157-466: The Parti Québécois ( French for 'Quebec Party', pronounced [paʁti kebekwa] ; PQ ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec , Canada . The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishing a sovereign state . The PQ has also promoted the possibility of maintaining
314-544: A "Yes" vote. Though initially reluctant, Ryan started to accept and welcome the Canadian government's help, and continued to speak across Quebec. The referendum prompted an unheard-of political mobilization, and the campaign was seen as a traumatic event in Quebec, as the hard choice between "Yes" and "No" shattered the nationalist consensus that had existed since the Quiet Revolution. On May 14, six days before
471-744: 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
628-555: A French word derived from the pronunciation of the party's initials. The party is an associate member of COPPPAL . The party has strong informal ties to the Bloc Québécois (BQ, whose members are known as "Bloquistes"), the federal party that has also advocated for the secession of Quebec from Canada, but the two are not linked organizationally. As with its federal counterpart, the Parti Québécois has been supported by
785-554: A basic understanding of French before becoming citizens of Quebec. (Note that there are no official citizens of Quebec; residents of Quebec are citizens of Canada.) Further to her desire to protect French in Quebec, during Marois' visit to France in October 2012, she recommended that the "French elite" conduct themselves only in French on the international scene. However, some of Marois' international critics scoffed at her pretension that
942-571: A brief to the reasonable accommodation commission on minorities, which conducted hearings across the province. The commission briefing looked to reformulate the relations between Quebec's francophone and minority populations. Its task was to be a platform for the PQ's protectionism of French. Marois stated there is nothing dogmatic in Francophones wishing to declare their existence even if it includes developing legislation requiring newcomers to have
1099-424: A century, the 2018 election unfolded in a historic way, being the first time in a half century a party other than the Parti Québécois or Liberals were elected to power, with a Coalition Avenir Québec majority win. It also marked the first time in 42 years that the Parti Québécois did not win enough seats to maintain official status in the legislature. With only 10 seats won, not only did it lose official status, but
1256-431: 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,
1413-622: A constitutional settlement with the rest of Canada but with the failure of the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord , two packages of proposed amendments to the Canadian constitution , the question of Quebec's status remained unresolved and the Quebec sovereignty movement revived. The PQ returned to power under the leadership of hardline sovereigntist Jacques Parizeau in the 1994 Quebec election . This saw
1570-418: A docile schoolgirl from pre- Quiet Revolution schoolbooks, a general theme she had also used in the legislature. Payette then stated that Ryan wanted a Quebec full of "Yvettes" and that his wife, Madeline Ryan, was an Yvette. The personal attack prompted a furious editorial by prominent journalist Lise Bissonnette , who sarcastically contrasted Payette's televised exploits with Mme Ryan's accomplishments in
1727-528: A fiercely contested race, Péladeau was the frontrunner for much of the campaign, causing Jean-François Lisée to drop out in January 2015, Bernard Drainville to drop out on 22 April 2015, and Pierre Céré to follow Drainville only five days before the leadership election. On 15 May 2015, Pierre Karl Péladeau was elected permanent leader. On 2 May 2016, Péladeau announced that he was retiring from politics to dedicate more time to his family. Jean-François Lisée
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#17327762024261884-555: 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
2041-477: A framework law which defines the linguistic primacy of French and seeks to make French the common public language of Quebec. It allowed the advancement of francophones towards management roles, until then largely out of their reach. Despite the fact that 85% of the population spoke French and most of them did not understand English, the language of management was English in most medium and large businesses. Critics, both Francophone and Anglophone, have however criticized
2198-454: A general assembly that voted to dissolve the RIN. Its former members were invited to join the new Parti Québécois. The PQ's primary goals were to obtain political, economic and social autonomy for the province of Quebec. Lévesque introduced the strategy of referendums early in the 1970s. The PQ faced its first electoral test in the 1970 provincial election , winning seven seats. However, Lévesque
2355-519: A landslide majority government in the next election. Progressives on the left wing of the PQ perceived a rightward move by the party towards neoliberalism under Bouchard, Landry and Boisclair. In 2006, a new left-wing party, Québec solidaire , was formed which included many activists who likely would formerly have been members or supporters of the PQ. Over subsequent elections, the QS attracted increasing support from left-wing sovereigntists disillusioned with
2512-548: A leadership confidence vote in March 2023. Plamondon broke a record for the PQ votes of confidence, with 98.51% support. Since the 2022 election, the PQ saw an increase in its support in polls with them polling as the second largest party but still behind the CAQ. On October 2, 2023, the PQ won its fourth seat with its win in the 2023 Jean-Talon provincial by-election , with Pascal Paradis being elected MNA. The Bloc Québécois (BQ)
