chrétien had him dismissed. Being out of Cabinet was likely a boost to Martin's campaign as he was no longer obligated to disclose his donors. Soon after, Martin declared his intention to run as leader of the Liberal Party at the next party convention. Over the summer of 2002, Martin toured the country campaigning to succeed Chrétien while his Liberal organizers prepared to challenge Chrétien's leadership during
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#17327798260689724-576: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
9911-553: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
10098-483: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in
10285-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
10472-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
10659-405: Is to ensure uniformity of public service provision across the nation. This was received well in "have-not" provinces, but Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador sought to retain income from natural resources on federal marine territory that would generally be taken, or 'clawed back', by the federal treasury in lieu of equalization payments. In the 2004 federal election campaign, Harper provided
10846-724: Is viewed more favourably. Now seen as a global diplomat, Martin continues to contribute on the international arena through a variety of initiatives such as Incentives for Global Health, the not-for-profit behind the Health Impact Fund , where he serves as a member of the advisory board. He also sits as an advisor to Canada's Ecofiscal Commission . Martin was born at Hôtel-Dieu of St. Joseph Hospital in Windsor, Ontario , and grew up in Windsor and Ottawa. His father, Paul Martin Sr. ,
11033-821: The Association canadienne-française d'Éducation de l'Ontario (ACFÉO) was formed in 1910, who typically opposed the English-only initiatives launched by the Orange Order of Canada , and Irish Catholics led by Michael Fallon, the Bishop of London, Ontario . However, French Canadian migration throughout Ontario continued, with sawmills and papermills in Kapuskasing , and Hearst ; and automotive plants in Oshawa and Windsor attracting French Canadian laborers during
11220-481: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of
11407-413: The Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to the OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as
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#173277982606811594-489: The Armed Forces , the environment and a national child-care program. Public hearings of the Gomery Commission inquiry into the sponsorship scandal involving alleged kickbacks and "donations" from Quebec advertising agencies and corporations to Liberal Party operatives led to a drop in the Liberal Party's popularity. The security of the minority government came under fire as the Conservatives threatened to force an election by use of their "opposition day," when they get to set
11781-445: The Bank of Canada lowered interest rates to avoid contributing to a growing recession, causing a huge spurt of economic growth and resulting increase in government revenue. In 1998, Martin introduced a balanced budget, an event that had occurred only twice in 36 years before 1997. In 2002, Moody's and Standard and Poor's restored Canada's domestic and foreign currency debt ratings to AAA. During his tenure as finance minister, Martin
11968-539: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
12155-485: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains
12342-510: The Federation of Canadian Municipalities a GST rebate and was about to supply to them a portion of the federal gasoline tax ; the programme was called "New Deal for Cities and Communities". This was a left-over of his time as Minister of Finance, spurred by continued carping by academics, some of whom did not hesitate to note in 2004 that "[u]nlike the federal and provincial governments, municipalities cannot borrow for operating purposes; they can only do so for capital expenditures." At
12529-545: The First Ministers' Meeting of September 13–15, 2004, Martin and the provincial premiers reached an agreement on increased funding for healthcare. This 10-year plan outlined $ 18 billion in increased transfers to the provinces over 6 years, notably through increases in the CHT: Martin also introduced changes to the equalization program, under which the Federal Government is constitutionally obligated to redistribute federal revenue to provinces having less ability to raise revenues through taxation than wealthier provinces. The goal
12716-441: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
12903-412: The Francophonie , with the federal government of Canada and the provincial governments of New Brunswick and Quebec being full-fledged members of the organization. Although French is an official language in Ontario's education system, legislature, and judiciary, the province as a whole is not officially bilingual and its other provincial services do not provide English/French bilingual service throughout
13090-439: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It
13277-405: The Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1970. In 2016, the government of Ontario was granted observer status to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , permitting the provincial government to submit requests to the organization's ministerial conferences, and participate in certain meetings held by the organization. Ontario is one of four governments in Canada that participates in
