128-681: The Montreal Biodome ( French : Biodôme de Montréal ) is a museum of enclosed ecosystems located at Olympic Park in the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough of Montreal , Quebec , Canada , that allows visitors to walk through replicas of four ecosystems found in the Americas . It is one of two large-scale enclosed ecosystem structures in the Western Hemisphere , the other being Biosphere 2 in Tucson , Arizona . However, unlike
256-463: A curfew on January 9, 2021. In February 2021, as a result of a decline in cases, Quebec began to reopen the economy regionally, allowing for non-essential businesses to reopen. Schools, which had briefly moved to fully remote instruction, also reopened for in-person classes. The respite proved to be short-lived; soon after, in April, the reopening was reversed due to a third wave driven by new variants of
384-720: 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
512-498: A bidding process. The Biodome closed for renovations on 2 April 2018. The reopening was pushed back from September 2019 to December 2019, and then to the spring of 2020 due to a shortage of supplies and specialized labourers. The COVID-19 pandemic caused additional delays, and the Biodome finally reopened to the public on 31 August 2020. A mobile app was also released, offering augmented reality features and more in-depth information about
640-587: A booster COVID-19 vaccine dose. Quebec received their first shipments of COVID-19 vaccines on December 13, 2020. Priority vaccination of long-term care home residents and healthcare workers began the next day, with an 89-year-old resident of a long-term care home in Quebec City being the first in the province and country to receive a vaccine. On March 1, 2021, vaccination of the general population began, starting with people 80 years of age or older in Montreal . Over
768-431: 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,
896-423: A deficit of $ 4.2 billion, representing about 1% of GDP, and a real GDP contraction of 5.3%. In comparison to other Canadian provinces, this puts Quebec's economic performance at an above average level for the first year of the pandemic. The next year witnessed myriad other improvements, including further easing of the deficit and real GDP growth by 6%. In the months leading up to the pandemic, Quebec had one of
1024-493: A feasibility study was conducted for converting the velodrome into a biodome. Construction started in 1989, and the facility was opened to the public on 18 June 1992 as the Montreal Biodome. In the summer of 2003, the Biodome installed an audio guide system that lets visitors get information about what they are viewing, and also provides statistics to the facility about what the visitors find most interesting. Visitors can rent
1152-543: 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
1280-574: A health professional order , such as the Order of Nurses of Quebec [ Wikidata ] , may begin practicing that profession again, without charge, as long as they have not been out of the order for more than 5 years, and are not over 70 years old. On March 31, Premier Legault warned of potential shortages of medical supplies within the next week, including personal protective equipment , and announced that Premier of Ontario Doug Ford had agreed to divert some of its shipments of medical equipment to
1408-403: A horror movie or a concentration camp , due to discovering unhygienic living conditions, and residents neglected for nourishment and personal hygiene. On April 10, Health Minister McCann announced that an investigation would be launched into the facility, which had been placed under provincial trusteeship. On April 11, the province reported that there had been 31 deaths at CHSLD Herron over
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#17328517149341536-636: A layoff of 2,500 workers. Though most layoffs occurred in the private sector, on March 24, the City of Quebec laid off nearly 2,000 employees. On April 4, more than half of municipal workers in Donnacona were laid off. In Lévis, the city laid off 353 temporary employees for three weeks. Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures and L'Ancienne-Lorette also laid off fifty employees. In total, about 210,000 jobs were lost in Quebec in 2020. Since March 15, 2020, anyone who has left
1664-688: 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
1792-410: A pre-existing primary caregiver beginning April 16. The same day, the owners of CHSLD Herron sent a letter to Legault accusing CIUSSSOIM of engaging in a cover-up , claiming that 28 of the deaths reported had actually occurred after the facility was placed under trusteeship on March 29, disputing that they had not allowed them access to health records until April 8, and that "no communication was made to
1920-534: A receiver programmed to receive French, Spanish, or English for adults, or French or English for children. The facility allows visitors to walk through replicas of four ecosystems found in the Americas: All the exhibits are housed inside the former velodrome that was used for the cycling and judo events of the 1976 Summer Olympics , with each of the four environments taking up a portion of the stadium. A variety of animals live in each simulated habitat, ranging from
2048-494: 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
2176-573: A second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as a working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and
2304-513: A second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only
