207-795: The Conservative Party of Canada ( CPC ; French : Parti conservateur du Canada , PCC ), colloquially known as the Tories or simply the Conservatives , is a federal political party in Canada . It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party) and the Canadian Alliance , the latter being the successor of the Western Canadian –based Reform Party . The party sits at
414-845: A CANZUK agreement that would enable mobilization of goods, trade and people between Canada , Australia , New Zealand and the United Kingdom . The party is also supportive of Israel ; Conservative leaders Andrew Scheer and Erin O'Toole have both expressed support for moving Canada's embassy to Jerusalem . The party also supports taking a tough stance against the People's Republic of China and has pledged to prevent China from entering Canada's 5G Networks. The party also calls on Canada to encourage other Western nations to prevent Chinese government backed corporations from accessing and taking control of important media, energy, internet, defense and security related infrastructure. The party supports maintaining
621-489: A "hidden agenda". Ultimately, Harper's new Conservatives emerged from the election with a much larger parliamentary caucus of 99 MPs while the Liberals were reduced to a minority government of 135 MPs, twenty short of a majority. In 2005, some political analysts such as former Progressive Conservative pollster Allan Gregg and Toronto Star columnist Chantal Hébert suggested that the then-subsequent election could result in
828-707: A Conservative government if the public were to perceive the Tories as emerging from the party's founding convention (then scheduled for March 2005 in Montreal) with clearly defined, moderate policies with which to challenge the Liberals. The convention provided the public with an opportunity to see the Conservative Party in a new light, appearing to have reduced the focus on its controversial social conservative agenda. It retained its fiscal conservative appeal by espousing tax cuts, smaller government, and more decentralization by giving
1035-720: 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
1242-634: A Pacific outlet. The colony had an extremely large debt that would have to be assumed should it join Confederation. Negotiations were conducted in 1870, principally during Macdonald's illness and recuperation, with Cartier leading the Canadian delegation. Cartier offered British Columbia a railway linking it to the eastern provinces within ten years. The British Columbians, who privately had been prepared to accept far less generous terms, quickly agreed and joined Confederation in 1871. The Canadian Parliament ratified
1449-574: A blow to the head by a servant charged with taking care of the boys. After Hugh's store failed, the family moved to Hay Bay (south of Napanee, Ontario ), west of Kingston, where Hugh unsuccessfully ran another shop. In 1829, his father was appointed as a magistrate for the Midland District . John Macdonald's mother was a lifelong influence on her son, helping him in his difficult first marriage and remaining influential in his life until her 1862 death. Macdonald initially attended local schools. When he
1656-431: 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,
1863-631: A confederation if the details could be successfully negotiated. In October 1864, delegates for Confederation met in Quebec City for the Quebec Conference , where they agreed to the Seventy-Two Resolutions , the basis of Canada's government. The Great Coalition was endangered by Taché's 1865 death; Lord Monck asked Macdonald to become premier, but Brown felt that he had as good a claim on the position as his coalition partner. The disagreement
2070-752: A defeat of the motion in the House of Commons stated it would not seek to reopen it. In 2016, the Conservatives amended the party constitution to recognize and support same-sex marriage. The Conservative leadership has supported changing the law to allow men who have sex with men to donate blood . The party wants to keep the "Fiscal Balance" (which it introduced in its 2007 Budget while in government) in place and eliminate national debt. It also supports more simplified tax codes, controls on government spending and reductions in both personal and business taxes. Former party leader Erin O'Toole has listed economic recovery following
2277-543: 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
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#17328478266712484-522: A lawyer, hoping to gain his former employer's clients. Macdonald's parents and sisters also returned to Kingston. Soon after Macdonald was called to the Bar in February 1836, he arranged to take in two students; both became, like Macdonald, Fathers of Confederation . Oliver Mowat became premier of Ontario, and Alexander Campbell a federal cabinet minister and Lieutenant Governor of Ontario . One early client
2691-605: A letter with signatures from 35 Conservative MPs calling for a leadership review on O'Toole's leadership to the Conservative caucus chair, Scott Reid . In the letter, Benzen criticized O'Toole's reversal on repealing the Liberal government's carbon tax and assault weapons ban. On February 2, 2022, O'Toole was removed as leader by a margin of 73 to 45 votes. Then-deputy leader of the Conservative Party Candice Bergen
2898-553: A literary career. Macdonald's parents decided he should become a lawyer after leaving school. As Donald Creighton (who penned a two-volume biography of Macdonald in the 1950s) wrote, "law was a broad, well-trodden path to comfort, influence, even to power". It was also "the obvious choice for a boy who seemed as attracted to study as he was uninterested in trade." Macdonald needed to start earning money immediately to support his family because his father's businesses were failing. "I had no boyhood," he complained many years later. "From
3105-451: A low carbon savings account. In contrast to his two predecessors as leader, O'Toole is pro-choice and supports same-sex marriage. Prime Minister Trudeau called the September 2021 federal election in the hopes of winning a majority government, though in the middle of the campaign O'Toole's Conservatives were tied with the Liberals, if not slightly ahead of the Liberals in the polls . During
3312-519: A margin of 96 percent to 4 percent in a national referendum conducted by postal ballot. On December 6, the PC Party held a series of regional conventions, at which delegates ratified the Agreement-in-Principle by a margin of 90% to 10%. On December 7, the new party was officially registered with Elections Canada . Senator John Lynch-Staunton , a PC, was named interim leader, pending the outcome of
3519-596: A nation on 1 July 1867. Macdonald was the first prime minister of the new nation, and served 19 years; only William Lyon Mackenzie King has served longer. In his first term, he established the North-West Mounted Police and expanded Canada by annexing the North-Western Territory , Rupert's Land , British Columbia , and Prince Edward Island . In 1873, he resigned from office over a scandal in which his party took bribes from businessmen seeking
3726-412: A new position without needing to face a by-election; Macdonald and his ministers accepted new positions, then completed what was dubbed the " Double Shuffle " by returning to their old posts. In an effort to give the appearance of fairness, Head insisted that Cartier be the titular premier, with Macdonald as his deputy. In the late 1850s and early 1860s, Canada enjoyed a period of great prosperity, while
3933-623: A parliamentary committee on confederation among the British North American colonies, which had reported back just before the Taché-Macdonald government fell. Brown was more interested in representation by population; Macdonald's priority was a federation that the other colonies could join. The two compromised and agreed that the new government would support the "federative principle" – a conveniently elastic phrase. The discussions were not public knowledge and Macdonald stunned
4140-688: 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
4347-624: A political career that spanned almost half a century. Macdonald was born in Scotland ; when he was a boy his family immigrated to Kingston in the Province of Upper Canada (today in eastern Ontario ). As a lawyer, he was involved in several high-profile cases and quickly became prominent in Kingston, which elected him in 1844 to the legislature of the Province of Canada . By 1857, he had become premier under