13464-656: The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada passed the Upper Canada School Act , which provided for schools that used English and French and instructional languages. In 1798, during the final years of the French Revolution , French nobleman Joseph-Geneviève de Puisaye led a small group of royalists from France to settle lands north of York (present day Toronto). French migration into Canada West /Ontario did not accelerate until
13651-626: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
13838-774: The Senate passed it in July 2005, and it received Royal Assent on July 20 of the same year. This made Canada the fourth country in the world to allow same-sex marriages. In November 2005, the Martin government reached a historic consensus with Canada's provinces, territories, First Nations, Métis and Inuit. Known as the Kelowna Accord , it aimed to eliminate the gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians in health, education, housing and economic opportunity. On February 24, 2005, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew told
14025-1098: The United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization , the World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
14212-574: The University of Toronto with a B.A. in history and philosophy in 1961. He was a member of the U of T Young Liberals during his time at the University of Toronto. He then attended the University of Toronto Faculty of Law , where he received an LL.B. in 1964. He was called to the Ontario bar in 1966. On September 11, 1965, Martin married Sheila Ann Cowan , with whom he has three sons: Paul, Jamie and David. In 1969, Power Corporation took
14399-453: The 1920s. In 1912, the provincial government passed Regulation 17 , which limited the use of the French as the primary language of instruction to the first two years of elementary school. However, enforcement of the regulation was abandoned in 1927, when it became apparent to the provincial government that the regulation perpetuated inferior schooling of pupils in the province. Instead, a new policy permitting French-language schools instruction
14586-485: The 1986 French Language Services Act . The judge in R. v. Myers ruled that the traffic sign was not a municipal service, but instead was regulated under the provincial Highway Traffic Act and therefore subject to the bilingual requirements of the French Language Services Act . As this was a lower court ruling, it did not affect any other court. However the implication of the decision was that many traffic signs in bilingually designated areas of Ontario would be invalid. It
14773-506: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
14960-773: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
15147-790: The Americas. Francophone immigrants account for 15 per cent of all immigrants into Ontario, and nearly a third of all immigrants into Central Ontario. 17.4 per cent of immigrants to the province between 2011 and 2016 were francophone. Franco-Ontarians may be found in all areas of Ontario. Approximately 43.1 per cent of francophones in province reside in Eastern Ontario, with 268,070 francophones living in that region. Francophones comprise approximately 15.4 per cent of Eastern Ontario's total population. More than 68 per cent of francophones that live in Eastern Ontario reside in its Champlain region, an area that encompasses Cornwall , Hawkesbury , Ottawa and Pembroke (all of which are adjacent to or near
15334-703: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
15521-917: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
15708-538: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
15895-731: The Franco-Ontarian community , including ending the position of the French Language Services Commissioner and transferring its responsibilities to the office of the Ontario Ombudsman , reducing the status of the Ministry of Francophone Affairs from a full ministry to a government office, and cancelling funding announced by the prior government of Kathleen Wynne for the creation of the French-language university. After extensive backlash to
16082-484: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained
16269-558: The Gomery findings, NDP leader Jack Layton notified the Liberals of conditions for the NDP's continued support; the terms of these conditions are unclear, but the two parties were unable to come to an agreement. An opposition proposal schedule an election for February 2006 in return for passing several pieces of legislation was also unrealized. The Conservatives, supported by the other two opposition parties (the NDP and Bloc Québécois), introduced
16456-637: The House of Commons that Canada would not participate in the American National Missile Defense Program , and that he expected to be consulted in the case of a missile being launched over Canadian airspace. Martin's decision met with much praise, but others saw that the government was distancing itself from the U.S. His government continued to cooperate with the United States on border control, refugee claimants, and defense, and he appointed seasoned Liberal politician Frank McKenna as Canada's ambassador to Washington. Martin
16643-415: The Liberal Party's sponsorship scandal that began in the late 1990s. Martin's government signed the Kelowna Accord to improve living conditions for indigenous peoples , reached an agreement with the provinces on increased funding for healthcare, and legalized same-sex marriage . In 2005, the opposition parties in the House of Commons passed a motion of no confidence contending that Martin's government