2669-432: A leadership race and convention. Former Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe was the first to announce his intention to run for party leadership, on 11 May 2007. He was followed the same day by Pauline Marois . In a surprise move, Duceppe withdrew on the 12th – leaving Marois the only declared candidate. No other candidates came forward, and on 26 June 2007, Marois won the leadership by acclamation . In June 2011,
2826-424: A loose political and economic sovereignty-association between Quebec and Canada. The party traditionally has support from the labour movement ; however, unlike most other social democratic parties, its ties with organized labour are informal. Members and supporters of the PQ are nicknamed péquistes ( / p eɪ ˈ k iː s t / pay- KEEST , Quebec French pronunciation: [peˈkɪst] ),
2983-505: A new logo on 21 February 2007, at the beginning of the 2007 provincial election campaign. While maintaining the basic style of past logos, the Q was redesigned and modernized. In addition, the tail of the Q was recoloured green. This logo was replaced in 2021 with a new logo that incorporated the fleur-de-lis into the letter " Q ". The Parti Québécois centres on the protection of the Franco-Québécois identity, up to or including
3140-652: 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
3297-448: A policy convention following the election, the party held a presidents' council. The party caucus in the provincial legislative assembly was said to have supported Boisclair continuing as leader. On 8 May 2007, Boisclair announced his resignation as leader of the PQ. This was effective immediately, although Boisclair confirmed he would remain within the PQ caucus for the time being. He was replaced by veteran MNA François Gendron , pending
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#17327762024263454-515: A program of "sovereigntist governance" in relations with the rest of Canada, to return Quebec to balanced budgets through higher taxes and debt reduction, to increase the use of French in public services, and to address resource development in Northern Quebec. However the PQ's 'new Bill 101' did not pass. The centrepiece of the government's program was a Quebec Charter of Values which would have curtailed minority religious identity by banning
3611-494: 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
3768-494: A remark by Lévesque days earlier that he was showing his "Elliott" side during the campaign. Trudeau detailed the story of his parents, who had both had many ancestors in Quebec, and remarked that his full name was both a Québécois and a Canadian name. Trudeau then began to list members of the Parti Québécois who had Irish or English last names. The riposte brought the crowd to an uproar, and Trudeau exited to chants of "Elliott." The speech, which prompted Morin to wonder if his mind
3925-587: 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
4082-526: 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
4239-941: 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
4396-566: A second referendum. With regards to Trudeau's plans to unilaterally patriate and change the constitution, the newly re-elected Lévesque, who had initially argued for the incorporation of a Quebec veto into the new constitution, agreed with eight other premiers (the Gang of Eight) to a proposal that would not allow Quebec a veto, but would permit "opting out" of certain federal endeavours with compensation. The federal government, still interested in proceeding unilaterally, sought an opinion on whether it
4553-574: A series of confused phone calls led the nationalist Social Credit Members of Parliament (MPs) to abstain from a budget vote, which, along with a concerted Liberal and New Democratic Party (NDP) push, led the Clark government to unexpectedly lose a vote of confidence on a budget bill, precipitating a federal election . Three days afterward, Trudeau announced his return as leader of the Liberals. Polls showed Clark losing handily. The referendum question
4710-547: 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
4867-439: A vote for the "No" as a mandate to renew federalism and change the constitution, putting his MPs' seats on the line if he were to fail to keep this promise. Addressing himself to Canadians outside Quebec on behalf of his MPs, Trudeau challenged English Canada that change would have to occur and that the referendum could not be interpreted as an endorsement of the status quo. After this Trudeau hit an emotional high note, invoking
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5024-611: A wide range of voters in Quebec, from large sections of organized labour to more conservative rural voters. The PQ is the result of the 1968 merger between the Mouvement Souveraineté-Association , founded by René Lévesque (a former Quebec Liberal Party cabinet minister), and the Ralliement national . Following the creation of the PQ, the Rassemblement pour l'Indépendance Nationale held
5181-437: 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
5338-504: Is a federal political party founded in 1990 by former Progressive Conservative MP Lucien Bouchard . It has traditionally had close ties to the Parti Québécois and shares its principal objective of sovereignty . The two parties have frequently shared political candidates, and have supported each other during election campaigns. The two parties have a similar membership and voter base. Prominent members of either party often attend and speak at both organizations' public events. Gilles Duceppe ,
5495-472: 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
