Manitoba Act-May 12, 1870

Despite PM Macdonald's reluctance, Manitoba entered Canada as a province, not a territory. English- and French-language rights were safeguarded, as were Protestant and Roman Catholic educational rights; the right to education in either English or French was not protected.

The Dominion retained control of natural resources, in particular unallocated land, which was to be sold to support the building of a Pacific railway and to be the magnet for a vast

Manitoba Act

• Manitoba was allowed to send four members to the House of Commons in Ottawa, and two members to the Senate

• Each Métis family received a scrip – a certificate saying they owned 96 ha of land. The total amount of land set aside for the Métis was 560,000

Whatever happened to Riel?

• He “butchered Thomas Scott in cold blood”• Macdonald sent troops after Riel to Red River,

but he was gone by the time they arrived• Riel fled to the U.S. on horseback, but Canada

had not seen the last of him yet…

• Why do you think it was difficult to keep law and order in the North West in the 1870s?

• What solution could there be?

North West Mounted Police!

• What kinds of duties would you expect these people to do?

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

January 2014

Who are the RCMP?

Who are the RCMP?

• Originally known as the North West Mounted Police.

• The RCMP is Canada's national police service.

“Proud of our traditions and confident in meeting future challenges, we commit to preserve the peace, uphold the law and provide quality service in partnership with our communities.” – Mission Statement

North West Mounted Police

• Created in 1873• 150 recruits were sent west

to Manitoba. The new police force gradually acquired the name North-West Mounted Police (NWMP).

• One of the first duties was to deal with the Whiskey Trade

Whisky Trade

• People in the North West had complained about the illegal whisky traders in the area

• It was against the law to sell whisky but until the NWMP there was no one to enforce this law

• Aboriginal people were sold whiskey at outrageous prices

• It was believed that with alcohol, violence increased, adding to the reputation of the west being a wild and lawless place.

NWMP

• Duties: keep peace, prevent crime, and catch criminals.

• Chain of posts were created from Manitoba to the Rocky Mountains.

Great March

• The new police were in charge of 6 million km2 and thousands of people with only 300 police

• The Great March was to let the people know that order had arrived in the west

• Colonel French decided to make one long patrol that would branch off and set up posts in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba

Great March• Can you image the sight–302 policemen, 338 riding

horses, 114 Red–River carts and 73 wagons with 142 oxen to pull and 20 drovers, 2 field guns, and 93 head of cattle.

• When it was on the move, the column of menand supplies stretched for almost 8 kms from the leader to the rear guard.

Colonel George Arthur French• Gave the Mounted

Police the reputation for discipline.

• For breaking rules they were given severe fines– Swearing: 5$– Falling Asleep: Two

weeks pay

Lieutenant-Colonel James F. Macleod• Trained as a lawyer and a

policeman• Gave the Mounted Police an

early reputation for law and justice.

• Did not believe in phrase “Wanted: Dead or Alive”, he demanded all prisoners to be returned alive.– Any Mountie who brought in a

dead prisoner was sentenced to three months of hard labour.

Superintendant Sam Steele

• Joined the force at 19• Took Part in the Great March• Aided North West Rebellion 1885• Aided with the CPR• Solved aboriginal issues withoutbloodshed• In the 1890s he was sent to the Yukon to bring

law and order to the Gold Rush in the Klondike

Sam Steele

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lab6gyWsMXo

• By 1885, the Force had grown to 1,000 men.• Support for the Force in the west prevailed, and

it gained new prominence policing the Klondike Gold Rush.

• Born out of a need for a national police force to implement the law in Canada’s newly acquired western territories, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has evolved into a world-renowned organization of more than 28,000 people.

• In 1903, the first mounted police post north of the Arctic Circle was established at Fort McPherson.

• In 1904, King Edward VII granted the Force the prefix ‘Royal’ in recognition of its many services to Canada and the Empire.

RNWMP becomes the RCMP

• In 1919, Parliament voted to merge the Force with the Dominion Police, a federal police force with jurisdiction in eastern Canada.

• When the legislation took effect on February 1, 1920, the name became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and headquarters was moved to Ottawa from Regina.

The years following World War II saw a continued expansion of the RCMP’s role as a provincial force.

In 1950, it assumed responsibility for provincial policing in Newfoundland and absorbed the British Columbia provincial police.

Women

• Women were first accepted as uniformed members in 1974.

• The seventies also brought an expansion of responsibilities in areas such as airport policing, VIP security and drug enforcement.

RCMP Today

• Today, the RCMP’s scope of operations includes organized crime, terrorism, illicit drugs, economic crimes and offences that threaten the integrity of Canada’s national borders.

• The RCMP also protects VIPs, has jurisdiction in eight provinces and three territories and, through its National Police Services, offers resources to other Canadian law enforcement agencies.

RCMP in Popular Culture

“The Mounted Police made the Canadian West a different kind of place than the American West.”

What do you think this could mean?

Homework:

Review “A Mountie’s Diary” on page 128-129• What information do you gather from this

diary that you did not already know?• What can you infer about life as a mountie?• What information might be missing from this

text that could be important in understanding this story better?