16830-416: The Liberal leadership convention, capturing 3,242 of 3,455 votes. He had won the leadership almost unopposed, due to his hold on the party machinery, and because Chrétien supporters did not rally around either of the leadership opponents. Simon Fraser University professor Doug McArthur has noted that Martin's leadership campaign used aggressive tactics for the 2003 leadership convention, in attempting to end
17017-465: The Liberals had enjoyed by far the lion's share of this funding due to the then-divided opposition parties. It has been suggested that Chrétien, who had done nothing about election financing for his 10 years in office, could be seen as the idealist as he retired, while his rival and successor Martin would have the burden of having to fight an election under the strict new rules. An unpopular provincial budget by Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty , who broke
17204-579: The Meech Lake Accord and, as a result, Chrétien was generally unpopular in his home province for the next decade. Even before the Liberals' second electoral victory in the 1997 election , there was much speculation in the media and in Ottawa that Martin was after Chrétien's job and wanted to force him to retire. As the Liberals emerged with a smaller majority government after the 1997 election, it seemed unlikely that any opposition party could pose
17391-412: The Ontario's Attorney General, Roy McMurtry authorized the first French-language provincial court proceeding in 1976. Other departments in the government of Ontario also began to adopt policies of bilingualism, and policies for French services, such as the Ministry of Health in 1979, and the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services in 1980. French was formally made an official language of
17578-769: The Ontario-Quebec border). However, Northeastern Ontario is the region that has the highest proportion of francophones, with the 122,360 francophone residents of the region making up 22.6 per cent of the region's population. Central Ontario also has a large population of Franco-Ontarians, with 191,375 francophones residing in that region, which includes 63,055 Franco-Ontarians living in the Greater Toronto Area . Other areas include 33,555 Franco-Ontarians in Southwestern Ontario and 7,055 Franco-Ontarians in Northwestern Ontario . Étienne Brûlé
17765-460: The Parliament's agenda. The Conservatives would use this time to hold a vote of no confidence in order to topple Martin's government. To avoid this, Martin removed all opposition days from the schedule and made a televised appearance on April 21, 2005, to attempt to gain support from the Canadian people to let the inquiry run its course before an election was called. In the rebuttal speeches by
17952-773: The Provincial Committee on Aims and Objectives of Education in the Schools of Ontario, and the Bériault Report led to the provincial government passing the Schools Administration Act , and the Secondary Schools and Boards Act in 1968. The following acts introduced public funding for French-language secondary schools, and laid the foundation for the province's present elementary and secondary francophone school system. In 1969,
18139-467: The St. Lawrence seaway to benefit his own Canada Steamship Lines . The scandal also cast skepticism on Martin's recommendations for Cabinet appointments, prompting speculation Martin was simply ridding the government of Chrétien's supporters to distance the Liberals from the scandal. Martin acknowledged that there was political direction but denied involvement in, or knowledge of, the sponsorship contracts. He had
18326-534: The announcement, Ford reversed course, announcing that the commissioner position would be retained and that the office of francophone affairs would be restored to a full government ministry. The actions led to one Franco-Ontarian MPP, Amanda Simard , leaving his caucus to sit as an independent. During this period, governments in Quebec began to fly the Franco-Ontarian flag as a gesture of solidarity. The flag
18513-433: The area remained limited until the 19th century. The late 19th century and early 20th century saw attempts by the provincial government to assimilate the Franco-Ontarian population into the anglophone majority with the introduction of regulations that promoted the use of English over French, for example Regulation 17 . During the late 1960s and 1970s, because of the Quiet Revolution , Franco-Ontarians established themselves as
18700-571: The construction of three 80,000-ton ocean-going tankers at Davie Shipbuilding. On November 22, 1973, Martin was appointed president and CEO of the CSL Group. In 1974, CSL earnings were further hurt by an eight-week strike on the Great Lakes. In 1976, Power Corporation reversed itself and took over the investment portfolio that had been sold to CSL five years earlier. CSL reverted to an operating division of Power Corporation. In 1988, Martin
18887-428: The contest before it could start by giving the impression that his bid was too strong. McArthur blamed Martin's tactics for the ongoing sag in Liberal fortunes, as it discouraged activists who were not on side. On December 12, 2003, Martin was appointed by then-Governor General Adrienne Clarkson as the 21st Prime Minister of Canada. When sworn in as prime minister, Martin held the flag that flew on Parliament Hill when
