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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Exonerate Riel, Martin urges
Says case against him flawed
Louis Riel (CNS)
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OTTAWA -- Canada should exonerate Louis Riel, Winnipeg NDP MP Pat Martin said Monday.
On the 124th anniversary of Riel's death, Martin said the Manitoba Métis leader's conviction for treason should be overturned and a statue of him erected on Parliament Hill.
Martin said Riel's conviction and subsequent hanging "was justice denied and mercy denied because I just looked up the historical provisions under which he was hung and it's, it's bogus. Their case was full of holes."
He said it would be a great gesture of goodwill to the Métis people in Canada who have "borne this stigma" for 124 years.
Riel is often referred to as the Father of Manitoba for helping negotiate the terms under which Manitoba became a province in 1870. He was hanged Nov. 16, 1885 for treason for his role in the North-West Rebellion. His death has been controversial and caused more than a century of debate. Martin said the basis for his request for Riel to be exonerated lies in the fact Canada had no jurisdiction over the North-West Territories in 1885 and therefore Riel could not have been guilty of treason.
"They made a historical mistake and I say it was more than a mistake, it was a deliberate action to get rid of a nuisance agitator in Western Canada," said Martin.
He has introduced legislation to overturn Riel's conviction three times in the House of Commons since 2005. The current bill, introduced last December, won't come up for debate until at least March, said Martin.
mia.rabson @freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 17, 2009 A2
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