1. The Manitoba Act
Social Studies 7

2. We, the Metis People of Red River, want the following:
-an elected government
-rights protecting our French Language
-Rights protecting the Catholic Religion
-acknowledgement of the rights to our lands

3. We, the Canadiens, want the following:
-the rights promised to us in Confederation
-Canada needs to be a bilingual country
-Canada needs to be a bicultural country
-Canada needs to respect our history and identity.

4. We, the First Nations, want the following:
-Recognition of the rights to our lands
-to negotiate with the government of Canada that honours our rights to the land.

5. We, the English speaking peoples, want the following:
-the freedom to move west as we please
-the freedom to set up farms in the west.

6. I, Sir John A. MacDonald, Prime Minister of Canada, and the Canadian Government, want the following:
-to build a railway west to British Columbia
-to acquire the land through the prairies to build a railway
-to build the railway with as little trouble as possible.

7. What Compromise did the Manitoba Act Strike?
Did not specify any particular tracts of land for the Metis.
Recognized Metis rights to the land.
Did not suggest a process or principles for negotiating with First Nations.
Acknowledged FN rights to the land
Committed public funding for both Protestant and Catholic Schools
Did not give Manitoba control over public lands, although the original provinces in Confederation had this control. The federal government took control of public lands.
Made French and English official languages of Manitoba’s Legislature.
Made Manitoba small: the rest of Rupert’s Land and the Northwest Territory came under direct federal control. Defined “qualified voters” as permanent residents. Many Metis could not meet this requirement because of the time the spent out of the province on the Annual Buffalo Hunt.
Established Manitoba as a province, which gave the people of Manitoba the right to elect a provincial government and representatives to Canada’s federal government.