19074-466: The convention to protest Chrétien's victory. The Meech Lake accord was officially defeated just one day before the Liberal leadership was to be decided. In the House of Commons, Lapierre then crossed the floor to the newly formed Bloc Québécois . After the leadership convention, Martin co-authored the election platform Creating Opportunity , colloquially known as the Red Book . The Liberal Party won
19261-706: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr. , is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son of former senator and secretary of state for external affairs Paul Martin Sr. , Martin
19448-493: The deal and declare for or against it. When Chrétien refused to endorse the deal, young Liberal delegates crowding the hall began to chant "vendu" ("sellout" in French) and "Judas" at Chrétien. Chrétien was upset at the response from the floor and another similar outburst by Martin supporters at the convention when Chrétien accepted the party leadership. Jean Lapierre and his supporters, who supported Martin, wore black armbands at
19635-412: The deficit in two years through economic growth alone, without the reduction in services. Chrétien and Martin frequently clashed while in office. It was reported that Chrétien privately often condemned Martin in bitter terms and had never forgiven Martin for running against him in the Liberal leadership convention of 1990. During that bitter contest, Martin had forced Chrétien to declare his opposition to
19822-519: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
20009-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French
20196-407: The elder Martin died. Both father and son had served as Cabinet ministers and contested the Liberal leadership on multiple occasions; their attempts from 1948 to 1990 were unsuccessful. Martin's election as leader and becoming prime minister was described as fulfilling a family dream. Both also earned the honorific prefix The Right Honourable . One difference between them was that Paul Sr. was one of
20383-594: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
20570-628: The entirety of the province. However, the Ontario French Language Services Act requires all provincial ministries and agencies to provide French-language services within 26 designated municipalities and regions. An area is designated as a French service area if the francophone population is greater than 5,000 people or 10 percent of the community's total population. Due to the 5,000 population threshold, large cities that are actually overwhelmingly anglophone with only very small francophone populations proportional to
20757-576: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of
20944-915: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
21131-829: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
21318-451: The government under Doug Ford , through Minister of Francophone Affairs , Caroline Mulroney , announced that Franco-Ontarians will be able to request a free replacement driver's licence or Ontario photo card displaying their name using French-language characters. The Université de Hearst , which teaches entirely in French and for decades operated as a federated college of Laurentian University using Laurentian's degree-granting authority,
21505-495: The government, following the tradition that the Speaker votes to continue debate, and that allowed the budget to pass through the House on May 19, 2005. Same-sex marriage proved to be a defining issue of Martin's mandate. Martin opposed same-sex marriage in a 1999 vote on the issue along with a majority of MPs, but changed his stance on the issue in 2004, citing recent court rulings and his personal belief that same-sex marriage
21692-403: The issuance of bilingual drivers licenses and government documents. A civil disobedience movement made up of Franco-Ontarian wanting to further accessibility rights for French-speakers emerged in 1975, known as C'est l'temps . Members of C'est l'temps refused to pay tickets issued in only in English, pressuring the provincial judiciary to act in a bilingual manner. As a result of the protest,
21879-586: The lack of funding, several generations of Franco-Ontarians grew up without formal education, with the dropout rate for francophones high during this period. Franco-Ontarians thus opted for jobs which did not require reading and mathematical skills, such as mining and forestry, and were virtually absent from white collar jobs. Sociologically, it meant that education was not a value transmitted to younger Franco-Ontarians. Further, those that did have higher levels of education often pursue job opportunities in larger cities, particularly Ottawa or even Montreal, which can create
22066-401: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French
22253-479: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon
22440-612: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,
22627-479: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
22814-531: The late 17th and early 18th centuries, the military of New France established a number of fortifications and garrisons in the region, including Fort Frontenac (in present-day Kingston ) in 1673, and Fort Rouillé (in present-day Toronto ) in 1750. The development of Fort Pontchartrain in Detroit, led to the development of Petite Côte, a permanent settlement south of the Detroit River . The settlement
23001-404: The latter's commanding lead and Manley eventually conceded the race. This left no strong candidate for Chrétien supporters to rally around, and some of them grudgingly voted for Martin. On September 21, 2003, Martin easily defeated his sole remaining opponent, former Deputy Prime Minister Sheila Copps , securing 93 percent of the party delegates. On November 14, 2003, he was declared the winner at