2432-897: A second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as
2560-582: A total of 100,000 cases of COVID-19. Following Health Canada 's approval of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine , the vaccination campaign began in Quebec on December 14, 2020, with the first vaccine in Canada given to a Quebec City long-term care home resident. Quebec entered a province-wide lockdown on December 25, 2020 ( Christmas Day ) and implemented
2688-503: A total of 6603 residents in CHSLDs and RPAs had been infected. Nearly half of Quebec's deaths from the pandemic have occurred in long-term care facilities. CHSLD Sainte-Dorothee in Laval has had one of the largest outbreaks; on April 8, it was reported that at least 115 of its 250 residents had been infected, and that there had been at least 13 deaths. The same day, Premier Legault announced that
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#17328517149342816-572: A union representing healthcare workers, suggests that over the first year of the pandemic, 4,000 nurses in Quebec quit the profession. Despite government initiatives to try to entice new and former workers into the profession, staffing shortages continued to be problematic throughout the pandemic; nearly two years after its onset, an estimated 20,000 healthcare workers were missing. Indeed, a survey by Statistics Canada , conducted from September 2021 to November 2021, revealed that 12.7% of healthcare workers in Quebec wanted to leave their "current job" within
2944-536: 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
3072-437: 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
3200-430: Is a website that lists Quebecois retailers offering online sales. In October 2022, Panier Bleu became transactional, allowing users to make purchases on the site itself. Hydro-Québec , a provincial Crown Corporation , announced that its executives would be renouncing their salary increase for 2020 and that the bonuses for 2019 would be paid later in the year. In addition, Hydro-Quebec donated 125,000 protective masks to
3328-467: 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
3456-484: 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
3584-430: Is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including
3712-456: Is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in the world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share
3840-628: 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
3968-495: 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
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4096-404: 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
4224-462: 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
4352-775: 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
4480-562: 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 ,
4608-538: 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
4736-479: 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
4864-492: 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
4992-424: 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
5120-738: 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
5248-459: The Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to the OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as
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5376-539: 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
5504-485: 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
5632-521: The Formula One Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal . Controversially, a curfew was put in place province-wide from January to June 2021 and for the first two weeks of January 2022, despite concerns about the effectiveness of curfews to reduce cases. All measures were dropped in the second quarter of 2022, with the provincial state of emergency ending on June 1. Though Quebec took a comparatively harsh approach to public health restrictions,
5760-547: 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,
5888-820: 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
6016-647: The Lanaudiere region, the Laurentians , La Tuque , and the Outaouais region (including the Ontario border), to restrict non-essential travel into the regions. Since March 15, 2020, all hearings before a judicial administrative court must be held behind closed doors, and all visits (except those of lawyers) to a detention facility in Quebec were suspended. All decisions of the Tribunal administratif du logement authorizing
6144-837: The Montréal–Trudeau International Airport is one of only four airports across the country that is accepting international flights to Canada from outside the Caribbean , Mexico , and the United States . The Quebec government has advised against non-essential interprovincial travel. On March 28, regional access to the regions of Bas-Saint-Laurent , Abitibi-Témiscamingue , Côte-Nord , Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean , Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine , Nord-du-Québec , Nunavik and Eeyou Istchee have been restricted by police roadblocks and airport controls. On April 1, security checkpoints were implemented in several municipalities in
6272-609: 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
6400-951: The United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization , the World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
