Métis leader Louis Riel was hanged 140 years ago on Nov. 16, 1885. Prime Minister Mark Carney took time out of being booed at the Grey Cup for a nation-to-nation hug with David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Métis Federation. Relying on Liberal talking points, Carney said that Riel wanted a “more inclusive Canada.” Now that the festivities are over, let’s think about Riel’s true impact upon the Métis and upon Canada.

Riel was undoubtedly a gifted leader. Archbishop A.A. Taché recognized the young boy’s intelligence and arranged for him to study at the Sulpician seminary in Montreal, hoping he would return as the first Métis missionary in Rupert’s Land. The seminary gave Riel a rigorous classical education, the finest that Canada had to offer, but he abandoned his clerical vocation f

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