23188-597: The leadership should the position open. Martin was a candidate at the 1990 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election , losing to Jean Chrétien in a bitter race that resulted in lasting animosity between the two men and their supporters. A key moment in that race took place at an all-candidates debate in Montreal, where the discussion quickly turned to the Meech Lake Accord . Martin, favouring Meech, attempted to force Chrétien to abandon his nuanced position on
23375-429: The most left-wing members of the party, while Paul Jr. is considered on the right-wing. When he was sworn in, Martin's new cabinet retained only half the ministers from Chrétien's government, a noteworthy break in tradition from previous instances where a retiring prime minister handed over power to his successor as party leader. Martin and his supporters exercised control over the riding nomination process, breaking with
23562-475: The move, while accusations that her husband had both dined with former members of the terrorist organization FLQ and been supportive of Quebec separatism surprised others. Subsequent to her appointment, she reaffirmed her commitment to federalism and the issue died down. The first volume of the Gomery Report, released on November 1, 2005, cleared Martin of any wrongdoing while placing some blame for
23749-434: The municipality has not specifically passed its own bylaw governing its own provision of bilingual services. Ontario's Minister of Francophone Affairs, Madeleine Meilleur , became the province's first cabinet minister to attend a Francophonie summit in 2004, travelling to Ouagadougou with counterparts from Quebec, New Brunswick and the federal government. Meilleur also expressed the hope that Ontario would someday become
23936-472: The municipality. In 2008, the provincial government officially introduced a French licence plate , with the French slogan "Tant à découvrir" in place of "Yours to Discover", as an optional feature for drivers who wished to use it. In 2009, the government faced controversy during the H1N1 flu pandemic, when it sent out a health information flyer in English only, with no French version published or distributed for
24123-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by
24310-589: The official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco;
24497-441: The opposition party leaders, Layton offered his party's support provided that they were given major concessions in the budget such as canceling the proposed corporate tax cuts. Days later, the Liberals took the NDP up on their offer and negotiated tax cut deferments and new spending initiatives. Among the new commitments was aid for Sudan , which Sudan's officials turned down as Martin did not consult them about it beforehand. This aid
24684-534: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
24871-431: The party, though was appointed his minister of finance after the Liberal victory in the 1993 federal election . Martin oversaw many changes in the financial structure of the Canadian government, and his policies had a direct effect on eliminating the country's chronic fiscal deficit by drastically cutting spending and reforming various programs including social services. In 2002, Martin resigned as finance minister when
25058-421: The precedent to automatically sign the nomination papers of backbenchers and former ministers who wanted to run for reelection. While these were signs of open party infighting, this had little impact on Martin's record popularity, with several pundits suggesting that the cabinet change was meant to present a new government different from Chrétien's ten-year tenure. Martin and the Liberals were adversely affected by
25245-471: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French
25432-554: The pressures toward assimilation into the English Canadian majority that the community faces. As a result, the complex political and sociological context of Franco-Ontarian can only be fully understood by recognizing both meanings and understanding the distinctions between the two. Franco-Ontarians constitute the largest French-speaking community in Canada outside Quebec. According to the province of Ontario, there are 650,000 Francophones in Ontario, making up 4.6 per cent of
25619-411: The province would recognize Franco-Ontarians rights to access provincial public service in the French language, and for French-speakers to receive the services of an interpreter, if needed, in Ontario's courts. However, plans to adopt these measures were abandoned after negotiations for the Victoria Charter collapsed. His successor, Bill Davis instead opted to simply provide legal services in French, with
25806-403: The province's francophone residents. In response, MPP France Gélinas introduced a private member's bill in May 2011 to have the provincial Commissioner of French Language Services report to the full Legislative Assembly of Ontario rather than exclusively to the Minister of Francophone Affairs. On April 26, 2010, the Ontario government designated September 25 as Franco-Ontarian Day. This date
25993-399: The province's population. However, the figure is derived from the province's "Inclusive Definition of Francophones" (IDF), which includes respondents from the 2021 Canadian Census who reported French as their mother tongue and respondents whose mother tongue was not French but have proficiency in the language and use it as their primary language at home. Before the introduction of IDF in 2009,
