A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r ) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something).
129-534: The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada ( French : Agence de la consommation en matière financière du Canada , FCAC) is an agency of the Government of Canada that enforces consumer protection legislation, regulations and industry commitments by federally regulated financial entities. It also provides programs and information to help consumers understand their rights and responsibilities when dealing with financial institutions and promotes financial literacy. FCAC has
258-562: 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 the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and
387-424: A constituency (the equivalent of a member of parliament in the contemporaneous Parliament of England ). There were burgh commissioners and shire or stewartry commissioners. In many U.S. states , the legislative and executive decision-making bodies of counties are called the board of commissioners or county commission . In Minnesota , Alaska , New Hampshire , New York , Texas and Tennessee ,
516-404: A French military governor, in 1950 also restyled résident) to independence as a united monarchy in 1951. From the mid-19th century until 1939, two U.S. government cabinet departments used the title "commissioner" for officials posted abroad who did not enjoy diplomatic status . U.S. federal agencies have not titled officials posted abroad as commissioners since 1939. During the 19th century,
645-720: 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
774-633: A commissioner upon its founding later that year. The use of "commissioner" has been less prevalent in top-level women's leagues. When the NBA founded the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 1996, it chose to use the title of "president" for that league's chief executive, and did not use the title of "commissioner" for that position until 2019. The National Women's Soccer League , founded in 2012 with play starting in 2013, initially called its chief executive "commissioner", but that position had been vacant after
903-431: 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,
1032-707: A dual mandate, set out in the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act . Broadly, these two main elements are: Under its compliance mandate, FCAC is responsible for: Under financial literacy, FCAC is responsible for: FCAC monitors and supervises financial institutions and external complaints bodies that are regulated under federal legislation. These entities include all banks and federally incorporated or registered insurance, trust and loan companies, retail associations, federal credit unions and external complaints bodies. FCAC also supervises payment card network operators to determine whether they are in compliance with
1161-602: A financial wellness program within their workplace, including a section specifically tailored to employees. French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance ,
1290-543: 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
1419-625: A former senior executive and Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada . He retired in 2006. Ursula Menke was appointed Commissioner in December 2007. Before her mandate at FCAC, Ms. Menke held various positions giving her more than 30 years' experience in financial and legal affairs in both the public and private sectors, including the Privy Council Office , the Department of Finance and
SECTION 10
#17330926582291548-538: A gentleman who had "COMMISSIONER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO EUROPE, ASIA, AND AFRICA" thundering after his name in one awful blast! I had carefully prepared myself to take rather a back seat in that ship because of the uncommonly select material that would alone be permitted to pass through the camel's eye of that committee on credentials; I had schooled myself to expect an imposing array of military and naval heroes and to have to set that back seat still further back in consequence of it may be, but I state frankly that I
1677-639: 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
1806-494: 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
1935-650: 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 ,
2064-539: A single commissar of the provisional government (October 1917 – 16 March 1918 Aleksey Aleksandrovich Turchaninov) until czarist rule collapsed for good, giving way to the Soviet regime A UN commissioner appointed in 1949 supervised the transition of the UN Trust territory of Libya (a former Italian colony; actually Tripolitania and Cyrenaica each was under a British administrator, in 1949 restyled Resident , Fezzan under
2193-528: A term of 5 years. She was replaced by interim Commissioner Werner Liedtke on February 23, 2024. Under its compliance and enforcement mandate, the Agency investigates cases of non-compliance with consumer protection measures as set out in Canadian legislation. FCAC identifies potential cases using consumer complaints, as well as through the inquiries and investigations of its officers. The Agency's commissioner can impose
2322-536: 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
2451-489: A variety of financial topics, along with online interactive tools that can help consumers find the financial products and services that best meet their needs, including a Budget Planner, Mortgage Calculator, and Financial Goal Calculator. FCAC also develops infographics and videos to help consumers strengthen their financial literacy, which can be followed and shared on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. FCAC offers different financial education programs aimed at
2580-527: A variety of penalties on institutions found to be in violation of consumer measures, including monetary penalties and public naming of the institution. FCAC's Commissioner reports to Parliament annually with an assessment of federally regulated institutions' compliance with legislation. Under its consumer education mandate, FCAC produces timely and objective resources and tools related to understanding and managing personal finances and financial products and services. On Canada.ca/money, FCAC offers information on
2709-408: A wide range of age groups, including financial workshops and e-learning videos for young adults, a workshop aimed at better understanding credit reports, and learning programs to help adults manage their personal finances. FCAC also offers a free online resource, financial wellness in the workplace that provides Canadian employers with the strategies, tools and resources needed to build and implement