6528-738: The macaws in the Tropical Forest, to the lynx in the Laurentian Forest, to the penguins in the Antarctic and the different kinds of fish that inhabit the waters of the Saint Lawrence River. As well, two new species have been discovered living in the Biodome: the acarian Copidognathus biodomus in the simulated estuary in 1996, and the bacterium Nitratireductor aquibiodomus in the water reprocessing system in 2003. In October 2015, it
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#17328517149346656-455: 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;
6784-474: 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
6912-510: 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
7040-614: 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,
7168-413: The DPJ to maintain physical contact with their biological parents were suspended. Since March 20, individuals who served an intermittent sentence were on medical leave, and all deadline to introduce a case in front of the Tribunal administratif du Québec, the Tribunal administratif du travail, the Tribunal administratif des marchés financiers, or the Commission d'accès à l'information were suspended during
7296-408: 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
7424-416: 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
7552-427: The Quebec government began to centralize the purchase of drugs, and sought to find an alternative drug for propofol , out of fear of a shortage. On May 5, Premier Legault revealed that 11,200 workers in the healthcare system were absent. Two days later, that number had increased to 11,600. Of the workers who were present, only 50% were working full-time. The Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec ,
7680-401: The Quebec government. On March 16, 2020, the government of Quebec announced financial compensation to workers who had to quarantine after having travelled abroad. The program, named Programme d'aide temporaire aux travailleurs touchés par le coronavirus (PATT), paid $ 573 per week for two weeks to eligible workers. On March 19, the Temporary Concerted Action Program for Businesses (PACTE)
7808-411: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec The COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec was part of the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19 ), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Until 2021, Quebec had reported
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#17328517149347936-414: The course of the first two years of the pandemic, Quebec underwent four lockdowns , corresponding to the four major waves of the virus. COVID-19 propagation tended to follow a seasonal pattern of intensification in the colder months (September to March), resulting in the tightening of measures, and reduction in the warmer months (April to August), resulting in the relaxation of measures. The purported goal of
8064-406: The course of the next three months, the vaccination campaign was gradually expanded to each age group in descending order. By May 14, all adults in Quebec were able to book a vaccination appointment, and by June 6, 75% of eligible Quebecers had received at least one dose of a vaccine. By mid-January 2022, all adults were eligible to receive a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. On September 8, 2020,
8192-404: 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
8320-458: The different plants and animals. French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are
8448-448: 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
8576-489: 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
8704-403: The end of all measures, including mask mandates and the vaccine passport. Quebec, which had implemented some of the strictest measures in North America during the Omicron wave, took the least permissive approach among the provinces; in February 2022, with an estimated three million Quebecers having had contracted COVID-19, they announced a reopening plan that would include the gradual suspension of
8832-600: The evaluations, reporting that the "vast majority" of private CHSLDs were "very well managed," but that there were several that required further monitoring and that the province would now be inspecting all 2,600 CHSLDs. He admitted that pre-existing issues with under-staffing at the facilities due to low wages may have been exacerbated by the pandemic, and announced plans to give temporary bonuses to attendants and orderlies , pending negotiations with unions to raise wages outright. On April 14, Premier Legault announced that Quebec would allow residents of CHSLDs to receive visits from
8960-521: The families of the residents by the representatives of the CIUSSSOIM, despite numerous requests made to that effect by the employees as well as members of the management of the CHLSD Herron." On April 16, the Montreal Regional Director of Public Health, Mylène Drouin, stated that outbreaks of COVID-19 had affected at least 75% of long-term care facilities in the city. Two days later, the Canadian Armed Forces began to deploy 125 workers — including nurses and other support staff — to assist CHSLDs in managing
9088-406: 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
9216-858: 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 ,
9344-818: 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
9472-582: The government announced that more restrictions would be lifted in CHSLDs and RPAs. In green zones, residents will be able to receive 9 visitors. In yellow zones, residents will be able to receive visitors from a single "bubble", usually consisting of one household. On August 26, 2021, the investigation into CHSLD Herron ended with no criminal charges laid. In 2021, an analysis conducted by two economists found that if Quebec had had similar rates of death in long-term care homes as in some European countries, up to 6,700 lives could have been saved. As of March 16,