26180-615: The province, while 19.6 per cent originated from Quebec, and 16.4 per cent came from all other provinces or territories in Canada. However, the percentage of those born in the province varies between region, with 85.3 per cent of francophones in Northeastern Ontario being born in Ontario; whereas only 39.6 per cent of francophones in Central Ontario were born in the province. 4.5 per cent of francophones in Ontario were born outside Canada. 35 per cent of francophones born outside Canada were born in Africa, while 28 per cent were from Europe, 20 per cent from Asia, and 17 per cent from other countries in
26367-450: The province. The majority of Franco-Ontarians in the province reside in Eastern Ontario , Northeastern Ontario , Central Ontario (including the Greater Toronto Area ), although small francophone communities may be found in other regions of the province. The first francophones to settle in Ontario did so during the early 17th century, when most of it was part of the Pays d'en Haut region of New France . However, French settlement into
26554-434: The provincial Minister of Education, mandated the requirement of English to be taught in francophone schools for two hours in the first four years of elementary school, and for four hours in its final four years. The late 19th century, and early 20th century saw the Ontario government much less supportive of, and often openly hostile toward the Franco-Ontarian community. In an attempt to protect Franco-Ontarian language rights,
26741-413: The provincial government established its French-language public educational broadcaster, TFO . Following the advice of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, Ontario's premier John Robarts made French an official language of the provincial legislature in 1970. While the Victoria Charter was being negotiated between the provincial premiers and the federal government, Robarts agreed that
26928-413: The provincial government expanded the definition of a francophone as a person whose mother tongue is French, or a person that has a different mother tongue but still uses French as the primary language at home. The term Ontarois is used sometimes to distinguish French-speaking Ontarians, while the general term for Ontarian in French is Ontarien . The use of the term Ontarois follows the convention that
27115-438: The provincial judiciary in 1984. In 1986, the provincial French Language Services Act was passed by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, where it recognized French as a "historic language in Ontario," an official language in its courts and in education, as well as the "desirable use" of French in its provincial institutions including the Legislature. However, the Act itself did not make the province bilingual, instead designating
27302-407: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
27489-489: The same deal, except only for oil resources. Negotiations over the agreement were harsh, with Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams at one point ordering all Canadian flags removed from provincial government buildings in December 2004. The dispute was resolved when the federal government agreed to Martin's original campaign promise. The 2005 federal budget was presented in the House of Commons on February 23, 2005. The budget included an array of new spending for
27676-445: The scandal on Chrétien for lack of oversight, although it acknowledged that Chrétien had no knowledge of the scandal. On June 26, 2008, Chrétien was cleared of all allegations of involvement in the scandal. A Canadian judge issued a gag order that barred Canadian media from covering the hearings of the Gomery Inquiry . Despite this, leaked information circulated after being published in an American blog Captain's Quarters . After
27863-438: The second definition but not by the first, since they were born to Franco-Ontarian parents but currently live outside Ontario and work primarily in English. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin was born in Windsor to a Franco-Ontarian father from Pembroke and an anglophone mother, although many Canadians consider him a Quebecer as he represented a Montreal riding in Parliament. Both meanings can be politically charged. Using
28050-463: The second half of the 19th century, farmers from Canada East / Quebec began to migrate in search of fertile land in Eastern Ontario, and along the Canadian Pacific Railway north of Lake Nipissing and Lake Huron . A large number of French Canadians were also drawn to Northern Ontario during this period, with the discovery of nickel in Sudbury , and gold in Timmins . In an attempt to alleviate anti-French sentiments, in 1885 George William Ross ,
28237-425: The second to the exclusion of the first may be considered offensive to some in that it excludes francophones born in or with ethnic origins from other francophone countries from the Franco-Ontarian community. Using the first to the exclusion of the second obscures the very real ethno-cultural distinctions that exist between Franco-Ontarians, Québécois, Acadians , Métis and other Canadian francophone communities, and
28424-406: The separatist Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party . The fall of the government was averted only after agreement on a watered-down version of the amendment. Martin invested heavily in Quebec, for example with the Bombardier Inc. C series project, which was later taken over by Airbus when the owner got into financial difficulties and called the Airbus A220 . By June 2005 Martin gave