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#17328478266714554-504: A practice especially effective in the era when votes were publicly declared. Macdonald and the Conservatives saw their majority reduced from 35 to 8. The Liberals (as the Grits were coming to be known) did better than the Conservatives in Ontario, forcing the government to rely on the votes of Western and Maritime MPs who did not fully support the party. Macdonald had hoped to award the charter for
4761-509: A prominent young lawyer who was a well-regarded member of Kingston's rising Scottish community. Mackenzie practised corporate law, a lucrative speciality that Macdonald himself would later pursue. Macdonald was a promising student, and in the summer of 1833, managed the Mackenzie office when his employer went on a business trip to Montreal and Quebec in Lower Canada (today the southern portion of
4968-414: A relatively young party with a mixed political heritage and history, the federal Conservatives are often described as a " big tent " party in a similar manner to the federal Canadian Liberals by encompassing members and voters who hold a variety of philosophies, ideas and stances, albeit sitting within the centre-right to the right-wing of the political spectrum. Broadly, the party is defined as practicing
5175-494: 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
5382-650: 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 the United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ,
5589-614: A result, party members were undecided on whether he should continue as leader. On October 5, the Conservative caucus voted to adopt the provisions of the Reform Act , giving caucus the power to trigger a leadership review . O'Toole denied that it represented a threat to his leadership, insisting that the caucus was united as a team and that, as a supporter of the Act, he had encouraged his caucus to adopt all of its provisions. On January 31, 2022, Conservative Calgary Heritage MP Bob Benzen submitted
5796-492: A say in National Parole Board decisions. The party also supports the creation of a cross-federal task force to tackle organized crime, human trafficking and threats to national security. Some Conservative MPs are in favour of the death penalty. The Conservative Party has both members and MPs who favour abortion rights and members who oppose them. In the past, more Conservative members have been against abortion. However,
6003-449: A stricter policy on illegal immigration by amending the " Safe Third Country Agreement " and the reintroduction of visa requirements for Mexico. The Conservative Party generally supports a tough law and order stance. Presently, the party argues for a national register for convicted child sexual offenders, stricter sentences against repeat offenders, ending early release for violent felons and believes that victims of violent crime should have
6210-587: A three-year term as the seat of government before the Assembly moved to the permanent capital. He privately asked the Colonial Office to ensure she would not respond for at least ten months, or until after the general election. In February 1858, her choice was announced to the dismay of many legislators from both parts of the province: the isolated Canada West town of Ottawa became the capital. On 28 July 1858, an opposition Canada East member proposed an address to
6417-536: 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
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6624-453: 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 is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As
6831-422: Is "non-partisan, welcoming and well-managed" that encourages merit-based immigration and enticement of skilled workers to Canada to boost the economy whilst also taking a zero tolerance stance on illegal immigration and ensuring that immigrants speak English or French. The Conservatives also want to streamline the process of granting Canadian citizenship to foreign born children adopted by Canadian nationals, speed up
7038-437: 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
7245-614: Is a social conservative; he is personally pro-life and opposes same-sex marriage, though like Harper, he stated he would not attempt to overturn the legality of both laws. The Conservative Party entered the October 2019 federal election campaign neck-in-neck with the Liberals after the SNC-Lavalin affair earlier that year involving Justin Trudeau, but the election resulted in a Liberal minority government victory. The Conservatives did, however, win
7452-467: 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
7659-484: 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
7866-628: Is also legal heir to the heritage of the historical conservative parties by virtue of assuming the assets and liabilities of the former Progressive Conservative Party upon the merger of 2003. In 1984, the Progressive Conservative Party's electoral fortunes made a massive upturn under its new leader, Brian Mulroney , who mustered a large coalition of westerners irritated over the Liberal government's National Energy Program , suburban and small-town Ontarians, and Quebec nationalists who were angered over Quebec not having distinct status in
8073-628: 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
8280-549: 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
8487-404: 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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8694-462: 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
8901-775: 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
9108-618: 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 ,
9315-538: 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
9522-479: 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
9729-492: 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
9936-424: 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
10143-504: The 2003 Progressive Conservative Leadership convention , excluded any such merger. Orchard announced his opposition to the merger before negotiations with the Canadian Alliance had been completed. Over the course of the following year, Orchard led an unsuccessful legal challenge to the merger of the two parties. In October and November, during the course of the PC party's process of ratifying
10350-412: The 2015 federal election , after nearly a decade in power, the Conservatives were defeated by Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party. Harper stepped down as leader on the election day on October 19. Journalist John Ibbitson of The Globe and Mail described Harper as "the most conservative leader Canada has ever known." Following the election of the Liberals and Harper's resignation as party leader in
10557-738: 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
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#173284782667110764-542: The Battle of the Windmill near Prescott, Upper Canada . Public opinion was inflamed against the prisoners, as they were accused of mutilating the body of a dead Canadian lieutenant. Macdonald could not represent the prisoners, as they were tried by court-martial and civilian counsel had no standing. At the request of Kingston relatives of Daniel George, paymaster of the ill-fated invasion, Macdonald agreed to advise George, who, like
10971-655: The Bloc Québécois led to the calling of the October 2008 federal election , in which the Conservatives won a stronger minority. Shortly after, the Conservatives fought off a vote of non-confidence by a potential governing coalition of opposition parties by proroguing parliament . In his second term, Harper's government responded to the global recession of 2007–2008 by introducing the Economic Action Plan that implemented major personal income tax cuts. However, these tax cuts, along with increases in spending to combat
11178-568: The COVID-19 pandemic as a core priority for Canada. The party also supports abolishing the Carbon Tax. At the party's March 2021 policy convention, delegates voted to reject a proposal to expand the party's existing climate change policies to include a statement that climate change is real. The Conservative Party presently supports Canada's involvement in NATO and international trade agreements, including
11385-452: The Canadian Pacific Railway in early 1872, but negotiations dragged on between the government and the financiers. Macdonald's government awarded the Allan group the charter in late 1872. In 1873, when Parliament opened, Liberal MP Lucius Seth Huntington charged that government ministers had been bribed with large, undisclosed political contributions to award the charter. Documents soon came to light which substantiated what came to be known as
