The Canadian prairie province of Manitoba has celebrated the memory of controversial Métis rebel leader Louis Riel on Louis Riel Day the third Monday in February since 2008.
Photo Credit: Manitoba Archives/CP

Rebel Métis leader accused of treason, celebrated with holiday in province of Manitoba

The Canadian prairie province of Manitoba is celebrating the memory of controversial Métis rebel leader Louis Riel on Monday (February 16). The annual Louis Riel Day is held the third Monday in February, and was first celebrated in 2008.

Born in 1844, the eldest son of a prominent St. Boniface Métis family Riel was sent to Montreal to train for priesthood. But by 1868 he returned to what would become the province of Manitoba.

Métis were concerned about Canada’s plans to annex Hudson’s Bay Company lands, the traditional lands they lived on. An 1869 land survey by the Government of Canada “stirred Riel into action. He formed a militia, turned back surveyors, took possession of Upper Fort Garry and began the Red River Resistance” according to the Manitoba provincial website on Louis Riel.

He formed a provisional government in 1870 but had to flee to the United States after he “allowed an agitator to be tried and executed for insubordination”.

In 1884, asked to negotiate for Saskatchewan Métis, Riel saw an opportunity to create a Métis homeland, but Canada sent soldiers instead of negotiators. “Métis resistance was defeated in the North-West Rebellion at Batoche in May 1885. Found guilty of high treason and hanged in Regina, Riel’s life ended November 16, 1885.”

Riel was elected to Canada’s House of Commons three times, twice in 1873 and then in 1874, but never had a chance to take his seat in Ottawa.

On Monday (February 16), Official Opposition NDP party MP Pat Martin rose in the House of Commons to exonerate Riel: “I call upon on this 41st Parliament to finally set the history books straight, and exonerate Louis Riel, reverse his conviction for high treason, and instead, honour and commemorate his role as a founder of Manitoba, a Father of Confederation, and the champion of minority rights and rights of the Métis people. Louis Riel was a hero, not a traitor. And it is now generally accepted that he was wrongly convicted and executed for high treason, murdered by the Crown in a sham trial, in a case of both justice and mercy denied.”

More information:
Manitoba Government website – Louis Riel Biography – here
CBC/Matt Henderson – Opinion: Reflections on truth, myth and history in lead-up to Louis Riel Day – here
Canadian Encyclopedia – Louis Riel – here
Parliament of Canada – Member of Parliament Louis Riel – here

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