28611-416: The size of the city, such as Toronto and Mississauga , are nevertheless still subject to the Act. Francophones who live in non-designated areas can also receive French language services by directly contacting the Office of Francophone Affairs in Toronto, or in the nearest designated community. The most recent addition to the list of designated areas is the city of Markham. It was named in June 2015, and after
28798-408: The tension with Chrétien reached its peak. Martin initially prepared to challenge Chrétien's leadership, though Chrétien announced his intention of retiring, triggering the November 2003 leadership election . Martin easily won the leadership and in the following month, became prime minister. In the 2004 federal election , the Liberal Party retained power, although only as a minority government due to
28985-427: The three-year implementation period provided for by the French Language Services Act , officially became a bilingual service centre in 2018. Enforcement of the French Language Services Act is conducted through the office of the provincial French Language Services Commissioner. French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )
29172-414: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
29359-619: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French
29546-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
29733-425: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of
29920-426: The wake of the French Language Services Act and the Meech Lake Accord debate. This was considered by many observers to be a direct contributor to the resurgence of the Quebec sovereignty movement in the 1990s, and consequently to the 1995 Quebec referendum . On October 19, 2004, a Toronto lawyer successfully challenged a "no left turn" traffic ticket on the basis that the sign was not bilingual in accordance with
30107-481: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
30294-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
30481-399: Was a lawyer from Ontario before he became president and the chief executive officer of Canada Steamship Lines in 1973. He held that position until his election as a member of Parliament for the Montreal riding of LaSalle—Émard in 1988 . Martin ran for leader of the Liberal Party in 1990 , losing to Jean Chrétien . Martin would become Chrétien's longtime rival for the leadership of
30668-417: Was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French
30855-466: Was attacked as a perceived attempt to win the vote of a single independent MP, former Liberal David Kilgour . Kilgour nevertheless voted against the government. In May, Parliament passed a motion asking one of its committees to express a lack of confidence in the government. The Liberals dismissed this as a procedural matter, causing some to accuse them of governing unlawfully by ignoring parliamentary tradition. The Conservatives and Bloc interpreted it as
31042-401: Was chartered as a fully independent university in 2021. The Ministry of Francophone Affairs is a department of the government of Ontario responsible for the provision of provincial services to the Franco-Ontarian community. Caroline Mulroney is the provincial cabinet minister responsible for the Francophone Affairs portfolio. The French language has been recognized as an official language of
31229-419: Was chosen as it represented the anniversary of the official raising of the Franco-Ontarian flag in 1975. On 22 February 2016, premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne formally issued an apology on behalf of the government of Ontario to Franco-Ontarians for the passage of Regulation 17, and its harmful impact on its communities. The motion for the government to present an official apology to the Franco-Ontarian community
31416-495: Was corrupt after the Gomery Commission released new details regarding the sponsorship scandal; this triggered the 2006 federal election , which saw the Liberals being defeated by the newly unified Conservative Party led by Stephen Harper , ending over 12 years of Liberal rule. Shortly after the defeat, Martin stepped down as Liberal leader and declined to seek re-election in 2008 . Evaluations of Martin's prime ministership have been mixed, whereas his tenure as finance minister
31603-434: Was criticized for failing to reach a foreign-aid target of 0.7 percent of GDP, most notably by Bono of Irish rock group U2 (who claimed that he was going to "kick [Martin's] butt" over the issue). Martin later responded that, in his view, many foreign leaders had made pledges that were too fanciful and that he would only commit to targets that he knew his government could be held accountable for. Martin became involved in
31790-462: Was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at a young age. She died on July 20, 2011. Martin contracted polio in 1946 at the age of eight (like his father, who contracted the disease in 1907). To give him the opportunity to improve his French, his parents enrolled him in a private French-language middle school , École Garneau, in Ottawa. Martin then briefly attended the University of Ottawa before transferring and graduating from St. Michael's College at
31977-425: Was due to concerns over the direction the Conservative Party was taking; others accused Stronach of political opportunism. The event changed the balance of power in the House of Commons in favour of the government. This, and the support of independent MP Chuck Cadman , caused a tie during a May 2005 confidence vote, meaning that Peter Milliken , Speaker of the House needed to cast the deciding vote. He voted with