5652-489: 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
5809-430: 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
5966-462: 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
6123-652: 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
6280-503: 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
6437-404: 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
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6594-469: 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
6751-828: 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
6908-576: 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 ,
7065-553: 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
7222-483: 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
7379-492: 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
7536-424: 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
7693-483: The 2007 provincial election , the party fell to 36 seats and behind the conservative Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ) in number of seats and the popular vote: this was the first time since 1973 that the party did not form the government or the Official Opposition . Boisclair said that the voters clearly did not support a strategy of a rapid referendum in the first mandate of a PQ government. Instead of
7850-764: 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
8007-462: 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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#17327762024268164-539: 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
8321-485: 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
8478-559: 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,
8635-877: 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
8792-611: The Kitchen Meeting , which took place after Lévesque had left for the evening. In Quebec, that night has sometimes been called the "Night of the Long Knives". As a result of the compromise between the premiers (other than Lévesque) and the federal government, the government patriated the Canadian constitution in the Constitution Act, 1982 without support from Lévesque or Quebec's National Assembly. The result
8949-626: 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
9106-532: The Premier of Quebec . This provided cause for celebration among many French-speaking Quebecers , while it resulted in an acceleration of the migration of the province's Anglophone population and related economic activity toward Toronto . The first PQ government was known as the "republic of professors" because of the large number of scholars in Lévesque's cabinet . The PQ was the first government to recognize
9263-569: The Progressive Conservatives led by Joe Clark , whose platform had included a more accommodating approach to constitutional negotiations with the provinces. Clark's minority government made a point to not have the federal government be involved in the referendum, leaving the task of representing federalist voices to Claude Ryan , the new leader of the Quebec Liberal Party. On June 21, 1979, Lévesque announced
9420-536: The Union Nationale ) that focused on affirmation of the province's French and Catholic identity within Canada, the province underwent a Quiet Revolution in the early 1960s. The Quiet Revolution was characterized by the effective secularization of society and the creation of a welfare state ( état-providence ). It also caused a realignment of provincial politics into federalist and sovereigntist factions,
9577-1012: 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
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#17327762024269734-459: The "French elite" were Québécois. French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ) 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
9891-422: The "No" side. On April 15, Lévesque announced before the National Assembly the referendum would occur on May 20, 1980. The same day, on the opening of the House of Commons, Trudeau announced that the Government of Canada would not negotiate sovereignty-association under any circumstances, as he considered the question too vague and the Canadian government's authority too uncertain to do so. He also stated that
10048-555: The "No" side. The speech was generally seen as callous and harsh, especially after the emotional crowd scenes broadcast during Lévesque's speech. Trudeau addressed the country afterward with a more conciliatory tone, emphasizing the need for unity after the hurt feelings and strained friendships that had been caused by the referendum. The next morning, Chrétien was tasked with creating a provincial consensus. Maximum amount authorized by referendum law: $ 2,122,257 ($ 0.50/voter x 4,244,514 voters) "No" Committee: "Yes" Committee: After
10205-455: 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;
10362-474: 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
10519-522: The Bloc and PQ. Beaulieu's election as Bloc leader was more warmly received by the PQ's rival party, Option nationale , than by the PQ. In 2018, the Montreal Gazette reported on an investigation into two closed Facebook groups, whose stated aim is to bolster the PQ, by anti-racist activist Jeff Ray. Ray found that many participants, while supporters of the PQ, were also members of far-right groups like La Meute and Storm Alliance . This included "grassroots activists to aspiring candidates to officials on
10676-434: The CAQ because they no longer believed sovereignty was a realistic goal. Notably, the party was completely shut out of Montreal for the first time in memory, including its traditional stronghold in the heavily francophone eastern portion. Historically, when the PQ won government, the eastern half of the Island of Montreal was coated light blue. Many younger sovereigntists defected to Québec Solidaire. Leader Jean-François Lisée