9600-492: The highest number of COVID-19 cases in Canada , eventually overtaken by the neighbouring province of Ontario . However, Quebec still reports both the highest number and the highest rate of deaths in the country, largely due to poor conditions in long-term care homes , with around 80% of deaths in the first wave occurring in centres d'hébergement de soins de longue durée (CHSLDs) and résidences privée pour aînés (RPAs). Over
9728-459: 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
9856-474: 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
9984-602: 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 ,
10112-410: The last month, with at least five attributed to COVID-19. CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal (CIUSSSOIM) president Lynne McVey stated that the facility's owner was uncooperative, preventing authorities from obtaining the health records of its residents until April 8. Quebec's coroner's office and the Montreal police are also investigating. That weekend, teams were sent to all 41 private CHSLDs in
10240-475: 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
10368-418: The latter, the Montreal Biodome was designed primarily as a museum, resembles but is fundamentally different from a closed ecological system such as Biosphere 2. The building was originally constructed for the 1976 Olympic Games as a velodrome (cycling stadium) with 2,600 seats. It hosted both track cycling and judo events. Renovations on the building began in 1989 and in 1992 the indoor nature exhibit
10496-493: The lockdowns was to lessen the burden on the already overloaded healthcare system by reducing severe COVID-19 cases, also known more colloquially as the flatten the curve ( aplatir la courbe ) strategy. In total, the largest population centres of the province were under significant restrictions, which generally comprised the closure of non-essential businesses and the banning of most indoor gatherings, for 15 months. Many major events were cancelled for both 2020 and 2021, including
10624-413: The lowest unemployment rates in the country, hovering around 5%. During the initial period of uncertainty in spring 2020, with the economy effectively shut down, the rate jumped to 17%, the highest it had ever been since records began in 1976. While jobs began to return over the rest of the year, the average unemployment rate for the 2020 year remained well above normal, at 8.9%. Despite additional waves of
10752-809: The minimum of $ 50,000, did not fall through the cracks. Both aid programs ended in June 2022. On March 20, the government of Quebec announced that interest on student loans would be suspended for the next six months starting on April 1, 2020. This relief measure was later extended until March 31, 2023. On March 15, 2020, the Antonopoulos group — owner of many hotels and restaurants in Old Montreal — announced to its employees that several layoffs were expected. Groupe Sportscene (owner of sports bar chain La Cage) laid off 2,200 of its 2,500 employees. Cirque du Soleil announced
10880-549: The most vulnerable groups to the least vulnerable. In May 2021, vaccination against COVID-19 was extended to all adults in Quebec. By the end of that year, Quebec had a vaccination rate among the highest in the developed world, with over 80% of the population having at least one dose. Nonetheless, in September 2021 the province was the first in Canada to institute a vaccine passport for places considered to be high-risk, including restaurants, theatres, gyms, and bars. The vaccine passport
11008-420: 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
11136-548: The next two years, with nurses being the most likely to report intention to leave. Nonetheless, the Quebec government began phasing out many of their prime COVID initiatives in spring 2022, including pay bonuses. As of April 1, 2020, 519 long-term care facilities in Quebec, including both lodging centres for long-term care ( French : centre d'hébergement de soins de longue durée , CHSLD) and private seniors' residences ( French : résidence privée pour aînés , RPA), had at least one confirmed case of COVID-19. As of April 30,
11264-630: The official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco;
11392-570: The other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French
11520-528: 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
11648-465: The outbreak and augmenting staff. On April 22, Premier Legault announced that the province had requested an additional 1,000 workers to "give us more resources to help us with non-medical tasks". On May 5, 2020, Premier Legault announced that some restrictions in uninfected RPAs would be lifted, allowing residents to go for walks unaccompanied and to meet with family outdoors, as long as social distancing measures were being respected. On June 4, 2021,
11776-456: The pandemic arrived in Quebec, the Minister of Finance, Éric Girard, predicted a budget deficit of between $ 10 and $ 15 billion for the year 2020. These figures were based on the assumption that 40% of the Quebec economy would be put on pause for a period of eight weeks while health spending increased. However, the Quebec economy proved more resilient than expected; after revisions, the 2020 year saw
