Manitoba's New Holiday: Louis Riel Day

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Yes it is good news - in college I was once banned from class for a couple of days because I dared to challenged my loyal orange protestant professor on Riel's role in shaping of Canada.

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What college did you go to? and what union represented you?

That is a pretty inexcusable action on the part of the prof. I hope you filed a complainted against h-er/im and got your student union involved.

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File a complaint? Ha!

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Yeah, I know. But it in this case 101 got booted from the class for a few days and that might be something that would look good on paper as an official letter or complaint - for use later.

The incident happened about 40 years ago and in those days the Student union was too busy leading Vietnam War protests to worry about a student disagreeing with a professor and Riel was still considered an outcast and hadn't gained the respect that he has today.

Two different events involved. He got hung for the 1885 Saskachewan Rebellion not for being a Metis leader and head of a provisional government in Manitoba.

I would like to see Gabriel Dumount properly honoured. If they had only left him in charge of the Metis forces the outcome might have been different.

Instead they gave them script and let them starve after the Indian Agents and their friends stole it from them.

[url=http://www.abheritage.ca/mighty/fur_trade/speculators.html]Our Not So Stellar Heritage[/url]

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As the land scrip was provided to the Mйtis, land speculators were prepared to buy the scrip for a fraction of its real value. Many of the Mйtis were illiterate and did not know the real value of the scrip they had been provided. These speculators included the Imperial Bank of Canada, the Bank of Montreal, the Bank of Nova Scotia, some private banks, and individuals.

There were a number of Mйtis that prospered in the years after Treaty 8, but the large majority suffered poverty and poor health with little access to education as they had no Aboriginal title that would have given them some access to services.

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Hard to say what would have happened if the Canadian Expedition had been defeated. History tells us the Metis got a raw deal from losing including malnutrition and disease.

Yes, definitely better than "Family Day", which almost made me wish the bill wouldn't pass.

But what happened to:

Burton Cummings Day
Bleak Mid-winter Holiday Day
"Friendly Manitoba" vs. "Spirited Energy" Day

or, my submission:
"Where am I going to Go in February" Day?
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[ 14 February 2008: Message edited by: jas ]

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Originally posted by N.Beltov:
[b]Here's a bump because Monday is [url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2007/09/25/stat-holiday.html]Louis Riel Day [/url]in Manitoba.[/b]

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Good choice. We're afflicted with "family day" here. So, no holiday for me, I guess....

I f'n love that crazy, Christian Fundamentalist Metis!

In Grade 7, I did a slide show presentation for my history project entitled "Louis Riel: Traitor or Hero?" (No PowerPoint, kids--real photography!) I still pride myself on coming to the correct conclusion. Probably because I've not accomplished much since, but that's another story...

Anyway, best ever biography of Louis Riel is by [url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/riel/comics.html]Chester Brown[/url].

John A. MacDonald, 1885: 'Riel will hang though every dog in Quebec bark in his favour.'

I know who I'd rsther have on my money.

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Originally posted by Catchfire:
[b]
Anyway, best ever biography of Louis Riel is by [url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/riel/comics.html]Chester Brown[/url].[/b]

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That is so true. I give this book as a present (birthdays etc.). It is marvellous.

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Originally posted by Scott Piatkowski:
[b]How about we designate it as a Stat Holiday and let people decide what the day means to them? I'm all for doing that with the other Stat Holidays as well.[/b]

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That would be far better than what that opportunist salesman Layton has done. How fucking dare he undermine Louis Riel Day? It's bad enough that Calvert proclaimed Family Day before going to his richly-deserved perdition.

This is utterly disgusting.

ETA: By the way, Scott, you're in that party of his. Did he consult you, or anyone, before coming up with this crap?

This is the same man who whipped his caucus to support the draconian "family values" neo-con Bill C-2, now wanting to celebrate "families" for fuck's sake. Is everyone just scared of saying "boo" to him? Are there no leaders of value to be had?

[ 18 February 2008: Message edited by: unionist ]

Well, at least you didn't call it an atrocity this time, unionist.

I'd suggest that his motive was not to undermine Louis Riel Day, but to create some equality for workers across Canada and within provinces. I don't really care what the day is called (hell, I gladly take Victoria Day off, and I'm for abolition of the monarchy; I'm an athiest, but I take Christian-inspired holidays).

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Originally posted by unionist:
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It's bad enough that Calvert proclaimed Family Day before going to his richly-deserved perdition.