32164-531: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
32351-490: Was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the southwestern Montreal riding of LaSalle-Émard . He was re-elected without much difficulty at every election until he retired from politics. In 1984, the Liberal Party was defeated under the leadership of John Turner , falling to just 40 seats. A group of young Liberals approached Martin as a possible candidate to replace Turner, and while he did not take part in an attempt to overthrow Turner, he did prepare to succeed him in
32538-541: Was entered even though no arguments were made by either side on the merits of the case. The situation created a legal vacuum for several years, during which numerous defendants used the bilingual signage argument to fight traffic tickets. The precedent was overturned by the Ontario Court of Appeal in a 2011 case, R. v. Petruzzo , on the grounds that the French Language Services Act specifically states that municipalities are not required to offer services in French, even in provincially regulated areas such as traffic signage, if
32725-424: Was feared that the ruling would have a similar effect as the Manitoba Language Rights ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada, in this case forcing municipalities to erect new bilingual road signs at great expense and invalidating millions of dollars in existing tickets before the courts. The City of Toronto appealed the ruling. At the appeal hearing both parties asked the court to enter a plea of guilty. A guilty verdict
32912-419: Was first presented by Glenn Thibeault . In 2015, MPP France Gélinas introduced a private member's bill to mandate the creation of a fully independent French-language university. Although her bill did not pass, the government of Kathleen Wynne announced the creation of a French-language university in 2017. In 2018, the provincial government of Doug Ford announced several government cutbacks that impacted
33099-400: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
33286-420: Was himself. He also forged a closer relationship with the People's Republic of China by announcing the strategic partnership initiative during PRC President Hu Jintao 's state visit to Canada in September 2005. On August 4, 2005, the government announced that Martin had advised Queen Elizabeth II to appoint Michaëlle Jean as governor general . The reception to the appointment was mixed: some applauded
33473-452: Was hoisted at Montreal City Hall on November 23, and at the National Assembly of Quebec on December 1. Ford later cancelled funding for the new Francophone university, created by the previous government. However, in September 2019 the provincial and federal governments announced a new funding plan for the creation of the first French language university in the province. The province's first publicly-funded university that operates solely as
33660-593: Was introduced, with French given legal status in Ontario's education system, and the bilingual University of Ottawa Normal School was officially recognized. The regulation formally remained in the statutes of Ontario until 1944, when the regulations were revised. Although the regulation itself was rescinded in 1927, the government did not fund French language high schools. As a result, francophones had to pursue high school education in English, pay tuition to private high schools (which few Franco-Ontarian families could afford), or simply stop attending school after Grade 9. Due to
33847-469: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
34034-401: Was primarily a human rights issue. In the midst of various court rulings in 2003 and 2004 that allowed for the legalization of same-sex marriages in seven provinces and one territory, the government proposed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage across Canada . The House of Commons passed the Civil Marriage Act in late June 2005 in a late-night, last-minute vote before Parliament closed down,
34221-452: Was probably most noticeable in health care , as major reductions in federal funding to the provinces meant significant cuts in service delivery. Martin's tactics, including those of using contributor's funds from RCMP, Military and Civil Service pension plans and Employment Insurance , created further controversy. CAW economist Jim Stanford said that a combination of a spending freeze at 1994 levels and lower interest rates would have eliminated
34408-460: Was responsible for lowering Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio from a peak of 70 percent to about 50 percent in the mid-1990s. In December 2001, he was named a member of the World Economic Forum 's "dream cabinet." The global business and financial body listed Martin along with United States Secretary of State Colin Powell and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan as top world leaders. Also during his tenure as finance minister, Martin coordinated
34595-411: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
34782-418: Was the first permanent settlement in Ontario, and eventually became Windsor . However, European settlement into the region remained largely limited during this period. After the Treaty of Paris was negotiated in 1763, New France was ceded to the British. Present day Ontario was governed as a part of the Province of Quebec until 1791, when Ontario was severed from the colony, forming Upper Canada . In 1797,
34969-437: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
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