11592-445: The Constitution of Canada signed in 1982. This led to a huge landslide victory for the Progressive Conservative Party. In the late 1980s and 1990s, federal conservative politics became split by the creation of a new western-based protest party, the populist and social conservative Reform Party of Canada created by Preston Manning , the son of an Alberta Social Credit premier, Ernest Manning . Westerners reportedly felt betrayed by
11799-539: 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
12006-412: 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 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
12213-485: 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
12420-441: 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,
12627-439: 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
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#173284782667112834-444: The Liberal-Conservative Party . The party became known simply as the Conservative Party after 1873, and the Progressive Conservative Party after 1942. Like its historical predecessors and conservative parties in some other Commonwealth nations (such as the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom ), members of the present-day Conservative Party of Canada are sometimes referred to as "Tories". The modern Conservative Party of Canada
13041-419: The London Conference , winning acclaim for his handling of the discussions, and courted and married his second wife, Agnes Bernard . Bernard was the sister of Macdonald's private secretary, Hewitt Bernard ; the couple first met in Quebec in 1860, but Macdonald had seen and admired her as early as 1856. In January 1867, while still in London, he was seriously burned in his hotel room when his candle set fire to
13248-420: 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
13455-436: The Pacific Scandal . The Allan-led financiers, who were secretly backed by the United States's Northern Pacific Railway , had donated $ 179,000 to the Tory election funds, they had received the charter, and Opposition newspapers began to publish telegrams signed by government ministers requesting large sums from the railway interest at the time the charter was under consideration. Macdonald had taken $ 45,000 in contributions from
13662-463: The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , and Mayor of Brampton Patrick Brown , former Conservative MP Leona Alleslev , former BC MLA and Conservative MP Marc Dalton , and former Huntsville mayor and Conservative MP Scott Aitchison announced their candidacies for the leadership. On May 2, 2022, the Party announced that the six verified candidates for the leadership would be Aitchison, Baber, Brown, Charest, Lewis, Poilievre. On July 6, 2022,
13869-414: The Québécois nation motion which would "recognize Quebec as a nation within a united Canada." Despite its social conservative past in the Canadian Alliance, the government did not attempt to reverse the same-sex marriage law implemented by the Martin government nor did it attempt to make changes to abortion laws . Deadlock between the Conservatives and the Liberals, the New Democratic Party , and
14076-419: The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Under its first leader, Stephen Harper , the party governed with two minority governments after the federal elections of 2006 and 2008 . It then won a majority government in the 2011 federal election before being defeated in the 2015 federal election by a majority Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau . Despite winning a plurality of the vote in each election,
14283-425: The Treaty of Washington against a political firestorm. In the run-up to the 1872 election , Macdonald had yet to formulate a railway policy, or to devise the loan guarantees that would be needed to secure the construction. During the previous year, Macdonald had met with potential railway financiers such as Hugh Allan and considerable financial discussion took place. The greatest political problem Macdonald faced
14490-447: The Universal Child Care Benefit . In social policy, the government eliminated the long-gun registry , introduced mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes, raised the age of consent to 16 years of age, permitted the construction of several pipelines , and withdrew Canada from the Kyoto Protocol . The government also supported the State of Israel , negotiated the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), and negotiated
14697-428: 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 was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by
14904-808: 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
15111-557: The centre-right to the right of the Canadian political spectrum , with their federal rival, the centre-left Liberal Party of Canada , positioned to their left . The Conservatives are defined as a " big tent " party, practising "brokerage politics" and welcoming a broad variety of members, including " Red Tories " and " Blue Tories ". From Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the original Conservative Party of Canada formed numerous governments and had multiple names. However, by 1942,
15318-705: The long-gun registry . In foreign policy, the government passed the Anti-terrorism Act , launched Operation Impact to combat ISIL , negotiated the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union , and negotiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The Conservatives also gained controversy surrounding the Canadian Senate expenses scandal and the Robocall scandal ;
15525-465: The province of Quebec ). Later that year, Macdonald was sent to manage the law office of a Mackenzie cousin who had fallen ill. In August 1834, George Mackenzie died of cholera . With his supervising lawyer dead, Macdonald remained at the cousin's law office in Hallowell (today Picton, Ontario ). In 1835, Macdonald returned to Kingston, and even though not yet of age nor qualified, began his practice as
15732-667: 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; 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
15939-619: The senate to make it a fully elected chamber. While the party platform states it is open to debate over electoral reform, it also claims it will not support changing the current electoral system. The party calls for a "restoration of a constitutional balance between the federal and provincial and territorial governments" in regards to Canadian federalism. The Conservative Party also advocates offering tax incentives, increased business investment and more political autonomy to assist and integrate Indigenous Canadian communities over state affirmative action . Historically, Conservative MPs were divided on
16146-427: 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 is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in
16353-495: The 1851 election but were soon divided by a parliamentary scandal. In September, the government resigned, and a coalition government uniting parties from both parts of the province under Allan MacNab took power. Macdonald did much of the work of putting the government together and served as attorney general . The coalition, which came to power in 1854, became known as the Liberal-Conservatives (referred to, for short, as
16560-502: 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;
16767-800: The 2006 election. The government's first budget produced a nearly $ 14 billion surplus, a number slightly greater than the Martin government. The budget also drastically increased military spending and scrapped funding for the Kyoto Protocol and the Kelowna Accord . Later, the government introduced the tax-free savings account (TFSA). The government passed the Veterans' Bill of Rights , which guaranteed benefits for veterans from Veterans Affairs Canada , in addition to guaranteeing equality of veterans and referring to them as "special citizens". The government also passed
16974-490: The 2015 election, it was announced that an interim leader would be selected to serve until a new leader could be chosen. That was completed at the caucus meeting of November 5, 2015 where Rona Ambrose , MP for Sturgeon River—Parkland and a former cabinet minister, was elected by a vote of MPs and Senators. Some members of the party's national council were calling for a leadership convention as early as May 2016 according to Maclean's magazine. However, some other MPs wanted
17181-742: 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
17388-419: The Assembly by accepting their positions, and had to face by-elections . This gave Macdonald a majority pending the by-elections, and he promptly defeated the government. Head refused Brown's request for a dissolution of the Assembly, and Brown and his ministers resigned. Head then asked Macdonald to form a government. The law allowed anyone who had held a ministerial position within the last thirty days to accept
