Mr. Speaker, 109 years ago today, Louis David Riel, the Métis hero, was hanged, an event that caused turmoil and indignation among French Canadians. A crowd of fifty thousand gathered on the Champ-de-Mars, in Montreal, to hear Honoré Mercier speak his now famous words of tribute.
The prime minister of the day, John A. Macdonald, was careful not to have Riel tried in his native province, where he had led the struggle to have the fundamental rights of Canadian Métis respected.
In order to redress this historic injustice, the Bloc Quebecois is today tabling a bill to revoke the conviction of Louis Riel.
Louis Riel was hanged because he was a Métis, because he was a francophone, because he went to the defence of his nation. His execution by hanging is one of the darkest moments in our history. A refusal to acknowledge it is a refusal to understand the present and a refusal to build a future.