In 1885, Louis Riel was charged with high treason, found guilty, and consequently executed for his role in Saskatchewan's North-West Rebellion. During his trial, the Métis leader gave two speeches, passionately defending the interests of the Métis in western Canada as well as his own life. Riel's Defence studies these speeches, demonstrating the range of Riel's political and personal concerns. The first and better known of the two speeches addresses the jury, while Riel's second speech - rarely reprinted - addresses the court following his guilty verdict. Both orations have been edited, annotated, and reprinted, and are followed by essays from diverse perspectives including philosophy, law, history, political science, religion, and communication studies. Through the course of their inquiry, contributors come to understand more about Riel's personal character and political thought, as well as his arguments supporting Métis land claims, grievances against the federal government, and his immigration plan for the North-West. Evaluating the rhetorical quality, legal merit, and cultural stakes of his speeches, Riel's Defence reveals the significance of the last public statements made by a man who indelibly shaped Canada’s history by combining his personal vision with a national vision.

While competitive intervention perpetuated hegemonic instability, cooperative and co-optative intervention seemed to lead the country in the direction of illiberal democracy, in which greater hegemonic stability exists and may persist for some time."--BOOK JACKET.

Canadian Criminal Law in Ten Cases explores the development of criminal justice in Canada through an in-depth examination of ten significant criminal cases. Martin L. Friedland draws on cases that went to the Supreme Court of Canada or the Privy Council, including well-known cases such as those of Louis Riel, Steven Truscott, Henry Morgentaler, and Jamie Gladue. The book addresses such issues as wrongful convictions, the enforcement of morality, Indigenous experiences with criminal law, bail and trial delay, and the impact of the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms on the criminal justice system. Friedland describes in a masterful way the factual background of each case and the political, social, and economic conditions of the time. Each character – the accused, judges, and counsel – is described in detail, as are the relevant laws and procedures. Friedland includes recommendations on how the criminal justice system can be improved, such as by creating a new federal commission devoted solely to criminal justice and by the enactment by Parliament of enhanced codes of evidence and criminal law and procedure. Canadian Criminal Law in Ten Cases is an indispensable guide to understanding the criminal justice system for lawyers, students, and anyone interested in criminal law and the administration of criminal justice.

Louis Riel personally singled out Major Charles Arkoll Boulton for execution. Thomas Scott was shot instead, but Boulton never lost his visceral hatred for the "rebel chief". A leader of the Canadian forces during the Red River Rebellion of 1869-70, Boulton was a seasoned veteran when Métis rose again in 1885. Recruiting his own force of mounted infantry he served in the heart of the action at Fish Creek and Batoche, witnessing scenes of massacre and horror, listening to First Nations leaders as they pleaded their cases, visiting the headquarters of the Métis, speaking with the English general Frederick Middleton. Boulton was privileged to be both participant in and observer of the drama of passion and ambition that idelibly marked the history of the Canadian West. First published in 1886, the narrative reproduced in I Fought Riel presents an incredibly vivid portrait of this important passage in the history of the West. With an insightful introduction by Heather Robertson.

The Manitoba Law Journal is a peer-reviewed journal founded in 1961. The MLJ's current mission is to provide lively, independent and high caliber commentary on legal events in Manitoba or events of special interest to our community. This issue has articles from a variety of contributing authors including: Beverley McLachlin, Brenlee Carrington Trepel, Bryan P. Schwartz, Darcy L. MacPherson, David Milward, Debra Parkes, Edward D. Brown, Gerald P. Heckman, Greg T. Smith, Jean-Pierre Hachey, John Irvine, Keith Lenton, Mark C. Power, Mathieu Stanton, Melanie R. Bueckert, Michel Bastarache, and Soren Frederiksen.

This interdisciplinary volume connects the philosophy of history to moral philosophy with a unique focus on time. Taking in a range of intellectual traditions, cultural, and geographical contexts, the volume provides a rich tapestry of approaches to time, morality, culture, and history. By extending the philosophical discussion on the ethical importance of temporality, the editors disentangle some of the disciplinary tensions between analytical and hermeneutic philosophy of history, cultural theory, meta-ethical theory, and normative ethics. The ethical and existential character of temporality reveals itself within a collection that resists the methodological underpinnings of any one philosophical school. The book's distinctive cross-cultural approach ensures a wide range of perspectives with contributions on life and death in Japanese philosophy, ethics and time in Maori philosophy, non-traditional temporalities and philosophical anthropology, as well as global approaches to ethics. These new directions of study highlight the importance of the ethical in the temporal, inviting further points of departure in this burgeoning field.

Louis Riel, perhaps the most controversial figure in Canadian history, emerged as a leader of the Metis which led to his death by hanging in 1885.