French is the official language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie, the community of French-speaking countries. It is spoken as a first language in France, southern Belgium, western Switzerland, Monaco, certain parts of Canada and the United States, and by various communities elsewhere. As of 2015, 40% of the francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania.
The Democratic Alliance was closely linked with the Montreal Citizens' Movement, a political party at the municipal level. Bob Keaton, the DA’s candidate in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce riding had served as an MCM councillor on Montreal City Council. The DA presented a centre-left platform that was described by the Montreal Gazette as being “complementary to that of the PQ though diametrically opposed on the issue of secession”.
After the election, the DA was enthusiastic despite not winning any seats in the National Assembly, and were planning to meet to discuss strategy for the next phase. The party’s best result was in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce riding where Bob Keaton placed a close third behind the Liberals and the Union Nationale.
The Democratic Republican Alliance (French:Alliance républicaine démocratique, ARD; 1901–1911 and 1917–1920), also named Democratic Republican Party (French:Parti républicain démocratique, PRD; 1911–1917), Democratic and Social Republican Party (French:Parti républicain démocratique et social, PRDS; 1920–1926) and Democratic Republican Party (French:Parti républicain démocratique, PRD; 1911–1917), Democratic Alliance (French:Alliance démocratique, AD; 1926–1940), was a French political party (1901–1978) created in 1901 by followers of Léon Gambetta, such as Raymond Poincaré who would be president of the Council in the 1920s. The party was at first conceived by members of the Radical-Socialist Party tied to the business world who united themselves in May 1901, along with many moderates, as gathering center-left liberals and "Opportunist" Republicans (Gambetta, etc.). However, after World War I and the parliamentary disappearance of monarchists and Bonapartists, it quickly became the main center-right party of the Third Republic. It was part of the National Bloc right-wing coalition which won the elections after the end of the war. The ARD successively took the name Parti Républicain Démocratique (Democratic Republican Party, PRD) then Parti Républicain Démocratique et Social ("Social and Republican Democratic Party"), before becoming again the AD.