17595-512: The Assembly by announcing that the dissolution was being postponed because of progress in negotiations with Brown – the two men were not only political rivals, but were known to hate each other. The parties resolved their differences, joining in the Great Coalition , with only the Parti rouge of Canada East, led by Jean-Baptiste-Éric Dorion , remaining apart. A conference, called by
17802-530: The Assembly. The two sections each elected 65 legislators, even though Canada West had a larger population. One of Brown's major demands was representation by population, which would lead to Canada West having more seats; this was bitterly opposed by Canada East. The American Civil War led to fears in Canada and in Britain that once the U.S. had concluded its internal warfare, they would invade Canada again. Canada
18009-631: 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
18216-420: The Canadian model of conservatism and fiscal conservatism. Some political observers have noted the two most dominant wings of the party traditionally represented Red Tory and Blue Tory ideologies, whereas others have argued that the party has become less internally defined by these labels and that the terms tend to be used by outsiders. Other smaller but visible factional beliefs espoused by individuals within
18423-886: 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,
18630-681: The Colonial Office, was scheduled for 1 September 1864, in Charlottetown , Prince Edward Island; the Maritimes were to consider a union . The Canadians obtained permission to send a delegation – led by Macdonald, Cartier, and Brown – to what became known as the Charlottetown Conference . At its conclusion, the Maritime delegations expressed a willingness to join
18837-472: The Conservatives less time to consolidate their merger. During the first half of the campaign, polls showed a rise in support for the new party, leading some pollsters to predict the election of a minority Conservative government. Momentum stalled after several Conservative candidates made controversial remarks about homosexuality , official bilingualism and abortion , allowing the Liberal Party to warn of
19044-662: The Conservatives). In 1855, George-Étienne Cartier of Canada East (today Quebec) joined the Cabinet. Until Cartier's 1873 death, he would be Macdonald's political partner. In 1856, MacNab was eased out as premier by Macdonald, who became the leader of the Canada West Conservatives. Macdonald remained as attorney general when Étienne-Paschal Taché became premier. In July 1857, Macdonald departed for Britain to promote Canadian government projects. On his return to Canada, he
19251-524: 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
19458-476: 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
19665-666: 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 a second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as
19872-507: The Macdonald house in Ottawa, together with Bernard's widowed mother. In May 1870, John Macdonald fell ill with gallstones; coupled with his frequent drinking, he may have developed a severe case of acute pancreatitis . In July, he moved to Prince Edward Island to convalesce, most likely conducting discussions aimed at drawing the island into Confederation at a time when some there supported joining
20079-633: The Maritimes and bind them closer to the rest of Canada, was not yet built. Anglo-American relations were in a poor state, and Canadian foreign relations were matters handled from London. The withdrawal of the Americans in 1866 from the Reciprocity Treaty had increased tariffs on Canadian goods in US markets. American and British opinion largely believed that the experiment of Confederation would quickly unravel, and
20286-448: 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 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
20493-513: The Official Languages Act ensuring that English and French have equality of status in Canada. It also calls for the protection of Canada's history, culture and heritage. It also supports the re-establishment of the Office of Religious Freedom. The Conservative Party constitution also supports maintaining the constitutional Monarchy of Canada . The party has called for an immigration system that
20700-534: The Party announced that Patrick Brown had been disqualified "due to 'serious allegations of wrongdoing' that 'appear' to violate Canadian election law." In response, Brown hired lawyer Marie Henein , who requested the Party's dispute resolution appeal committee be convened. On September 10, 2022, Pierre Poilievre won the leadership on the first ballot in a landslide, winning over 68% of the points. On September 12, Poilievre gave his first speech to his caucus as leader. As
20907-513: The Queen informing her that Ottawa was an unsuitable place for a national capital. Macdonald's Canada East party members crossed the floor to vote for the address, and the government was defeated. Macdonald resigned, and the Governor General, Sir Edmund Walker Head , invited opposition leader George Brown to form a government. Under the law at that time, Brown and his ministers lost their seats in
21114-645: The Reform Party) and Progressive Conservative parties agreed to merge into the present-day Conservative Party. On October 15, 2003, after closed-door meetings were held by the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party, Stephen Harper (then the leader of the Canadian Alliance) and Peter MacKay (then the leader of the Progressive Conservatives) announced the "'Conservative Party Agreement-in-Principle", thereby merging their parties to create
21321-584: The SNC-Lavalin affair and for his wearing of brownface and blackface ; the latter incident was made public during the election campaign. Scheer announced his pending resignation on December 12, 2019, after the CBC reported that the Conservative party had been paying part of his children's private school tuition. He remained party leader, until his successor was chosen in August 2020. A leadership election to replace Scheer
21528-484: The Senate. In March 2006, Nancy Ruth joined the new Conservative Party. In the immediate aftermath of the merger announcement, some Conservative activists hoped to recruit former Ontario premier Mike Harris for the leadership. Harris declined the invitation, as did New Brunswick premier Bernard Lord and Alberta premier Ralph Klein . Outgoing Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay also announced he would not seek
21735-550: The United States. The island joined Confederation in 1873. Macdonald had once been tepid on the question of westward expansion of the Canadian provinces; as prime minister, he became a strong supporter of a bicoastal Canada. Immediately upon Confederation, he sent commissioners to London who in due course successfully negotiated the transfer of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to Canada. The Hudson's Bay Company received £300,000 ( CA$ 1,500,000 ) in compensation, and retained some trading posts as well as one-twentieth of
21942-405: The United States. Macdonald was appointed a British commissioner, a post he was reluctant to accept as he realised Canadian interests might be sacrificed for the mother country. This proved to be the case; Canada received no compensation for the raids and no significant trade advantages in the settlement, which required Canada to open her waters to American fishermen. Macdonald returned home to defend
22149-455: The accession of Newfoundland, whose voters rejected a Confederation platform in a general election in October 1869. In 1869, John and Agnes Macdonald had a daughter, Mary. It soon became apparent that Mary had ongoing developmental issues; she was never able to walk, nor did she ever fully develop mentally. Hewitt Bernard, Deputy Minister of Justice and Macdonald's former secretary, also lived in
22356-459: The age of 15, I began to earn my own living." Macdonald travelled by steamboat to Toronto (known until 1834 as York ), where he passed an examination set by The Law Society of Upper Canada . British North America had no law schools in 1830; students were examined when beginning and ending their tutelage. Between the two examinations, they were apprenticed, or articled to established lawyers. Macdonald began his apprenticeship with George Mackenzie,