SECTION 20
#17330926582292838-453: 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
2967-437: 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
3096-467: 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
3225-484: 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
3354-628: 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
3483-549: 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
3612-404: 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
3741-462: 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
3870-775: 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
3999-618: 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 ,
Financial Consumer Agency of Canada - Misplaced Pages Continue
4128-580: Is that most European sports (including those in Great Britain) include powerful governing bodies that operate independently of and hold some power over the professional leagues, whereas in North America the equivalent governing bodies' de facto authority is mostly confined to amateur sport. For example, while the Premier League is roughly as lucrative and wealthy as the "Big Four" North American leagues,
4257-538: 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
4386-479: 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
4515-492: 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
4644-424: 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
4773-738: 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
4902-535: The Australian state of New South Wales . The title of commissioner or district commissioner , as such, was used by the (gubernatorial) chief British official in: The title of commissioner was also used by the senior diplomatic representatives of Commonwealth countries in British colonies , such as: Canada calls its government officials in charge of export promotion " trade commissioners ". There are 150 offices of
5031-587: 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
5160-777: The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service in Canada and abroad, and they "assist with export advice and guidance to help [Canadians] achieve [their] international business goals". The website devoted to the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service uses the Internet domain www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca . The European commissioners are the members of the European Commission , the cabinet of the European Union . Commissioners’ role closely resembles that of
5289-589: The Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry came into force. FCAC opened its new Research Branch as part of its expanded mandate. November 2011 was the first Financial Literacy Month. FCAC, together with a group of community organizations called the Financial Literacy Action Group (FLAG), organized workshops and other events across Canada to promote financial literacy among consumers.In March 2012,
Financial Consumer Agency of Canada - Misplaced Pages Continue
5418-600: 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
5547-509: 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
5676-530: 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
5805-547: 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,
5934-399: 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 the world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as
6063-820: 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
6192-626: The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company . Lucie Tedesco, was appointed Commissioner on September 4, 2013. Prior to her appointment as Commissioner, Ms Tedesco held the roles of Acting Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner with the FCAC. She joined the Agency, after serving as Vice-President, Insurance and Loan Operations and Vice-President, Strategy & Planning with Export Development Canada. FCAC’s last permanent Commissioner, Judith Robertson, began her appointment on August 19, 2019, for
6321-609: 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
6450-439: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began sending employees, called "agricultural commissioners", abroad to investigate foreign agriculture. These appointments were of a roving nature, as the officials were not assigned to a particular country or city. In 1919 USDA posted to London an agricultural commissioner without diplomatic status, Edward Foley, to report on British agriculture. Additional commissioners were posted through
6579-735: 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
SECTION 50
#17330926582296708-494: The football commissioner until 1970 when the merger was finalized and the AFL was fully absorbed into the NFL. No rival U.S. football league has recognized the NFL commissioner's authority since 1970, although no such league has lasted longer than three seasons. In Canadian football , the title of commissioner dates to no later than the 1940s. Like many of the NFL's rivals south of the border,
6837-447: The local government system of the Isle of Man , a commissioner is an elected representative equivalent to a councillor . All town, village, district and parish local government bodies consist of commissioners, except for Douglas , which has a council and councillors. Malawi 's position of district commissioner refers to the person that is appointed by the president of Malawi to oversee
6966-401: The 1920s to Buenos Aires, Berlin, and Shanghai. The title began to be phased out in 1930 with the passage of the Foreign Agricultural Service Act, which granted USDA authority to use the diplomatic title " attaché ". The last USDA employee to bear the title "agricultural commissioner" was Owen Dawson, agricultural commissioner at the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai, who received diplomatic status and
7095-455: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
7224-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
7353-510: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
7482-614: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
7611-409: The Commonwealth of Nations and the United States, the title of commissioner typically designates the head of an entire police force. In other countries, such as Latin American countries, France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, etc., a commissioner is typically the commander of a major police station or a locally/regionally important police service. The equivalent ranks in