11904-505: The pandemic for sectors that were not already covered by federal financial aid programs and that were particularly affected by pandemic closures, such as public transportation, restaurants, hotels, and theatres. The pandemic first spread to Quebec in late February 2020, with the first confirmed case being a 41-year-old woman from Montreal who had returned from Iran on a flight from Doha , Qatar . Quebec declared its first Public Health Emergency in its history on March 14, 2020, and it
12032-462: 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
12160-404: The prohibition of private gatherings and the closure of indoor dining rooms, were reinstated in the greater areas of Montreal and Quebec City. As the end of the year approached, cases continued to rise, with daily case counts periodically breaking provincial records, prompting the Quebec government to tighten restrictions further and expand them to more regions. By early December, Quebec had reached
12288-579: The province to evaluate their response to the pandemic. On April 12, AELDPQ (an association representing Quebec's private CHSLDs) sent a letter to Minister McCann, accusing the province of breaking promises to increase funding for private CHSLDs, not displaying equal scrutiny towards public facilities, cutting off private facilities' procurement of personal protective equipment via provincial suppliers, and not providing promised emergency funding for them to purchase PPE (requiring them to cover their own costs). On April 13, Premier Legault presented findings from
12416-420: The province unveiled a four-tier, colour-coded system of regional health restrictions based on caseload and healthcare capacity. Tiers ranged from green to red, with each tier imposing progressively more severe restrictions than the last. Initially, only the most populated areas of Montreal and Quebec City were in the red zone . However, by the time the winter wave hit its peak a few months later, all 18 regions of
12544-418: The province were either in the orange zone or the red zone. Over the remainder of the winter and the spring, Quebec slowly downgraded the alert level in each region. By June 28, 2021, all regions had entered the green zone, bringing an end to the regional alert system. Throughout its entire duration, all tiers were subject to physical distancing, mandatory masking, and basic hygiene practices. A month after
12672-483: The province would deploy 500 nurses, 450 doctors, and more equipment to long-term care facilities in order to help reduce their burden. At least 150 cases have been connected to CHSLD Herron , located in the Montreal suburb of Dorval . There were also reports of neglect and poor living conditions at the facility, with staff having deserted the facility since March 29, and health care workers describing it as being akin to
12800-447: The province. The province of Alberta also announced on April 11 that they would be sending 250,000 N95 masks , 2 million procedural masks, and 15 million gloves to Quebec. On April 2, a salary bonus of 8% to all healthcare professionals on the front line, including paramedics, and a bonus of 4% to the rest of the network's employees was announced by ministers Christian Dubé and Danielle McCann . A salary increase of $ 4.00 per hour
12928-511: The provincial government, led by Premier François Legault , emphasized keeping schools open for as long as possible, despite initial pushback citing superspreader events. As a result, schools were fully remote for a total of only about 145 days, compared to 220 days in Ontario. The vaccination campaign started in December 2020 and was rolled out over the next few months in descending order from
13056-464: 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
13184-626: The resumption of housing or the eviction of the tenant were suspended. Since March 16, all appeals to be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada in March, April and May 2020 have been postponed to June 2020, just as the hearings convened from March 16 to April 30, 2020, before the Quebec Access to Information Commission were cancelled. Since March 19, orders made by the Court of Quebec that allowed children of
13312-500: The situation became so critical that reinforcements from the Canadian Army were deployed in May. In May and June, the number of daily cases saw a steep decline, leading to the relaxation of some health restrictions. However, beginning in the third quarter of 2020, a second wave of the virus began to emerge in Quebec and throughout Canada. In September 2020, certain restrictions, including
13440-470: The summer, with the mask mandate meant to end at the end of August, but a fourth wave halted these plans. In order to avoid another lockdown as a result of the fourth wave, the province instituted a vaccine passport system on September 1, 2021, becoming one of the first provinces in Canada to do so. Despite this measure, a partial lockdown began on December 20, 2021, as the highly contagious Omicron variant generated record numbers of new cases. The lockdown
13568-444: The temporary layoff of 4,679 employees, representing almost 95% of its workforce. On March 26, Cogeco Media announced that it would lay off 130 employees, representing a quarter of their workforce. On April 6, CAE announced the layoff of approximately 2,600 employees, representing just over a quarter of their workforce. Four months into the pandemic, with demand in the aerospace sector still well below normal, Bombardier announced
13696-414: 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
13824-673: 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
13952-562: 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
