Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that we have taken this hour of debate to place the matter in proper perspective.
I have listened most attentively to the speeches made by my various colleagues. I acknowledge that the motion merits improvement. I trust that the Liberal Party, which is in the process of drafting a bill to settle this problem to everyone's satisfaction, will be able to take the texts that have been used today, analyze them thoroughly and try to see how this difficulty of having such ambiguity still surrounding one of the founders of this country, Louis Riel, can be truly resolved.
I was somewhat surprised to see that my colleague knew Louis Riel so intimately as to be able to tell what his feelings were at the time of his trial, but the fact is that among those who asked that Riel be tried in Saskatchewan instead of Manitoba and who wrote Minister Campbell and the Prime Minister at the time, Mr. Macdonald, was the person who presided the appeal court to which Louis Riel appealed his sentence. Riel was a very strong and very fair-minded man who realized he had been treated unfairly. He appealed in spite of the fact that this person was judge and jury.
I suggest my colleagues read this month's issue of Canadian Lawyer . They will realize that the government was wrong, that Louis Riel was wronged. The historical context must be taken int account of course, but something can and should be done. Unlike my hon. colleague and his people, the Métis are no longer recognized as a people and they have lost a large part of their culture. What they are asking us is to restore their right to their own way of life and I wish the House would act on this as soon as possible.