The Trial of Louis Riel was arguably the most famous trial in the history of Canada. In 1885 Louis Riel had been a leader of a resistance movement by the Métis and First Nations people of western Canada against the Canadian government in what is now the modern province of Saskatchewan. Known as the North-West Rebellion, this resistance was suppressed by the Canadian military, which led to Riel's capture and trial for treason. The trial, which took place in July 1885 and lasted only 5 days, resulted in a guilty verdict. Riel was subsequently executed by hanging, an outcome which has had a lasting impact on relations between and Francophone and Anglophone Canadians.

Trial venue

See also Louis Riel, North-West Rebellion and Red River Rebellion

The end of Métis resistance during the North-West Rebellion was marked by the Métis loss at the decisive Battle of Batoche, which ended on 12 May 1885. On 15 May, Riel surrendered to North-West Mounted Police scouts, and was taken to General Frederick Middleton at the North-West Field Forces camp at Batoche. He spent nine days in the custody of Captain George Holmes Young, son of Methodist minister Reverend George Young, who had pleaded for Thomas Scott's freedom in 1870. Several individuals closely tied to the government requested that the trial be held in Winnipeg in July of 1885. On May 16, Macdonald's minister of militia Adolphe-Philippe Caron ordered that Riel be transported to Winnipeg, Manitoba for trial. However, travelling on the Canadian Pacific Railway, the party had only arrived at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan before being diverted, on orders from Caron, to Regina, then territorial capital of the Northwest Territories. Young and Riel did not travel alone to Regina; they were accompanied by sixteen armed soldiers and a Presbyterian minister, Charles Bruce Pitblado.

Historian Thomas Flanagan states that amendments of the North-West Territories Act (which dropped the provision that trials with crimes punishable by death should be tried in Manitoba), compelled Prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald to convene the trial within the North-West Territories. Other historians contend that the trial was moved to Regina due to the likelihood that Riel would there obtain an ethnically mixed and sympathetic jury. In any case, it seems clear that holding the trial in Regina proved advantageous to the government: while Manitoba law guaranteed an independent superiour court judge, Territorial law provided for only a trial presided over by a stipediary magistrate who was essentially a federal employee that could be discharged at the whim of the government. Moreover, while Manitoba law specified a 12-man jury and assurances of bilingual rights, Territorial law provided for only a 6-man jury, and had no protections for native French-speakers.

On 23 May, 1885, Riel was imprisoned at the North West Mounted Police jail in Regina. He was shackled to a ball and chain and confined for nearly two months in a 6½' x 4½' cell while awaiting his first meeting with his attorneys, which occurred on July 1. It was not until July 6 that he was formally charged with treason. On July 14, Riel met with lawyers, François-Xavier Lemieux and Charles Fitzpatrick, James Naismith Greenshields, two young Quebecois lawyers sent by the Association Nationale pour la Defense des Prisonniers Métis, an organization established in Quebec, as well as Thomas Cooke Johnstone, a lawyer from Ontario who had recently moved to Regina.

Trial

Riel was indicted by Judge Hugh Richardson on six counts of treason on July 20. Riel's counsel immediately challenged the court's jurisdiction, but these motions were denied. Riel then pleaded not guilty to all charges. Riel's lawyers argued for a delay for the defence to obtain witnesses. It was granted and the trial began on July 28, 1885. Tellingly, of the 36 people receiving jury duty summons, only one spoke French – and he was in any case unable to attend. Moreover, the only Roman Catholic in the jury pool was challenged by the prosecution and excluded. In the event, Riel was tried before a jury of six composed entirely of English and Scottish protestants, all from the area immediately surrounding Regina.

Crown counsel comprised some of the most accomplished lawyers in Canada: Christopher Robinson, Britton Bath Osler, George Burbidge, David Lynch Scott, and Thomas Chase-Casgrain. Chase-Casgrain was the lone French-Canadian in the prosecution. They called nine witnesses for the prosecution, General Frederick Middleton, Dr. John Willoughby, Thomas McKay , George Ness, George Kerr, John W. Astley, Thomas E. Jackson, Dr. A. Jukes, and Riel's cousin Charles Nolin. The cross-examination of the defense attempted to prove his mental instability and render a not guilty plea by reason of insanity, but to little success.

The defense had their turn on July 30. They produced five witnesses, Dr. François Roy of the Beauport Asylum, Dr. Daniel Clark of Toronto Lunatic Asylum, Riel's secretary for a short time, Phillipe Garnot and priests Alexis André and Vital Fourmond , all who gave evidence of Riel's insanity, but were far from sympathetic or supportive. The defense's case only lasted one day.

Riel delivered two lengthy speeches during his trial, defending his own actions and affirming the rights of the Métis people. He rejected his lawyer's attempt to argue that he was not guilty by reason of insanity, asserting,

"Life, without the dignity of an intelligent being, is not worth having."

On July 31, after only half an hour of deliberation, the jury found him guilty of treason but recommended mercy. Nonetheless, Judge Hugh Richardson sentenced him to death, with the date of his execution set for September 18th, 1885. Fifty years later one of the jurors, Edwin Brooks, said that Riel was tried for treason but hanged for the murder of Thomas Scott.

Appeals

References

• Flanagan, Thomas (1992). Louis Riel. Canadian Historical Association, Ottawa. ISBN 0887981801.
• Riel, Louis (1985). The collected writings of Louis Riel. ed. George Francis Gilman Stanley. University of Alberta Press, Edmonton. ISBN 0888640919.
• Siggins, Maggie (1994). Riel: a life of revolution. HarperCollins, Toronto. ISBN 0002157926.
• Stanley, George Francis Gilman (1963). Louis Riel. Mcgraw-Hill Ryerson, Toronto. ISBN 0070929610.

External links

• Famous Trials - Louis Riel
• Text of the indictment read against Riel
• Text of Riel's statement during the trial
• Text of Justice Richardson's sentence