7740-410: The Departments of State, Agriculture and Commerce) were merged in 1939 under Reorganization Plan No. II . In The Salvation Army , the rank of commissioner is the second-highest attainable rank and the highest rank by appointment, as the rank of general is attained by election by the High Council . It is one of the original ranks of the Army and has been in use since 1880, the first commissioner
7869-408: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
SECTION 60
#17330926582297998-440: The Football Association nevertheless has the power to veto the appointment of that league's chief executive. The Australian Football League is governed by the AFL Commission , whose members are called commissioners. However, the head of the commission, who is the closest equivalent to a North American sports commissioner, is formally titled the chairman, and is never referred to as a commissioner . Current commissioners of
8127-416: 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
8256-410: 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
8385-441: 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 the ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to
8514-450: The NBA in 1976. The National Hockey League did not follow suit when the rival World Hockey Association commenced playing, as then-NHL president Clarence Campbell , who was openly hostile to the WHA's very existence, made clear he was not interested in any change to his own title. The NHL finally appointed a commissioner in 1993 (long after merging with the WHA ) when incumbent Gary Bettman assumed office. Major League Soccer appointed
8643-509: The NFL commissioner's authority). Finally in 1966, the American Football League agreed to abolish their commissioner's office and recognize the authority of then-NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle in exchange for the NFL agreeing to a merger with its most successful rival. This did not result in any formal change to Rozelle's title or even in his powers, since the NFL constitution already purportedly granted him extensive power over other professional leagues. Nevertheless he became informally known as
8772-402: 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
8901-414: The Parliament of Canada officially designated November as Financial Literacy Month in Canada. In December 2018, the Government of Canada passed legislation to modernize Canada’s Financial Consumer Protection Framework (FCPF) and to strengthen FCAC’s mandate and grant it additional powers. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act outlines FCAC's functions, administration and enforcement powers, and lists
9030-431: The Task Force presented the federal government with its report, Change, Challenge, Opportunity (known as the MacKay Report). One of the Task Force’s findings was that "the current framework for consumer protection is not as effective as it should be in reducing the information and power imbalance between institutions and consumers." Two parliamentary committees reviewed the Task Force Report, held public consultations across
9159-413: The United Kingdom and the Dominions and now between all Commonwealth states, whether Commonwealth realms , republics or countries having a monarch other than that of the realms. The title is sometimes given to senior officials in the private sector; for instance, many North American sports leagues. There is some confusion between commissioners and commissaries because other European languages use
9288-536: The United States to " trade commissioners " employed by the U.S. Department of Commerce . Most but not all trade commissioners were retitled commercial attachés upon creation of the Foreign Commerce Service ( viz. ) in 1927. The title "trade commissioner" went out of use in the United States when Commerce's overseas officials were transferred to the Department of State and all three U.S. foreign services (of
9417-602: The administration of any of its 28 districts . One commissioner is appointed per district. The position was created during the British colonial era, sustained during the Kamuzu Banda era and continues as a prominent position in democratic era in Malawi. Prior to the Acts of Union 1707 , an elected member of the Estates (parliament) of Scotland held the office of commissioner, representing
9546-679: The aftermath of the Black Sox Scandal . Landis was titled "commissioner" partly to distinguish his office from that of the "president" of the American and National Leagues . Landis' title derived from the National Commission , the ruling body for baseball established in 1903, when the two leagues were largely autonomous organizations. The commission originally consisted of three members. Desperate to restore public confidence in their sport's integrity, baseball owners agreed to appoint Landis as
9675-563: The case of dictatorships). Commissioners are the formal heads of the territories in Canada (those areas under the formal jurisdiction of the federal Crown- in-Council without separate constitutional status of a province ). Unlike the governor general or a lieutenant governor , commissioners are not viceregal representatives of the Canadian monarch ; rather, they are delegates of the federal Crown-in-Council and, under federal statutes governing
9804-433: The colonial administration in several French-ruled countries. After on 17 April 1914 Tannu Tuva (ethnically Mongolian) was declared a Russian 'protected' area ( Uryanhay [Urjanhaj] kray ), two subsequent Russian commissioners for the affairs of Urjanhai Kray (1914–1915 A.P. Cererin (Tsererin) and 1915–1917 Yu.V. Grigoryev) were appointed, alongside the last native tribal paramount chief (title Ambyn-noyon ), followed by
9933-494: The commissioner or appointing a commissioner and reducing the position of league president to a mere figurehead role. The National Football League appointed its first commissioner in 1941. The NFL, which in its early years faced several rival leagues, intended its commissioner's office to be analogous to the one then held by Landis in baseball, with authority over all of professional football. The NFL's rivals responded by appointing their own commissioners (thereby explicitly rejecting
10062-527: The commissioners' powers and responsibilities in the NFL, NBA and NHL are not substantially different from those of the presidents that preceded them. Although baseball's subsequent commissioners have not had the absolute power that Landis did, former Commissioner Bud Selig has succeeded in centralizing authority over Major League Baseball in the commissioner's office, relegating the position of league president to an honorary title and giving baseball's commissioner competencies similar to those of his colleagues in