22563-615: The best farmland. Prior to the date of acquisition, the Canadian government faced unrest in the Red River Colony (today southeastern Manitoba , centred on Winnipeg ). The local people, including the Métis , were fearful that rule would be imposed on them which did not take into account their interests, and rose in the Red River Rebellion led by Louis Riel . Unwilling to pay for a territory in insurrection, Macdonald had troops put down
22770-496: The bill. The government fell over the bill, and the Grits took over under the leadership of John Sandfield Macdonald (no relation to John A. Macdonald). The parties held an almost equal number of seats, with a handful of independents able to destroy any government. The new government fell in May 1863, but Head allowed a new election, which did little to change party standings. In December 1863, Canada West MP Albert Norton Richards accepted
22977-477: The border. With Canadians fearing invasion from the U.S., the British asked that Canadians pay a part of the expense of defence, and a Militia Bill was introduced in the Assembly in 1862. The opposition objected to the expense, and Canada East representatives feared that French-Canadians would have to fight in a war they wanted no part in. Macdonald was drinking heavily and failed to provide much leadership on behalf of
23184-410: The campaign, O'Toole stated he would balance the budget within the next 10 years and reversed his support for repealing the Liberal government's "assault-style" weapons ban . In a similar manner to the 2019 election, the Conservatives again won the popular vote but fell short of gaining the largest amount of seats, enabling the Liberal Party under Justin Trudeau to form another minority government. As
23391-441: The card game loo and winning substantially. Sometime during his two months in Britain, he met his first cousin, Isabella Clark . As Macdonald did not mention her in his letters home, the circumstances of their meeting are not known. In late 1842, Isabella journeyed to Kingston to visit with a sister. The visit stretched for nearly a year before John and Isabella Macdonald married on 1 September 1843. On 29 March 1843, Macdonald
23598-516: The chair he had fallen asleep in, but Macdonald refused to miss any sessions of the conference. In February, he married Agnes at St George's, Hanover Square . On 8 March, the British North America Act, 1867 , which would thereafter serve as the major part of Canada's constitution, passed the House of Commons (it had previously passed the House of Lords). Queen Victoria gave the bill Royal Assent on 29 March 1867. Macdonald had favoured
23805-408: The colony's unstable political system. In 1864, when no party proved capable of governing for long, he agreed to a proposal from his political rival, George Brown , that the parties unite in a Great Coalition to seek federation and political reform. He was a leading figure in the subsequent discussions and conferences which resulted in the British North America Act and the establishment of Canada as
24012-612: The contract to build the Canadian Pacific Railway . He was reelected in 1878 . His greatest achievements were building and guiding a successful national government for the new Dominion, using patronage to forge a strong Conservative Party , promoting the protective tariff of the National Policy , and completing the railway. He fought to block provincial efforts to take power back from the national government in Ottawa . He approved
24219-484: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French John A. Macdonald Provincial Provincial Sir John Alexander Macdonald (10 or 11 January 1815 – 6 June 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada , serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 until his death in 1891. He was the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation , and had
24426-664: The court of public opinion. And, while there, he was learning the arts of argument and of persuasion that would serve him all his political life. All male Upper Canadians between 18 and 60 years of age were members of the Sedentary Militia, which was called into active duty during the Rebellions of 1837 . Macdonald served as a Private in Captain George Well's Company of the Commercial Bank Guard. Macdonald and
24633-435: The defendants in the one trial to take place in Kingston. All the Kingston defendants were acquitted, and a local paper described Macdonald as "one of the youngest barristers in the Province [who] is rapidly rising in his profession". In late 1838, Macdonald agreed to advise one of a group of American raiders who had crossed the border to overthrow British rule in Canada. The raiders had been captured by government forces after
24840-508: 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
25047-661: The development of the residential school system designed to assimilate Indigenous children. He remains respected by others for his key role in Confederation. Historical rankings of Prime Ministers of Canada have consistently made him one of the highest-rated in Canadian history . John Alexander Macdonald was born in Ramshorn parish in Glasgow , Scotland, on 10 January (official record) or 11 (father's journal) 1815. His father Hugh, an unsuccessful merchant, had married John's mother, Helen Shaw, on 21 October 1811. John Alexander Macdonald
25254-427: The dominant conservative party in Canada. The problem of the split on the right was accentuated by Canada's single member plurality electoral system, which resulted in numerous seats being won by the Liberal Party, even when the total number of votes cast for PC and Reform Party candidates was substantially in excess of the total number of votes cast for the Liberal candidate. In 2003, the Canadian Alliance (formerly
25461-448: 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
25668-431: The election concluded on 15 October 1844. Macdonald was never an orator, and especially disliked the bombastic addresses of the time. Instead, he found a niche in becoming an expert on election law and parliamentary procedure. In 1844, Isabella fell ill. She recovered, but the illness recurred the following year, and she became an invalid. John took his wife to Savannah, Georgia , in the United States in 1845, hoping that
25875-639: The election, Nova Scotia 's premier, Charles Tupper , pushed a pro-Confederation resolution through that colony's legislature. A final conference, to be held in London, was needed before the British Parliament could formalise the union. Maritime delegates left for London in July 1866, but Macdonald, who was drinking heavily again, did not leave until November, angering the Maritimers. In December 1866, Macdonald both led
26082-585: 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
26289-583: The execution of Métis leader Louis Riel for treason in 1885 which alienated many francophones from his Conservative Party. He sat until his death in 1891 and remains the oldest Canadian prime minister. Macdonald came under criticism for his role in the Chinese head tax and federal policies toward Indigenous peoples , including his actions during the North-West Rebellion that resulted in Riel's execution, and
26496-425: The federal Progressive Conservative Party, seeing it as catering to Quebec and urban Ontario interests over theirs. In 1989, Reform made headlines in the political scene when its first member of Parliament (MP), Deborah Grey , was elected in a by-election in Alberta, which was a shock to the PCs, who had almost complete electoral dominance over the province for years. Another defining event for western conservatives
26703-405: The financial crisis, grew the deficit to $ 55.6 billion – Canada's largest federal deficit up to that time. A March 2011 non-confidence vote that found the Harper government to be in contempt of Parliament dissolved Parliament and triggered an election . In this election, the Conservatives won a majority government . The Harper government withdrew Canada from the Kyoto Protocol and repealed
26910-470: The first ballot with 56.2% of the vote; Stronach received 34.5%, and Clement received 9.4%. Two months after Harper's election as leader, Prime Minister Paul Martin called a general election for June 28, 2004 . For the first time since the 1993 election, a Liberal government would have to deal with an opposition party that was generally seen as being able to form government. The Liberals attempted to counter this with an early election call, as this would give
27117-406: 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
27324-523: The first month of the campaign by making a series of policy-per-day announcements, which included a Goods and Services Tax reduction and a child-care allowance. These announcements played to Harper's strengths as a policy wonk, as opposed to the 2004 election and summer 2005 where he tried to overcome the perception that he was cool and aloof. Though his party showed only modest movement in the polls, Harper's personal approval numbers, which had always trailed his party's significantly, began to rise. In addition,