10833-510: 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
10990-614: 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,
11147-408: 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
11304-461: The Gang of Eight and opted to join Trudeau in advocating immediate patriation with the promise of a future referendum on the other matters. The other premiers, loath to be seen arguing against the charter of rights that was included in Trudeau's proposed constitutional changes, formulated a compromise proposal with Jean Chrétien that was acceptable to the Canadian government. The compromise came during
11461-484: 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
11618-479: The Government of Quebec the mandate to negotiate the proposed agreement between Quebec and Canada?" Lévesque, while noting its cumbersome nature, stated that it was transparent and could be easily understood. The Liberals presented their constitutional proposal, known as the "Beige Paper" on January 10, 1980, which advocated a decentralized Canadian federation. While generally viewed as detailed and competent,
11775-506: The Mulroney government began negotiations with Quebec to find a deal that would be acceptable to all provinces. The 1987 Meech Lake Accord and the 1992 Charlottetown Accord , despite receiving unanimous consent among the provincial premiers, each failed in dramatic public fashion, reviving the sovereignty movement. The PQ returned to office, led by hard-line separatist and former Finance Minister Jacques Parizeau , in 1994. Parizeau called
11932-417: The PQ implemented a number of popular reforms to longstanding issues in the province, while emphasizing its nationalist credentials with laws such as Bill 101 , which reinforced French as the province's official language. The PQ's efforts were in philosophical conflict with the federal Liberal government of Pierre Elliot Trudeau , an opponent of sovereignty who instead urged Quebecers to seek empowerment at
12089-481: The PQ lost its official party status and came in a distant fourth place. With just over 14% of the popular vote, it broke a new record low score for the party, resulting in the PQ's smallest presence ever in the National Assembly. The movement of most voter support over to the CAQ and other nationalist parties put into question the party's relevance and its ability to survive in future. On December 1, 2022,
12246-412: The PQ was likely finished in its present form, and would have to merge with another sovereigntist party to avoid fading into irrelevance. On 27 November 2018, the CAQ granted both the PQ and Québec Solidaire official status in the legislature, despite the parties being short on seats and percentage of the popular vote in order to qualify. However, on 11 March 2019, Catherine Fournier , the youngest MNA in
12403-434: The PQ win 77 seats and 44% of the vote, on a promise to hold an independence referendum within a year. The following year, Parizeau called the 1995 Quebec referendum proposing negotiations on sovereignty. Again, the sovereigntists lost the vote. The final count showed 49.42% of voters supported negotiations that could eventually lead to sovereignty. On the night of the defeat, an emotionally drained Premier Parizeau stated that
12560-454: The PQ's three newly elected members were barred from the Quebec legislature following their refusal to swear an oath to the King, as required by the Constitution Act, 1867 . In response, on December 9, 2022, the CAQ passed a bill abolishing the requirement, allowing the PQ into the legislature by early 2023, however its legality is being questioned. After the 2022 provincial election, the PQ held
12717-557: The PQ. At the same time on the right, the ADQ and later the Coalition Avenir Québec attracted the votes of right-wing and soft sovereigntists who eventually become Quebec autonomists and Canadian federalists while retaining their Quebec nationalist identities. These political developments resulted in the PQ being squeezed from both sides. The PQ was unable to maintain the momentum it briefly had under Boisclair, and in
12874-547: The Paul Sauvé Arena. Trudeau defended his actions by stating he had kept his promise to deliver a new constitution that resided entirely within Canada and an embedded Charter of Rights . Quebec nationalists argue that this is an overly literal view of his words and that, in context to a Québécois audience, Trudeau had promised that Quebec would be given a status in accordance with a decentralized view of federalism, or his MPs would resign. In 1984, Brian Mulroney led
13031-479: The Progressive Conservatives to victory nationally, having committed during the campaign to try to find a way to accommodate Quebec's objections to the constitution. Lévesque pledged to take the risk of trying to work towards a deal with Mulroney. This led to a split in the PQ and subsequently Lévesque's resignation from politics in 1985. After the PQ defeat by the Liberals of Robert Bourassa ,
13188-410: The United Kingdom and have a charter of rights and constitutional amending formula approved by national referendum. In the meantime, there was a provincial election in Quebec. Despite a brief post-referendum malaise, the PQ easily defeated Ryan's Liberals in the 1981 provincial election , campaigning both on their governing record and against Trudeau's intentions. Notably, the PQ did not promise to hold
