The Benedict Arnold of the North
Why Louis Riel was a treacherous lunatic
Jesse Beach, Volunteer Staff
As the month of February begins and the mouths of students begin to salivate over the upcoming prospect of reading week, I take this opportunity to address a severe oversight by our provincial legislature. Due to a tragic mistake, the upcoming holiday, Louis Riel Day, will fall during reading week, making it completely useless to all university students who deserve an additional statutory holiday. However, it is not just the timing of this new day which I object to, but rather the creation of such a day in the first place. Now don’t get me wrong, I do not by any stretch of the imagination object to a new holiday in Manitoba. The new day will make our grand total of provincial holidays up to eight, still below the national average. I do, however, object to the offensive, controversial figure that they have bestowed the honour of a new day upon.
Louis Riel has been called a patriot, the leader of the Northwest Rebellions, saviour of the Métis people, and founder of the province of Manitoba. It has been suggested, to the virgin ears of a politically correct generation, that Riel was the victim of a racist government. Lost in this noble tirade of carefully woven historical fictions are the simple facts that Louis Riel was, among other things, a delusional, self-interested murderer who was hanged for treason.
Recently, there’s been too much weight given to the collective guilt complex that inhabits the minds of Manitobans regarding Riel. Guilt that has grown out of today’s politically correct culture, assuming that any aboriginal death is the fault of a white persecutor. Guilt that has grown out of the feelings that surrounded the traitor’s trial, where Riel himself refused to use the insanity clause, when he was obviously delusional. Guilt that our prejudiced ancestors forced the Métis to rebel because of their intolerant attitudes and practices. Though these may be valid points, they inaccurately bias the events that led to the execution of Louis Riel.
Louis Riel first impressed himself upon the political scene in October 1869. He and a group of Métis had organized themselves into the “Métis National Committee” and had stopped a group of land surveyors sent by the federal government. The Métis, at the appearance of these Canadian surveyors, immediately feared for the loss of the land that they were farming. In a sense, they were right; the federal government was attempting to open the land to immigrants, viewing the Métis as savages in the way of the expansion of civilization. However, this was occurring a mere two years after confederation, a driving force behind which was the desire to trump American notions of expansion into the Canadian Northwest. Riel, in preventing these land surveyors from expanding their operations to the west, was not only going against one on the main principle’s of confederation but he was also allowing the Americans a window of opportunity to annex pieces of our new nation.
In 1867, Sir John A. MacDonald became the first prime minister of Canada. He did so only two years after the American Civil War, a war of succession and rebellion that had claimed 600,000 lives, casualty numbers absolutely unprecedented at the time. MacDonald, having helped create Canada during the American Civil War, knew of its horrors first-hand and did everything in his power to prevent that same incalculable loss from occurring in Canada. To this end, he created a strong, centralist government on which the provinces depended on for everything. This was not the act of a tyrant; this was the act of a careful politician who wished to avoid the rebellion that had occurred in the United States. Louis Riel ignored Macdonald’s careful planning, and worst of all, he created a provisional government separate from Canada in December 1869..
Leading his people in open defiance against the prime minister was not enough for Riel, however; he needed to prove to the Canadians that he was a serious opponent. Therefore, in March 1870, he ordered the execution of Thomas Scott, an Orangeman from Ontario. Scott had been a howling bigot who belonged to a group that had tried to overthrow Riel’s provisional government. But Scott was tried on the charge of treason against a fictional body and executed by a self-appointed political leader. Riel was not executing a political order; he was committing a deliberate murder.
Though his actions led to the formation of the province of Manitoba, his methods — including treason and murder — were unacceptable and led to a five-year exile from Canada. During his time in exile, Riel became convinced that he was the divinely appointed leader of the Métis people and, following a violent outburst, was taken to Montreal to be left under the care of a family member. However, his condition deteriorated even further, and he was committed into an asylum in 1876. After his release, Riel returned to Canada to lead the Northwest Rebellion of 1885, although he was no longer the cunning politician he previously was. Riel was forced to surrender to Canadian forces in May 1885 and was hanged for treason on Nov. 16, 1885.
Louis Riel is a well-known figure in Canadian history. He is credited with the formation of our province and is even seen as a saviour to the Métis people. But I must question the intelligence of honouring such a controversial figure with a new holiday. I question the message that such a day is sending to the people of Manitoba. And I question why our province has seen fit to justify the actions of infamous murderer who defied the newly formed Canadian government.
Jesse Beach is a fourth-year English student.
Was Louis Riel a hero or a traitor?
The Manitoban presents a brand-new option for your voting pleasure: e-mail your response to masterdebate@themanitoban.com or text message it to VOTING (868464) — no fees attached! To vote for Tessa Vanderhart, text HERO or 914; to vote for Jesse Beach, text TRAITOR or 915. One lucky respondent will receive a $10 gift certificate to the Daily Bread Café. Responses must be received by Sunday, Feb. 10 at 9 p.m. to qualify.