This is utterly disgusting[/b]

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Where were you in 1990 when Don Getty declared February 18th "Family Day" in Wild Rose County?

And why were you not incensed when Dalton McGuilty's phony-baloney Liberal government declared February 18th "Family Day" as the first of 50-some odd election promises they've actually managed to follow through on?

Is this about Jack Layton or NDP MP Pat Martin's bill, [url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/legisinfo/index.asp?Language=E&Chamber=N&StartList... C-258[/b][/url] to reverse the conviction of Louis Riel?

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Originally posted by unionist:
[b]Jack Layton should have either supported this enthusiastically and called for it to be emulated across Canada - or kept his mouth shut.[/b]

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[url=http://www.ndp.ca/page/6201]OTTAWA[/b][/url] – Today, NDP Leader Jack Layton called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to issue a Family Day holiday to all Canadians.

“Today, hardworking Canadians are working more hours to make ends meets and they deserve a break,” said Layton. “Family Day is a great opportunity for everyday families to come together and reconnect with their loved ones.”

Currently, only Alberta, Saskatchewan, and most recently, Ontario celebrate Family Day. [b]Manitoba already observes Louis Riel Day which falls on the same date as Family Day[/b] – the third Monday of February.

At a press conference today, Layton outlined that 40 percent of Ontarians will be expected to work on February 18 – Family Day.

“A day off in the middle of winter is good for everyone – it’s good for the spirit and encourages productivity,” said Layton. [b]“I’m calling on Harper’s government to step up and give Canadians a break.”[/b]

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He's basically calling on Harper to declare a national holiday on February 18th, or the third Monday in February.

I think ultimately it's up to parliament to declare a a national holiday, at which point they would then decide on what holiday name it would be given. But this all seems to coincide with the NDP pushing and prodding the two inanimate, rancid and out of new ideas old line parties to [url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/legisinfo/index.asp?Language=E&Chamber=N&StartList... Louis Riel's federal conviction[/b][/url]

Because some politicians in the NDP think it would actually be a good idea to decriminalize Louis Riel's name in this country at the same time Manitobans pay tribute to him with a provincial holiday. Cart-horse? We know the two rancid old line parties are tripping over one another to appease herr Bushler in Iraq and now Afghanistan, but first things should first, and our stoogeocrats in Ottawa do take some prodding before making executive decisions as history reveals.

Thank you, Wilf. Now all I need is someone with motivation and time to take over this group and achieve its goal!

I sent out invitations and see that the group is growing. That petition idea is a good one.

[url=http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2177750]Even though the government has nothing to announce other than funding cuts to vital programs, tax payers may be forking over $125,000 to honour a soldier because he fought against Riel.[/url]

Or maybe the day that Manitoba got its rights after his first rebellion was successful.

lonewolfbunn wrote:

"...Louis Riel day, which marks the hanging of the Metis leader for treason by the Canadian government in 1885."

 

I wonder why they chose the day they hung him as the day to celebrate rather than a day like his Birthday.

They didn't; he was hanged on November 16 (I remember this because it's my brother's birthday, or vice versa).

I couldn't agree more.
Riel a hero, not traitor: NDP

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/11/16/16168261.html

Joseph Boyden's new Louis Riel & Gabriel Dumont (2010) I recently read, learning enough new stuff that I was moved to look deeper still (diaries, memoirs). Boyden more than once refers glowingly to Chester Brown's '03 comic book about Riel, which I also enjoyed some time ago. From the latter I think it was I learned Riel eventually called himself, 'Mordecai', from the Boyden I learned about 'David'. I'm rather interested in this Judaic source stuff, beyond whatever visions Riel would have claimed.  Did the Catholic establishment hurt the Riel-Dumont cause as much as Macdonald pleasing the bankers? Would an empowered Dumont even have enlisted armed assistance from across the border? I learned from Boyden that Dumont spent time alongside Annie Oakley in Buffalo Bill Cody's show.

JR Saul fittingly wrote the intro to Boyden. Saul's Fair Country (Canada is Métis country) I read also and commented on here somewhere after happening upon this thread, http://www.rabble.ca/babble/babble-book-lounge/fair-country-telling-trut... .

Saul at the end of the intro: "This balance, this tension of two very different men, shows how their reality and the reality of the Métis people are central to all our lives."

Thanks for remembering, Catchfire. Going to post that to my FB group.