14080-479: 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
14208-413: The vaccine passport by March 12 while maintaining the mask mandate, which had been in effect since July 2020. Finally, on May 14, 2022, the mask mandate for most indoor spaces was lifted, making Quebec the last province to do so. However, masks remained mandatory in healthcare facilities, including hospitals and medical clinics, until April 7, 2023. The province also stopped recommending that everyone get
14336-514: The virus, especially the Alpha variant . Notably, gyms were forced to close again, capacity limits for places of worship were lowered, and a mixed model of in-person and remote instruction was enacted in high schools. As cases began to fall in tandem with the acceleration of the vaccination campaign in May, restrictions started to loosen, with the curfew ending on May 28 in the entire province. Restrictions were expected to continue to gradually lift over
14464-504: The virus, the downward trend continued, falling to 6.1% in 2021 and hitting a record low of 3.8% unemployment in November 2022. The extent of the economic impact of the pandemic quickly sparked initiatives to promote local purchasing , including the #OnSeSerreLesCoudes ("We stick together") social media campaign. The Quebec government launched its own initiative, the Panier Bleu , which
14592-531: 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
14720-402: 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
14848-483: Was also granted to the 34,000 patient attendants in long-term care homes for a period of 16 weeks. A month later, a further bonus of up to $ 1,000 per month was given to full-time CHSLD workers. In September 2021, with the healthcare system still reeling from staff shortages, the Quebec government offered a lump-sum of $ 15,000 to new full-time nurses and $ 12,000 to former nurses who return to the practice. Existing nurses, meanwhile, could receive up to $ 18,000. On April 5,
14976-537: Was announced that both the Biodome and the Insectarium would be closing their doors to the public from September 2016 to December 2017, in order to be renovated, as part of the city of Montreal's 375th anniversary; however, in August 2016, the mayor of Montreal cancelled the contract to renovate the Biodome, because the bid results received by the city were much higher than the initial estimates. The facelift project went back to
15104-605: Was designed by French architect Roger Taillibert as part of his larger plan for an Olympic park that included the Montreal Olympic Stadium and the Olympic pool . The venue was a combined velodrome and judo facility. Construction of the building began in August 1973, and the facility was officially opened in April 1976. The velodrome, along with the accompanying Olympic pool, inspired Tallibert's later designs for Luxembourg's National Sports and Culture Centre . In 1988,
15232-791: 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
15360-400: 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
15488-472: Was introduced. The program, worth $ 2.5 billion, offered loans starting at $ 50,000 to businesses experiencing supply or delivery issues. Two weeks later, the Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon , announced $ 150 million in expenditure for an Emergency aid for small and medium-sized businesses program that aimed to fill the gap left by PACTE and make sure that smaller businesses, who needed loans of less than
15616-684: 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
15744-542: Was opened. The Montreal Biodome is one of four facilities that make part of the largest natural science museum complex in Canada, Space for Life , which also includes the Montreal Insectarium , Montreal Botanical Garden , and Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium . It is an accredited member of both the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the Canada's Accredited Zoos and Aquariums association (CAZA). The building
15872-413: Was renewed every 10 days until June 1, 2022, when it was officially ended. On March 15, 2020, the government enforced the closure of various entertainment and recreational venues, and on March 23, all non-essential businesses were ordered to close. By the end of March, over four and a half thousand cases had been confirmed in all regions of the province. Most deaths occurred in long-term care homes, where
16000-718: Was retired in March 2022. From the start of the pandemic to January 2022, announcements about the current epidemiological situation and related public health measures took place every weekday in a press conference hosted by Premier Legault, the Minister of Health, and the National Public Health Director. The latter, Horacio Arruda , became the well-known and well-liked figurehead of the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec until his resignation in January 2022. Financial aid programs, most of which ended in 2022, were also announced early in
16128-575: 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
16256-554: 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 ,
16384-481: Was tightened on New Year's Eve , with restaurants being forced to close for indoor dining, private gatherings prohibited, and a curfew reinstated, despite continuing concerns about the effectiveness of curfews to reduce cases. Protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions swept across Canada in January and February 2022 as the Omicron wave was dying down. Shortly after, several provinces began announcing
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