27531-439: 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 ,
27738-436: The former federal Progressive Conservative Party's provincial affiliates as well as other small "c" conservative and centre-right provincial parties, such as the Saskatchewan Party . 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
27945-715: 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
28152-446: The immigration policies of Justin Trudeau 's Liberal government and supports significantly restricting numbers of temporary residents and asylum seekers coming into Canada. Poilievre instead argues that immigration intake should be linked to housing supply and that the Conservatives will introduce a cap on the number of foreign workers and further border control and background screening measures of immigrants. The Conservatives also support
28359-530: The infant. Although he was often absent due to his wife's illness, Macdonald was able to gain professional and political advancement. In 1846, he was made a Queen's Counsel . The same year, he was offered the non-cabinet post of solicitor general , but declined it. In 1847, Macdonald became receiver general . Accepting the government post required Macdonald to give up his law firm income and spend most of his time in Montreal, away from Isabella. When elections were held in December 1848 and January 1849, Macdonald
28566-473: The institutions of Parliament and Canada's democratic process, support for strong national defence, law and order, and Canada's history and traditions, and equal treatment for all Canadians. In recent years, the Conservative Party has repeatedly campaigned on the following policies: In its current platform, the Conservative Party states that its core objectives are to protect the lives and property of ordinary citizens, promote democratic accountability and reform
28773-406: The issue of same-sex marriage in Canada, with individuals in the party arguing for and against. During debates on Bill C-38 in 2004 which would redefine the legal definition of marriage in Canada, a majority of Conservative MPs voted against when then leader Stephen Harper allowed a free vote . Under Harper's premiership, the party proposed reopening the debate into same-sex marriage but following
28980-401: 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
29187-424: 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
29394-501: 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 ,
29601-462: The largest share of the popular vote, and gained 26 seats. Notably, they won every single seat in Saskatchewan and all but one in Alberta . While the Conservative Party has historically been highly successful in Alberta and Saskatchewan, some point to a growing sense of Western alienation to explain the results. Following the election, Scheer faced criticism from within the party for failing to defeat Trudeau, who gained criticism for his handling of
29808-428: 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
30015-432: The latter involved robocalls and real-person calls that were designed to result in voter suppression in the 2011 election. In economic policy, the government launched Canada's Global Markets Action Plan to generate employment opportunities for Canadians by expanding Canadian businesses and investment in other countries, and balanced the budget in the 2014 federal budget , producing a minor deficit of $ 550 million. In
30222-681: The leadership, as did former Democratic Representative Caucus leader Chuck Strahl . Jim Prentice , who had been a candidate in the 2003 PC leadership contest , entered the Conservative leadership race in mid-December but dropped out in mid-January because of an inability to raise funds so soon after his earlier leadership bid. In the end, there were three candidates in the party's first leadership election : former Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper , former Magna International CEO Belinda Stronach , and former Ontario provincial PC Cabinet minister Tony Clement . Voting took place on March 20, 2004. A total of 97,397 ballots were cast. Harper won on
30429-430: The main right-wing Canadian force became known as the Progressive Conservative Party. In the 1993 federal election , the PC Party's Western Canadian support transferred to the Reform Party. When it became clear that neither the PC Party nor the Reform Party or Canadian Alliance (the latter being the successor to the Reform Party) could beat the incumbent Liberals that had governed since the 1993 election, an effort to unite
30636-453: The merger, three sitting Progressive Conservative MPs — André Bachand , John Herron and former prime minister Joe Clark — announced they would not join the new Conservative Party caucus. In the months following the merger, Rick Borotsik , who had been elected as Manitoba's only PC, became openly critical of the new party's leadership, while former leadership candidate Scott Brison and former Alliance leadership candidate Keith Martin left
30843-412: The militia marched to Toronto to confront the rebels, and Sir Joseph Pope , Macdonald's private secretary, recalled Macdonald's account of his experience during the march: "I carried my musket in '37", he was wont to say in after years. One day he gave me an account of a long march his company made, I forget from what place, but Toronto was the objective point: "The day was hot, my feet were blistered – I
31050-461: The nascent nation absorbed by the United States. In August 1867, the new nation's first general election was held; Macdonald's party won easily, with strong support in both large provinces, and a majority from New Brunswick. By 1869, Nova Scotia had agreed to remain part of Canada after a promise of better financial terms – the first of many provinces to negotiate concessions from Ottawa. Pressure from London and Ottawa failed to gain
31257-420: 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
31464-441: The new Commercial Bank of the Midland District. Throughout the 1840s, Macdonald invested heavily in real estate, including commercial properties in downtown Toronto. Meanwhile, he was suffering from some illness, and in 1841, his father died. Sick and grieving, he decided to take a lengthy holiday in Britain in early 1842. He left for the journey well supplied with money, as he spent the last three days before his departure gambling at
31671-405: The new Conservative Party of Canada. The parties reached a deal after several months of talks between two teams of emissaries, consisting of Don Mazankowski , Bill Davis and Loyola Hearn on behalf of the PCs, and Ray Speaker , Senator Gerry St. Germain and Scott Reid on behalf of the Alliance. On December 5, 2003, the agreement-in-principle was ratified by the membership of the Alliance by
31878-475: The new province; Upper Canada and Lower Canada became known as Canada West and Canada East. In March 1844, Macdonald was asked by local businessmen to stand as Conservative candidate for Kingston in the upcoming legislative election . Macdonald followed the contemporary custom of supplying the voters with large quantities of alcohol. Votes were publicly declared in this election, and Macdonald defeated his opponent, Anthony Manahan , by 275 "shouts" to 42 when
32085-475: 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
32292-410: The other prisoners, had to conduct his own defence. George was convicted and hanged. According to Macdonald biographer Donald Swainson, "By 1838, Macdonald's position was secure. He was a public figure, a popular young man, and a senior lawyer." Macdonald continued to expand his practice while being appointed director of many companies, mainly in Kingston. He became both a director of and a lawyer for
32499-460: The party also received more newspaper endorsements than in 2004. On January 23, 2006, the Conservatives won 124 seats, compared to 103 for the Liberals. The results made the Conservatives the largest party in the 308-member House of Commons, enabling them to form a minority government . On February 6, 2006, Harper and his Cabinet were sworn in. The Conservative Party confronted the In and Out scandal , regarding improper election spending during
32706-407: The party have been described by media commentators as liberal conservative , social conservative , right-wing populist and libertarian conservative . In an effort to create a cohesive platform following its creation, the Conservative Party declared its founding core philosophies and principles to be fiscal accountability, upholding individual rights and freedom, belief in constitutional monarchy,