13345-479: The absence of "winning conditions". Bouchard's government then balanced the provincial budget – a feat achieved in Canada only by the federal government and a few of the ten Canadian provinces at that point – by reducing government spending , including social programs. The PQ was re-elected in the 1998 election , despite receiving fewer votes than the Quebec Liberal Party led by former federal deputy prime minister Jean Charest . Bouchard resigned in 2001, and
13502-416: The benefits they said sovereignty would provide them. The Liberals provided quick and taunting retorts regarding the referendum question that would normally be heard on the legislative floor, but which appeared to be flippant and insubstantial compared to the lengthy and detailed speeches of PQ members to television viewers. The Liberals seemed to lack preparation and Ryan, unaware of the television cameras,
13659-521: The campaign "scandalously immoral", he emphasized that the result must be accepted and that it was now the Canadian government's responsibility to provide the promised changes to the constitution. He ended asking the audience to sing " Gens du Pays " for him, as he did not have any voice left. Claude Ryan's speech was later in the evening. After refusing to let Jean Chrétien use the microphone to address those gathered, he proceeded to demand an election be called and listed every riding that had voted for
13816-405: The charter for restraining citizens' linguistic school choice, as it only permits anglophones to attend English-language schools funded by the state (private schools remained an option for those who could afford tuition). The Parti Québécois initiated the 1980 Quebec referendum seeking a mandate to begin negotiation for sovereignty-association . It was rejected by 60 per cent of voters. The party
13973-412: The confidence vote from party membership on 4 June 2005, Landry announced his intention to resign. Louise Harel had been chosen to replace him until a new leader, André Boisclair , was elected 15 November 2005, through the party's 2005 leadership election . At the time of Boisclair's election, the PQ was as much as 20% ahead of the Liberals in opinion polls, suggesting that Boisclair would lead them to
14130-616: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French 1980 Quebec referendum The 1980 Quebec independence referendum was the first referendum in Quebec on the place of Quebec within Canada and whether Quebec should pursue a path toward sovereignty . The referendum was called by Quebec's Parti Québécois (PQ) government, which advocated secession from Canada. The province-wide referendum took place on May 20, and
14287-519: 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
14444-448: 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
14601-594: 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
14758-464: The equality of nations; this agreement would enable Quebec to acquire the exclusive power to make its laws, levy its taxes and establish relations abroad — in other words, sovereignty — and at the same time to maintain with Canada an economic association including a common currency; any change in political status resulting from these negotiations will only be implemented with popular approval through another referendum; on these terms, do you give
14915-440: The executive council" on the PQ side, and "key personalities of the far right" on the other. The party's distinctive logo was designed in 1968 by painter and poet Roland Giguère . It consists of a stylised letter Q, represented by a blue circle broken by a red arrow. The creator meant it as an allegory of the Parti Québécois breaking the circle of colonialism which he claimed Canada was imposing on Quebec and opening Quebec upon
15072-404: The federal level through reforms that provided for bilingualism and protection for individual rights. Trudeau, an effective campaigner whose party had dominated federal politics in Quebec for over 80 years, was considered such a formidable opponent that Lévesque refused to implement a referendum while Trudeau remained in office. In the 1979 federal election , the Liberals were narrowly defeated by
15229-549: The federal response to the referendum. Ryan was furious. Television had recently been introduced to the Quebec National Assembly, and the legislative debate on the referendum question was scheduled for prime time live viewing on March 4, 1980. The debate lasted two weeks, and the result was a smashing PQ success and a disaster for the provincial Liberals. The PQ Cabinet, coordinated by House Leader Claude Charron , provided detailed outlines of their files and
15386-516: 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
15543-566: The former Bloc leader, is also the son of Jean Duceppe , a Quebec actor who helped found the PQ after having been a founding member of the New Democratic Party . In June 2014, Mario Beaulieu , a former PQ riding president and Bloc candidate, was elected leader of the Bloc Québécois. Notwithstanding his previous ties to both parties, Beaulieu has been critical of what he sees as a too timid approach to sovereignty by both
15700-915: 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 ,
15857-829: 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
16014-401: 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
16171-479: 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
16328-612: 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 ,
16485-479: 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
16642-564: The latter calling for the separation of Quebec from Canada and its establishment as a sovereign nation state . A prominent sovereigntist was René Lévesque , who helped found the Parti Québécois (PQ) with like-minded separatists. The PQ proposed "sovereignty-association", a proposal for Quebec to be a sovereign nation-state while requiring (hence the hyphen ) an economic partnership with what remained of Canada. The PQ had intended to declare independence upon forming government, citing
