Charter of the French Language with the adoption of the "Official Language Act" in 1974. Quebec is constitutionally obliged nonetheless to provide English services in the courts and the National Assembly of Quebec (see below). The fundamental French language rights in Quebec are: French is the declared language of the legislature and courts in Quebec. Section 133 of the "Constitution Act, 1867", still in effect, nonetheless requires that bills be printed, published, passed, and assented to in French and in English in Parliaments and the legislatures of Canada and of Quebec. French or English may be used by any person before the courts of Quebec.
French language in the United States sources have recorded as many as 13 million people claiming this ancestry. Most French-speaking Americans are of this heritage, but there are also significant populations not of French descent who speak it as well, including those from Belgium, Switzerland, Haiti and numerous Francophone African countries. There are three major groups of French dialects that emerged in what is now the United States: Louisiana French, Missouri French, and New England French (essentially a variant of Canadian French). Louisiana French is traditionally divided into three dialects, Colonial French, Louisiana Creole French, and Cajun French. Colonial French is traditionally said to have been