10191-447: The consumer provisions of the various federal acts relating to financial services, including: In cases of contravention or non-compliance with legislation, FCAC notifies the federally regulated financial entity of a violation. Depending on the severity and frequency of the problem, the Agency may also: The Agency was established in 2001 by the federal government to strengthen oversight of consumer issues and expand consumer education in
10320-504: The country and presented their own recommendations. A broad consensus on ways to improve the financial sector emerged through this process. In June 1999, the government released a policy paper, Reforming Canada’s Financial Services Sector: A Framework for the Future , containing 57 reform measures. Among them was a proposal to create a financial consumer agency to oversee consumer interests and improve consumer protection. Legislation to implement
10449-516: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Commissioner In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to include a variety of senior officials, often sitting on a specific commission. In particular, the commissioner frequently refers to senior police or government officials. A high commissioner is equivalent to an ambassador , originally between
10578-645: The creation of the Financial Literacy Initiative. In 2009, new federal legislation gave FCAC oversight over payment card network operators. On July 11, 2010, amendments to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act further expanded FCAC’s role in four areas: As a result of amendments to the Bank Act in 2010 which provided for federally regulated credit unions, FCAC became responsible for supervising and monitoring such credit unions’ compliance with applicable legislation and regulations. In August 2010,
10707-508: 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
10836-448: 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
10965-585: 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
11094-606: The financial sector. FCAC’s creation was one in a series of initiatives resulting from an extensive period of study and public consultation on financial sector reform. In December 1996, the Government of Canada launched the Task Force on the Future of the Canadian Financial Services Sector, one of several initiatives following extensive debate and consultation on reform of the financial sector. In September 1998,
11223-506: 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
11352-858: 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 ,
11481-451: The game's sole commissioner after he rebuffed their offer of a position at the head of a reformed commission. Baseball owners also gave Landis absolute power and a lifetime contract, which permitted the former judge to assume more power over the sport than a commissioner in any sport has held since. The other major professional sports leagues of North America followed suit, either replacing their positions of league president with that of
11610-818: 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
11739-442: The heads of some statewide departments are called "commissioners". In California , court commissioners are subordinate judicial officers granted many of the same authorities as judges, though not all. In some states certain municipalities may have a planning or zoning authority composed of local officials or members of the public. These authorities can be called commissions with the members addressed as "commissioners". In
11868-401: 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
11997-474: 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
12126-602: 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 ,
12255-475: 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
12384-647: The ministers of the Union’s member states; each is assigned a portfolio under the authority of the president of the EU Commission, but they make important decisions collegially, often subject to approval by the European Parliament and/or the Council of the European Union , the two organs of the EU’s bicameral legislature. The French equivalent, commissaire , was used for various officials employed at different levels of
12513-683: The monarch and viceroys, including reading the speech from the throne at the opening of the territorial legislature and presenting commendations to Canadian Forces members for long-term or outstanding service to the office. Possible candidates for the position are selected by the Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments . The official appointment is made by the Governor General-in-Council (the federal government ). Senior public servants, commissioners and other high-ranking bureaucrats referred to collectively as mandarins . In
12642-420: 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
12771-528: 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
12900-405: The other major sports. Many minor professional and amateur leagues throughout the United States and Canada have also appointed commissioners. The title has not caught on outside North America. In Great Britain, the title chief executive is used for the most closely equivalent position in that country's professional leagues. A key difference between the state of affairs in North America and Europe
13029-449: The owners of the league's clubs or board of directors/governors, and function as executive directors of the various owner's associations describing themselves as Leagues and handle matters such as discipline, arbitration of disputes between the clubs, etc. in the interests of the owners. The title was first used in 1920, when Kenesaw Mountain Landis was appointed Commissioner of Baseball in
13158-547: The past, the U.S. government-appointed special commissioners for a variety of tasks. For example, the head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1862 to 1889 was a commissioner, not a Cabinet secretary. Until 1968, federal courts appointed commissioners to perform routine judicial duties such as taking testimony, taking bail, and even enforcing laws such as the Fugitive Slave Act . These commissioners were replaced by United States magistrates . In police services in
13287-580: The police forces of the United States and the United Kingdom are respectively captain and superintendent. In firefighting services in the Commonwealth of Nations, the title of commissioner typically designates the head of an entire fire service in a particular jurisdiction, such as the commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service or the commissioner of Fire and Rescue NSW , two separate fire authorities that operate within
13416-462: 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