16799-498: The loss was caused by "money and ethnic votes" (which led to accusations that Parizeau was racist) as well as by the divided votes amongst francophones. Parizeau resigned the next day (as he is alleged to have planned beforehand in case of a defeat). Lucien Bouchard , a former member of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney 's Cabinet and later founder of the Bloc Québécois , a federal-level sovereigntist party, succeeded Parizeau as PQ leader, but chose not to call another referendum due to
16956-482: The management of the new sports and entertainment complex in Quebec City. Unrest continued later in the month when a fifth MNA, Benoit Charette , also quit, citing his dissatisfaction with the party's sole focus being sovereignty. Beaudoin rejoined the PQ caucus in 2012. The party won a minority government under Marois in the 2012 provincial election with 54 of 125 seats in the National Assembly. It embarked on
17113-439: The movement and create conversations at the ground level, however, the attempt to create them in some heavily Federalist professions, such as lawyers, prompted a severe backlash. The "No" campaign, led by Ryan, was run as a traditional election campaign, with Ryan campaigning during the day and making speeches in local hockey arenas across rural Quebec. Controversially, the Canadian government became involved on its own accord in
17270-420: 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
17427-652: 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;
17584-570: The other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French 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
17741-534: 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
17898-558: The party and the province and the only PQ MNA from Greater Montreal, resigned from the Parti Québécois to sit as an independent, claiming the party had lost its way. At the same time, several members of the PQ's youth wing expressed concern that the party might not have a future. Fournier's defection dropped the party into fourth place, losing its standing as second opposition and potentially losing their official party status once again. The next leadership election occurred on 9 October 2020, with lawyer Paul St-Pierre Plamondon being elected as
18055-618: The party leadership election chose Pierre-Marc Johnson as his successor. Despite its social-democratic past, the PQ failed to gain admission into the Socialist International , after the membership application was vetoed by the federal New Democratic Party . The PQ led by Johnson was defeated by the Quebec Liberal Party in the 1985 election that saw Robert Bourassa return as premier. The Liberals served in office for two terms and attempted to negotiate
18212-526: The party was shaken when four of its most prominent MNAs — popular actor Pierre Curzi , former cabinet minister Louise Beaudoin , and Lisette Lapointe , the wife of former premier Jacques Parizeau , and Jean-Martin Aussant — quit the party to sit as independents . They disagreed with Marois's support for a bill changing the law to permit an agreement between the City of Québec and Quebecor Inc. concerning
18369-471: 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
18526-475: The principle of parliamentary supremacy . This was changed in the party platform after internal lobbying by Claude Morin to a referendum strategy to better allow such a declaration to be internationally recognized. The PQ won the 1976 election in a surprise rout of the governing Quebec Liberals of Robert Bourassa on a general platform of good government and the promise of holding a referendum on sovereignty-association during their first term. In government,
18683-629: The private and public sector. Payette apologized during the legislative debate, but the remark and editorial sparked a movement. On March 30, a group of 1,700 women, including Madeline Ryan, held the brunch des Yvettes at the Château Frontenac in Quebec City . The movement grew until a rally at the Montreal Forum on April 7 when 14,000 women denounced the minister's declarations about women and manifested their support for
18840-473: The promised referendum would occur in the spring of 1980, and that the question would be announced before Christmas. On November 1, 1979, the Quebec government made public its constitutional proposal in a white paper entitled Québec-Canada: A New Deal. The Québec Government Proposal for a New Partnership Between Equals: Sovereignty-Association . A dramatic change occurred in Ottawa on December 11, 1979, when
18997-489: The proposal to pursue secession was defeated by a 59.56 percent to 40.44 percent margin. A second referendum on sovereignty , which was held in 1995, also rejected pursuing secession, albeit by a much smaller margin (50.58% to 49.42%). Quebec, a province in the Canadian Confederation since its foundation in 1867, has always been the sole majority French-speaking province. Long ruled by forces (such as
19154-573: The prospect of another referendum a focus of the campaign, as well as feminist Janette Bertrand suggesting that wealthy Muslim men were taking over swimming pools, among other incidents badly hurt the PQ. Marois' government was defeated by the Liberals, led by Philippe Couillard , in the 2014 provincial election which resulted in a Liberal majority government. The PQ won 25% of the vote and 30 seats, its worst result in terms of popular vote since 1970 . Marois lost her own seat, and announced her intention to resign as PQ leader that night. Stéphane Bédard