32913-412: The party including former leader Erin O'Toole called on the Canadian government to grant asylum to fleeing Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters facing extradition orders to China. The party also proposes eliminating birthright citizenship unless one of the parents of a child born in Canada has permanent residency or Canadian citizenship. Incumbent Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has vocally criticized
33120-477: The party remained in opposition after losing the 2019 and 2021 elections under its second and third leaders, Andrew Scheer and Erin O'Toole respectively. Pierre Poilievre was elected leader in the 2022 leadership election . The Conservative Party is political heir to a series of right-of-centre parties that have existed in Canada, beginning with the Upper Canada Tories of the nineteenth century. John A. Macdonald and George-Étienne Cartier later founded
33327-414: The party's inaugural leadership election. The merger process was opposed by some elements in both parties. In the PCs in particular, the merger process resulted in organized opposition, and in a substantial number of prominent members refusing to join the new party. Former leadership candidate David Orchard argued that his written agreement with Peter MacKay , which had been signed a few months earlier at
33534-695: The party's policy book states that the party "will not support any legislation to regulate abortion" while in government, and the party's current leader, Pierre Poilievre, has stated that "no laws or rules will be passed that restrict women's reproductive choices" if he becomes prime minister. The party states that it supports responsible gun ownership and will "not deprive Canadian Citizens of legally owned firearms" but also calls for cost-effective gun control programs including screening all individuals wishing to purchase firearms and increased enforcement against arms trafficking. The Conservative Party does not have any provincial wings. However, it often works closely with
33741-528: The party. Brison, Herron and Martin ran for the Liberal Party in the next election, while Clark, Bachand and Borotsik retired. Three senators — William Doody , Norman Atkins , and Lowell Murray — declined to join the new party and continued to sit in the upper house as a rump caucus of Progressive Conservatives, and a fourth ( Jean-Claude Rivest ) soon left to sit as an independent. In February 2005, Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed two anti-merger Progressive Conservatives, Nancy Ruth and Elaine McCoy , to
33948-432: The position, serving briefly as a Private in the regiment, patrolling the area around Kingston. The town saw no real action during 1838 and Macdonald was not called upon to fire on the enemy. The Frontenac Militia regiments stayed on active duty in Kingston while the Battle of the Windmill occurred. Although most of the trials resulting from the Upper Canada Rebellion took place in Toronto, Macdonald represented one of
34155-446: The post of solicitor general, and so had to face a by-election. John A. Macdonald campaigned against Richards personally, and Richards was defeated by a Conservative. The switch in seats cost the Grits their majority, and they resigned in March. John A. Macdonald returned to office with Taché as titular premier. The Taché-Macdonald government was defeated in June. The parties were deadlocked to such an extent that, according to Swainson, "It
34362-401: 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
34569-466: The provinces more taxing powers and decision-making authority in joint federal-provincial programs. The party's law and order package was an effort to address rising homicide rates, which had gone up 12% in 2004. On November 24, 2005, Harper introduced a motion of no confidence which, with the backing of the other two opposition parties, passed on November 28, 2005. This resulted in an election scheduled for January 23, 2006 . The Conservatives started off
34776-447: The railroad and telegraph improved communications. According to Macdonald biographer Richard Gwyn, "In short, Canadians began to become a single community." At the same time, the provincial government became increasingly difficult to manage. An act affecting both Canada East and Canada West required a "double majority" – a majority of legislators from each of the two sections of the province. This led to increasing deadlock in
34983-407: 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
35190-401: The right-of-centre parties emerged. In 2003, the Canadian Alliance and the PCs merged, forming the Conservative Party of Canada. During the Conservative Party's governance of Canada from 2006 to 2015, its economic policies included reducing sales tax , reducing income taxes , reducing business taxes, balancing the national budget , creating the tax-free savings account (TFSA), and creating
35397-402: The sea air and warmth would cure her ailments. John returned to Canada after six months and Isabella remained in the United States for three years. He visited her again in New York at the end of 1846 and returned several months later when she informed him she was pregnant. In August 1847 their son John Alexander Macdonald Jr. was born in New York, but as Isabella remained ill, relatives cared for
35604-474: The seat of government permanently to Quebec City. Macdonald opposed this and used his power to force the Assembly to reconsider in 1857. He proposed that Queen Victoria decide which city should be Canada's capital. Opponents, especially from Canada East, argued that she would not make the decision in isolation and was bound to receive informal advice from her Canadian ministers. His scheme was adopted, with Canada East support assured by allowing Quebec City to serve
35811-488: The terms after a debate over the high cost that cabinet member Alexander Morris described as the worst fight the Conservatives had had since Confederation. There were continuing disputes with the Americans over deep-sea fishing rights, and in early 1871, an Anglo-American commission was appointed to settle outstanding matters between the British, the Canadians and the Americans. Canada was hoping to secure compensation for damage done by Fenians raiding Canada from bases in
36018-414: 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
36225-619: 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
36432-443: The union coming into force on 15 July, fearing that the preparations would not be completed any earlier. The British favoured an earlier date and, on 22 May, it was announced that Canada would come into existence on 1 July. Lord Monck appointed Macdonald as the new nation's first prime minister. With the birth of the new nation, Canada East and Canada West became separate provinces, known as Quebec and Ontario, respectively. Macdonald
36639-413: The uprising before the formal transfer; as a result of the unrest, the Red River Colony joined Confederation as the province of Manitoba, while the rest of the purchased lands became the North-West Territories . Macdonald also wished to secure the colony of British Columbia. There was interest in the United States in bringing about the colony's annexation, and Macdonald wished to ensure his new nation had
36846-508: 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
37053-425: 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
37260-416: The validation of refugee claims and give help to persecuted religious and sexual minorities whilst ensuring those who do not meet refugee status are escorted out of the country. Some MPs within the party have proposed a Canadian values test for prospective immigrants and long-term visitors, although this has not been adopted as a policy as a whole. Following the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests , several members of
37467-423: The vote through 13 rounds. Bernier would leave the Conservatives in 2018 to form the People's Party of Canada , which campaigned on right-wing populist positions in subsequent elections but failed to win a seat. Under Scheer, the Conservatives prioritized repealing the Liberal government's carbon tax , pipeline construction, and balancing the budget within five years had they formed government in 2019. Scheer
37674-461: The vote to be delayed until the spring of 2017. On January 19, 2016, the party announced that a permanent leader will be chosen on May 27, 2017. On September 28, 2016, former Speaker of the House of Commons Andrew Scheer announced his bid for the leadership of the party . On May 27, 2017, Scheer was elected as the second permanent leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, beating runner-up MP Maxime Bernier and more than 12 others with 50.95% of
