French language 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 29 countries across five different continents, most of which are members of the "Organisation internationale de la Francophonie" (OIF), the community of 84 countries 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, Canadian provinces of Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick as well as other Francophone regions, Belgium (Wallonia and the
Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms two changes were made to Manitoba's Public School Act (PSA) in 1966 and 1970 when French language instruction was once again recognized as an official language of instruction. Manitoba's minority French language instruction rights have developed since the introduction of the Charter and Section 23 to a point where they have allowed for the inclusion of a separate school board (La Division Scolaire Franco-Manitobaine DSFM) which is fully funded by the provincial treasury and operates throughout the Province. Significant with regards to the Province's (Manitoba) interpretation of section 23 is how the "number of Students" and not "mother tongue" is