19311-632: The question was too vague to give Lévesque and the PQ any mandate to declare independence, making any result from a "Yes" vote impossible; in contrast, he offered that a "No" vote would lead to constitutional change. His position was supported by Clark and national NDP leader Ed Broadbent . The "Yes" campaign was, in the initial stages, low key. It focused on gaining broad acceptance of sovereignty-association through specialized "regroupments" that would be presented with special certificates at ceremonies led by Lévesque and other cabinet ministers. The regroupments were seen as an attempt to show broad support for
19468-586: The referendum despite the provisions of the provincial Referendum Act , which tightly restricted all campaigning to the designated "Yes" and "No" committees with set budgets. Canadian government politicians made appearances coordinated by Minister of Justice Jean Chrétien and Marc Lalonde , mainly speculating on the economic uncertainty a "Yes" vote could bring. Chrétien argued that prominent PQ member Claude Morin would sacrifice Canada's oil and national gas price to drive in an ambassadors' Cadillac. Lalonde argued that old age pensions were directly threatened by
19625-412: The referendum, Trudeau acted upon his promise by calling together the provincial premiers in a first ministers' conference. The meeting showed signs of deadlock, and Lévesque surprised observers by uniting with the dissident premiers, who warmly received his decentralist views. Facing a lack of cooperation from the premiers, Trudeau then announced his intention to unilaterally patriate the constitution from
19782-473: The report did not make much impact on the federal election, and was attacked by the PQ as vague and insubstantial. Ryan, who disliked the federal Liberals, refused to endorse either Trudeau or Clark. On February 18, 1980, the federal Liberals won a majority in the House of Commons, and Trudeau returned as Prime Minister. Trudeau announced Jean Chrétien, his most trusted lieutenant, as having responsibilities for
19939-471: 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
20096-545: The rights of Aboriginal peoples to self-determination, insofar as this self-determination did not affect the territorial integrity of Quebec. The PQ passed laws on public consultations and the financing of political parties, which ensured equal financing of political parties and limited contributions by individuals to $ 3000. However, the most prominent legacy of the PQ is the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101),
20253-483: The safety of a second referendum would convince swing voters to back the "Yes." A significant debate arose as to whether a "question" under the Referendum Act could have more than one sentence: the final compromise was to use semicolons . The question announced on December 20, 1979, was: "The Government of Quebec has made public its proposal to negotiate a new agreement with the rest of Canada, based on
20410-561: The tenth Parti Québécois leader. The 2022 provincial election saw even further erosion and an unprecedented loss of support for the Parti Quebecois. Not only did the party once again not form government or the official opposition, but saw its lowest number of elected seats in the history of the PQ's existence, with only three seats won. The previous lowest was in the 1973 election, where the party won six seats. Although new party leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon managed to win his seat,
20567-414: 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
20724-679: 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
20881-559: The ultimate result of sovereignty-association. Sovereigntism, however, is 'Article 1' in its party program. After then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy rejected the long-standing "non-interference, non-indifference" stance towards Quebec should it seek sovereignty in 2009, PQ leader and Premier Pauline Marois' visit to France in October 2012 saw her reinstate it with French President François Hollande. Also during her visit, Marois commented that "Canada's current foreign policy corresponds to neither our values nor our interests". The PQ delivered
21038-568: 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
21195-485: 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
21352-428: The vote, Trudeau made his final appearance at a packed Paul Sauvé Arena , where the PQ had celebrated their victory in 1976. Trudeau attacked the "Yes" campaign for not asking a clear question, and stated that a "Yes" vote was a dead end, given that the rest of Canada was not bound by the question and that it was too vague to pursue independence if negotiations were refused. Trudeau then stated that he would interpret
21509-492: The wearing of religious symbols by those in the employ of the government, particularly Sikh turbans, Muslim veils and Jewish kippahs. Based on the charter's growing popularity among francophones, Marois called an early election for 7 April 2014 in an attempt to win a majority government. Despite leading in the polls when the writ was dropped, the campaign went badly due to several mishaps. The recruitment of star candidate Pierre Karl Péladeau , whose comments made sovereignty and
21666-536: 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
21823-444: The world and the future. The PQ has made very few significant modifications to its logo during its history. In 1985 it made the circle and arrow slightly thicker, and placed the tip of the latter at the centre of the circle. The original saw it span the whole diameter. When placed upon a blue background instead of a white one, the circle was commonly turned to white, the single main design variation currently observed. The party revealed
21980-402: 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