37881-481: 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
38088-402: 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
38295-446: 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 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
38502-420: Was Eliza Grimason, an Irish immigrant then aged sixteen, who sought advice concerning a shop she and her husband wanted to buy. Grimason would become one of Macdonald's richest and most loyal supporters, and may have also become his lover. Macdonald joined many local organisations, seeking to become well known in the town. He also sought out high-profile cases, representing accused child rapist William Brass. Brass
38709-431: Was aged 10, his family gathered enough money to send him to Midland District Grammar School in Kingston. Macdonald's formal schooling ended at 15, a common school-leaving age at a time when only children from the most prosperous families were able to attend university. Macdonald later regretted leaving school when he did, remarking to his secretary Joseph Pope that if he had attended university, he might have embarked on
38916-449: Was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) on that first observance of what came to be known as Dominion Day, later called Canada Day , on 1 July 1867. Macdonald and his government faced immediate problems upon the formation of the new country. Much work remained to do in creating a federal government. Nova Scotia was already threatening to withdraw from the union; the Intercolonial Railway, which would both conciliate
39123-506: Was appointed premier in place of the retiring Taché, just in time to lead the Conservatives in a general election. Macdonald was elected in Kingston by 1,189 votes to 9 for John Shaw; other Conservatives did poorly in Canada West and only French-Canadian support kept Macdonald in power. On 28 December, Isabella Macdonald died, leaving John a widower with a seven-year-old son. Hugh John Macdonald would be principally raised by his paternal aunt and her husband. The Assembly had voted to move
39330-482: Was but a weary boy – and I thought I should have dropped under the weight of the old flint musket which galled my shoulder. But I managed to keep up with my companion, a grim old soldier who seemed impervious to fatigue." The Bank Guard served on active duty in Toronto guarding the Commercial Bank of the Midland District on King Street . The company was present at the Battle of Montgomery's Tavern and Macdonald recalled in an 1887 letter to Sir James Gowan that: "I
39537-425: Was clear to everybody that the constitution of the Province of Canada was dead". As his government had fallen again, Macdonald approached the new governor general, Lord Monck , to dissolve the legislature . Before Macdonald could act on this, Brown approached him through intermediaries; the Grit leader believed that the crisis gave the parties the opportunity to join together for constitutional reform. Brown had led
39744-531: 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
39951-673: Was easily reelected for Kingston, but the Conservatives lost seats and were forced to resign when the legislature reconvened in March 1848. Macdonald returned to Kingston when the legislature was not sitting, and Isabella joined him there in June. In August, their child died suddenly. In March 1850, Isabella Macdonald gave birth to another boy, Hugh John Macdonald , and his father wrote, "We have got Johnny back again, almost his image." Macdonald began to drink heavily around this time, both in public and in private, which Patricia Phenix, who studied Macdonald's private life, attributes to his family troubles. The Liberals, or Grits , maintained power in
40158-407: Was elected as alderman in Kingston's Fourth Ward, with 156 votes against 43 for his opponent, Colonel Jackson. He also suffered what he termed his first downfall, as his supporters, carrying the victorious candidate, accidentally dropped him onto a slushy street. The British Parliament had merged Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada in 1841. Kingston became the initial capital of
40365-520: Was elected interim leader the same day O'Toole was ousted, and a leadership election was subsequently scheduled for September 10, 2022. Conservative MP and former cabinet minister Pierre Poilievre , Conservative MP and former leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis , Independent (formerly Progressive Conservative) Member of Ontario Provincial Parliament Roman Baber , former leader of the now-defunct Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and former Premier of Quebec Jean Charest , former MP, former leader of
40572-400: 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
40779-407: Was hanged for his crime, but Macdonald attracted positive press comments for the quality of his defence. According to one of his biographers, Richard Gwyn : As a criminal lawyer who took on dramatic cases, Macdonald got himself noticed well beyond the narrow confines of the Kingston business community. He was operating now in the arena where he would spend by far the greatest part of his life –
40986-416: Was held in 2020, which was won by former Veterans Affairs Minister Erin O'Toole on August 24, 2020. Though running for the leadership on a "true blue" platform, O'Toole started to nudge the Conservative Party to the political centre as leader. Despite campaigning against the Liberal government's carbon tax during his leadership campaign, O'Toole reversed his position in April 2021, instead advocating for
41193-466: Was in the Second or Third Company behind the cannon that opened out on Montgomery’s House. During the week of the rebellion I was [in] the Commercial Bank Guard in the house on King Street, afterward the habitat of George Brown’s ' Globe '." The Bank Guard was taken off active service on 17 December 1837, and returned to Kingston. On 15 February 1838, Macdonald was appointed an Ensign in the 3rd (East) Regiment of Frontenac Militia but did not take up
41400-469: 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
41607-436: Was resolved by appointing another compromise candidate to serve as titular premier, Narcisse-Fortunat Belleau . In 1865, after lengthy debates, Canada's legislative assembly approved Confederation by 91 votes to 33. None of the Maritimes approved the plan. In 1866, Macdonald and his colleagues financed pro-Confederation candidates in the New Brunswick general election , resulting in a pro-Confederation assembly. Shortly after
41814-411: 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
42021-445: Was sometimes a safe haven for Confederate Secret Service operations against the U.S.; many Canadian citizens and politicians were sympathetic to the Confederacy. This led to events such as the Chesapeake Affair , the St. Albans Raid , and a failed attempt to burn down New York City . As attorney general of Canada West, Macdonald refused to prosecute Confederate operatives who were using Canada to launch attacks on U.S. soil across
42228-482: Was the Washington treaty, which had not yet been debated in Parliament. In early 1872, Macdonald submitted the treaty for ratification, and it passed the Commons with a majority of 66. The general election was held through late August and early September. Redistribution had given Ontario increased representation in the House; Macdonald spent much time campaigning in the province, for the most part outside Kingston. Widespread bribery of voters took place throughout Canada,
42435-437: 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 ,
42642-414: Was the third of five children. After Hugh's business ventures left him in debt, the family immigrated to Kingston , in Upper Canada (today the southern and eastern portions of Ontario), in 1820, as the family had several relatives and connections there. The family initially lived together, then resided over a store which Hugh Macdonald ran. Soon after their arrival, John's younger brother James died from
42849-427: Was when Mulroney accepted the results of an unofficial Senate election held in Alberta, which resulted in the appointment of a Reformer, Stanley Waters , to the Senate. In the 1993 election , support for the Progressive Conservative Party collapsed, and the party's representation in the House of Commons dropped from an absolute majority of seats to only two. Meanwhile, the Reform Party took Western Canada and became
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