13545-632: The provisions of the Payment Card Networks Act . FCAC does not regulate foreign bank representative offices, fraternal benefit societies or cooperative credit associations. A complete list of federally regulated financial institutions is available from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI). As a regulatory agency, FCAC can exercise its enforcement powers to ensure that federally regulated financial entities comply with
13674-451: The reform package was passed on June 14, 2001. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada opened its doors in 2001 under the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act . In its first year, FCAC established a website and a call centre for consumers to make complaints and ask questions about their rights and responsibilities regarding financial products and services. In 2007, the Government of Canada provided FCAC with an additional $ 3 million for
13803-465: The resignation of the league's second commissioner, Jeff Plush , shortly before the 2017 season. The NWSL's highest office was styled as "president" until the "commissioner" title was reinstated when Lisa Baird filled that post in 2020. Due to the unique ownership structure of the Professional Women's Hockey League , the organization has no current plans to appoint a commissioner. In general,
13932-464: 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
14061-583: The same word for both. Therefore titles such as commissaire in French, Kommissar in German and comisario in Spanish or commissario in Italian, can mean either commissioner or commissary in English, depending on the context. A commissioner within a modern state generally holds his or her office by a commission from the head of state or a council of elected representatives (or appointed by non-elected officials in
14190-506: The sections of federal laws and regulations under its supervision. FCAC is headed by a Commissioner , appointed for a five-year term. The Commissioner reports annually to the Parliament of Canada through the Minister of Finance , on the Agency's activities and on the performance of financial institutions in complying with consumer protection measures. The first Commissioner was Bill Knight ,
14319-468: The standards of the Boy Scouts of America. In some sports leagues , including all four North American professional major sports the commissioner is the highest executive position in the league. The exact powers of the commissioner depend on the constitution and/or rules of the league, and are invariably limited by State and Federal Law and collective bargaining agreements. Commissioners are elected by
14448-490: The territories, act following written instructions from Cabinet or the minister responsible (currently the minister of northern affairs ). While commissioners formerly had a direct day-to-day role in administration and government and chaired the territory's executive council, today they are under instruction to act more like provincial lieutenant governors, as territorial assemblies have taken on more responsibility. Commissioners thus perform ceremonial duties similar to those of
14577-559: The title agricultural attaché in 1939 when USDA's overseas officers were transferred to the Department of State. Noted American author Mark Twain recounted meeting one of the 19th-century roving agricultural commissioners in Innocents Abroad : I was proud to observe that among our excursionists were three ministers of the gospel, eight doctors, sixteen or eighteen ladies, several military and naval chieftains with sounding titles, an ample crop of "Professors" of various kinds, and
14706-591: The top Canadian football leagues then in existence (the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and Western Interprovincial Football Union ) appointed commissioners in a bid to assert their leagues' independence from the NFL commissioner. When the two leagues formed an umbrella organization (the Canadian Football Council) in 1956, the posts of IRFU commissioner and WIFU commissioner were abolished and former WIFU Commissioner Sydney Halter
14835-462: 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
14964-673: 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
15093-508: 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
15222-479: 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
15351-531: 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
15480-402: 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
15609-518: Was George Scott Railton . Within the Scout Movement , a commissioner is a senior adult leader who is responsible for the management of an aspect of Scouting and/or the leadership of other adults, as opposed to adult leaders who lead youth members. Commissioners are district and council leaders who help Scout units succeed. They coach and consult with adult leaders of Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout troops, and Venturing crews. Commissioners help maintain
15738-452: Was all unprepared for this crusher. I fell under that titular avalanche a torn and blighted thing. I said that if that potentate must go over in our ship, why, I supposed he must – but that to my thinking, when the United States considered it necessary to send a dignitary of that tonnage across the ocean, it would be in better taste, and safer, to take him apart and cart him over in sections in several ships. Ah, if I had only known then that he
15867-520: Was appointed commissioner of the CFC. When the CFC itself evolved into the modern Canadian Football League in 1958, Halter carried on in the office as that league's first commissioner. The National Basketball Association followed suit by appointing a commissioner in 1967, largely in response to a rival league that commenced play that year. The ABA did not recognize the NBA commissioner's authority and maintained its own commissioner's office until merging with
15996-791: 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
16125-400: 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
16254-633: 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
16383-558: Was only a common mortal, and that his mission had nothing more overpowering about it than the collecting of seeds and uncommon yams and extraordinary cabbages and peculiar bullfrogs for that poor, useless, innocent, mildewed old fossil the Smithsonian Institute [sic], I would have felt so much relieved. Following unification of the U.S. Foreign Service under the Rogers Act in 1924, overseas trade promotion shifted from consuls of
16512-575: 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
16641-554: 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 ,
#228771