22137-426: Was elected leader of Parti Québécois on 7 October 2016. Lisée charged Manon Massé with reneging in unsuccessful deliberations for a putative electoral alliance between the Parti Québécois and Québec Solidaire in 2017. For the 2018 provincial election , the PQ ruled out holding a referendum on sovereignty until 2022 at the earliest. With the sovereignty issue taken off the table for the first time in almost half
22294-404: Was a shattering defeat for the PQ, especially after the Quebec government's loss in its Quebec Veto Reference case. The National Assembly of Quebec, compared to its position in 1976, actually lost power under Lévesque and the PQ. Historical debate would centre on whether Trudeau's advocacy and agreement on patriation were in accord with or in contravention of his commitments made in his speech at
22451-511: Was a subject of much internal debate amongst the Parti Québécois caucus. Pur et durs such as Finance Minister Jacques Parizeau preferred a simple question on the entirety of the proposal. Lévesque came to the view that, as sovereignty-association would by necessity require negotiations with the Government of Canada , the government of Quebec should be treated as a legal agent and require ratification of its final decision. He also felt
22608-530: Was caught yawning on a few occasions during Liberal interventions. Polls released after the debates showed the Yes and No side roughly even, with a majority amongst Francophone voters for the "Yes." Less helpful to the "Yes" campaign was a speech by former television presenter Lise Payette to a committee in Montreal, which mocked what she viewed as the "No" side's complacency by using the conception of Yvette ,
22765-429: Was changed, was seen as the death knell of the "Yes" camp, despite Lévesque's attempts to cast doubt over Trudeau's words. After the lopsided defeat, a visibly emotional Lévesque addressed his supporters, many of whom were shown on screen in tears at the result. Lévesque began with, "My dear friends, if I understand you correctly, you're saying: 'until next time ' ". While calling the Canadian government's involvement in
22922-462: Was chosen interim parliamentary leader by the PQ caucus on 10 April 2014. In the 20 October 2014 Lévis by-election, PQ candidate Alexandre Bégin came in third place, with 8.28% of the popular vote, only narrowly beating Québec Solidaire. On 27 November 2014, Pierre Karl Péladeau announced his intentions to run for PQ's leadership, joining Bernard Drainville , Martine Ouellet , Jean-François Lisée , Alexandre Cloutier , and Pierre Céré. Despite
23079-564: Was defeated in his own riding and resigned thereafter, accepting the blame for his party's failure and collapse. After 50 years in the forefront of Quebec politics, the Parti Québécois had been pushed into marginal status. According to The Globe and Mail , within hours of the results being known, there was speculation that the party's very survival was in doubt; there were concerns that it was no longer capable of attracting enough support "to justify its political usefulness". Christian Bourque of Montreal-based pollster Léger Marketing suggested that
23236-819: 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
23393-400: 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
23550-652: 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
23707-476: Was legally entitled to do so from the Supreme Court of Canada. The Supreme Court ruled that any constitutional changes, including patriation of the constitution, could be made unilaterally under the letter of the law, but, by non-binding convention, "a substantial degree of provincial consent was required". The Supreme Court's decision prompted a final meeting among the first ministers. Lévesque abandoned
23864-472: Was re-elected in the 1981 election , but in November 1984 it experienced the most severe internal crisis of its existence. Lévesque wanted to focus on governing Quebec rather than sovereignty, and also wanted to adopt a more conciliatory approach on constitutional issues. This angered the more ardent sovereigntists, known as the purs et durs . Lévesque was forced to resign as a result. In September 1985,
24021-494: Was relegated to third place (tied with Québec solidaire ). The PQ was reduced to its smallest presence in the National Assembly since its first election in 1970. In this election the Parti Québécois only garnered 17% of the popular vote, the lowest score in party's history at the time. With few exceptions, its support bled to the CAQ, which took several ridings that had been in PQ hands for 40 years or more, by large margins in many cases. A number of longtime PQ supporters defected to
24178-594: 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
24335-493: Was succeeded as PQ leader and Quebec Premier by Bernard Landry , a former PQ Finance minister. Under Landry's leadership, the party lost the 2003 election to Jean Charest's Liberals. Mid-late 2004 was difficult for Landry's leadership, which was being contested. A vote was held during the party's June 2005 convention to determine whether Landry continued to have the confidence of the party membership. Landry said he wanted at least 80% of approval and after gaining 76.2% approval on
24492-570: 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 ,
24649-474: Was unable to get into the renamed National Assembly. Although it lost one seat in 1973 , the decimation of the other parties, particularly the Union Nationale , allowed it to become the official opposition even though Lévesque was still unable to win a seat. In the 1976 provincial election , the Parti Québécois won government for the first time and took 71 of the 110 seats available. Lévesque became
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