The demographic constitution of this early migratory phase is claimed to have played a pivotal role in establishing the ‘bedrock’ of Canadian speech patterns by virtue of the Foun- der Principle, according to which speech patterns of early dominant population groups maintain a selective advantage over those associated with later arrivals, who adapt to local vernacular norms rather than imposing their own (Mufwene 2000: 240). This claim is not uncontroversial, particularly in light of the fact that after the war of 1812, British gov- ernmental policy, responding to American hostilities and fuelled by anxiety about latent pro-American republicanism in Canada, was directed towards actively recruiting British settlers as a mitigating measure, resulting in substantial immigration from Ireland, England and Scotland — and the concomitant incursion of regional British speech patterns — during the nineteenth