Province's new holiday aptly named, Saul says

CANADIAN philosopher John Ralston Saul paid tribute Monday to the country's most famous Métis leader, Louis Riel, at the Festival du Voyageur on the eve of the Winnipeg launch of his bestseller A Fair Country in French.

The husband of former governor general Adrienne Clarkson praised Riel for standing up for minority rights, and establishing the first democracy on the Prairies.

"Nobody knows the name of the British general that won the Battle of Batoche. But everybody knows Riel," said Saul. "The idea of a civilization of minorities, that was something that was put forward by Louis Riel."

In the 1885 Battle of Batoche, the Canadian army defeated Riel, who led two rebellions against the government in his plight to protect the rights and culture of the Métis people.

Riel was hanged as a traitor for his role in the rebellion.

Before stepping on stage at Festival du Voyageur to mark Manitoba's second Louis Riel Day, Saul said the new holiday is aptly named.

"You go through countries and you see someone who was looked down on, or was hated, or was martyred, and then a hundred years later we realize they were right," he said.

"And when you start to realize that, you have to declare it. And you have to declare it by naming schools, and by putting a statue in front of a legislature, and calling him the father or founder of Manitoba.

"So, I think having a Louis Riel Day is a great thing because it's popular, it makes him a hero of everybody, every Manitoban, and I'd be happy if this was called Louis Riel Day across Canada."

The idea that Riel is a hero to all Canadians, not just the Métis people, echoes Saul's thesis in A Fair Country.

Saul argues in the book that Canada should be seen as a "Métis nation," shaped by the influence of aboriginal ideas and values.

One example of this influence is the concept of multiculturalism, said Saul. When Europeans first arrived in Canada they were welcomed by the aboriginal people, often marrying daughters of chiefs.

"Multiculturalism makes it sound like we invented this in the 1970s. No, we didn't. It was invented in the 17th and 18th century," Saul said. "We've been building it up for four hundred years and the Métis people are the first real example of the success story."

Saul also had glowing words for Manitoba as an example of the Canada he envisions.

"I think what Canadians need to understand is that Manitoba has been a place where the experiment of Canada as not a European country took place," Saul said.

"While in places like Toronto and Montreal people were flirting in the late 19th century with this idea that we were just the children of England, or we were just the children of France ... Manitoba was the place where people said, 'No, it's much more interesting than that. It's much more complicated than that.'"

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 17, 2009 A4