‘Took 153 years to get justice’: Riel set to be named honorary first premier of Manitoba By: Danielle Da Silva Posted: 1:39 PM CST Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023 Last Modified: 5:51 PM CST Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023 Updates

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Louis Riel is finally getting his due.

That was the message from Métis leaders as the newly elected NDP government introduced its first piece of legislation Thursday: a bill to recognize Riel as the honorary first premier of Manitoba.

“It took 153 years to get justice,” Manitoba Métis Federation president David Chartrand told a crowd of about 100 gathered in the rotunda of the legislature in Winnipeg.

“This is a proud day for our people and a proud day for all Manitobans, all societies, all nationalities, different religions, different backgrounds — we’re all Manitoba.”

If passed, the Louis Riel Act will give the celebrated Métis leader (1844-85) the honorary title of “First Premier of Manitoba,” said Premier Wab Kinew.

The bill would also require public and independent schools to include in the curriculum the significant contributions Riel made to Manitoba and Canada and an acknowledgement of his honorary title,

“We want to honour Louis Riel’s founding role in this province, but we also want future generations to understand that he was not always respected in this way,” Kinew said.

“It has taken years of a fight on behalf of Métis people to see him properly respected and represented.”

The Louis Riel Act is the first bill to be brought forward by the NDP, which was elected Oct. 3.

Kinew, while in opposition, repeatedly introduced private member’s bills to give Riel the honorific title.

“Louis Riel is the reason that any of us as MLAs can sit in the chamber here in the legislative assembly,”–Wab Kinew

“Louis Riel is the reason that any of us as MLAs can sit in the chamber here in the legislative assembly,” he said Thursday.

“We can only do those things because of the work that he did to form the provisional government, to articulate a list of rights and to negotiate with the government of Canada to enter our province into Confederation.”

Riel, a widely respected Métis leader in the 19th century, encouraged his supporters to rise up against the federal government in 1869-70, and demanded rights for the people of the Red River settlement.

He was the president of the Legislative Assembly of Assiniboia, which was the first democratically elected government in Manitoba, formed in March 1870. The assembly ratified the Manitoba Act in June 1870, allowing the province to enter into Confederation.

Riel was convicted of treason and executed in Regina on Nov. 16, 1885. His body was returned to Winnipeg for burial.

According to accounts of his trial, in his final statement, Riel told the jury he may may one day be known as more than a leader of the Métis.

“And if I am, I will have an opportunity of being acknowledged as a leader of good in this great country,” Riel was quoted as saying.

Kinew said the proposed legislation honours those words.

Chartrand said the proposed legislation brought him both joy and sadness. He lamented the many years it took to finally acknowledge Riel in this way.

The MMF president said any opponents of the bill will “have an enemy for the rest of your life.”

“Thirty years of my life, I’ve never given up on this dream that one day we’ll achieve it, that one day we’ll correct the historical wrong and do what’s right for Riel,” Chartrand said.

Métis community members and provincial lawmakers celebrated the bill with two events Thursday, including performances by the United Thunder square dance group, fiddler Tayler Fleming and guitarist Keith Ginther.

Speakers included Métis elder Linda St. Cyr-Saric and Infinity Women Secretariat Anita Campbell, who both said the proposed legislation rights injustices of the past.

“Today is meant to be a day of pride for all of us as Manitobans,” Kinew said. “This is about acknowledging our true history as one people, as one province, with a shared heritage and one common destiny moving forward into the future.”

Opposition education critic Wayne Ewasko said he supports improving the curriculum to better reflect Riel’s role in Manitoba’s history. “There’s always room in curriculum redevelopment. There’s always new things to learn.”

The NDP premier said he hopes the bill passes before lawmakers rise Dec. 7 for the winter break.

Members of the public will have a chance to weigh in on the proposed legislation, if it is called to committee, which could happen as early as next week.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca