November 18, 2021 Vol. 21, No. 46
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Ontario Highlands Métis Council
By Jeff Green or the first time, Louis Riel has been formally acknowledged in Frontenac County. On Louis Riel Day, November 16. In 5 locations throughout the territory of Highlands Waters Métis Council, which is much of Southeastern Ontario, flag raising ceremonies took place, and the Louis Riel flag flew over municipal buildings. Those locations include: Belleville, Quinte West (Trenton) Smiths Falls, Napanee, and Sharbot Lake. In Sharbot Lake, Highlands Waters Board Chair Carol Young, joined Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith at a flag raising ceremony at the township office in Sharbot Lake. “Louis Riel day is a chance to reflect on where we are, where we are going, challenges we have faced and the challenges we continue to face,” said Jonnathan Marconi, the President of the Highland Waters Métis Council. “I am happy to be able to bring this ceremony to Sharbot Lake,“ said Carol Young, who was a board member in the Thames Blue Water Métis Council before moving to the Arden area from London, Ontario. November 16 marks the day, in 1885, when Louis Riel was hanged. The events that precipitated that day are described in a brief history on the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) website. Here is an excerpt, including a description of the meaning of the day, to Métis people, from the MNO website. “During that year, Riel led Métis people in the Northwest Resistance, which was a stand against the Government of Canada because it was encroaching on Metis rights, and our way-of-life. The Métis were defeated at the siege of Batoche and the Canadian government captured Riel. He was eventually put on trial where he was convicted of treason and executed. As a result, Métis people across Canada were labeled as traitors and for generations many felt the need to hide their Métis culture and heritage. Despite this oppression, many Métis people found a way to preserve their way-of-life and passed it on to current generations. Today, the strength of the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) is a testament to the courage of our ancestors.” Fifteen years before he was executed, Riel successful-
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L-R: Terry Asselstine, Tawny Stowe, Carol Young (Board Chair of Ontarion Highlands Metis Council), Mayor Frances Smith.
ly negotiated the Manitoba Act, which brought Manitoba into confederation in 1870. But at that time, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald already had plans to supplant the Métis from their lands. The MNO site recalls a quote from Macdonald, from February 23, 1870: “These impulsive half-breeds have got spoiled by this emeute (uprising) and must be kept down by a strong hand until they are swamped by the influx of settlers.” Riel was elected to Parliament three times between 1870 and 1885 but could not take his seat because the Government of Ontario, in whose territory the federal parliament was located, laid charges on him and set out bounty for his capture even though they did not have jurisdiction in Manitoba. Riel went into exile in the United States but returned to Saskatchewan in 1884, and ended up leading the Northwest resistance. He surrendered on May 15, 1885. According to the MNO site, he was hoping his trial would provide an opportunity to tell the true story of the Métis struggles, in the face of misrepresentation in the Ontario newspapers.
A jury, made up of English settlers, convicted him of treason, but recommended mercy, but the judge, Hugh Richardson, ordered his execution, which took place in Regina on November 16. It took 107 years, long after Canadian settlement had overtaken the West, for the Government of Canada to begin to change the way the country remembers Louis Riel. In 1992 he was formally given status as a “founding father” of Manitoba, and in 1998 the Government issued a “statement of reconciliation” and acknowledged the “sad events culminating in the death of the Métis leader, Louis Riel”. In 2004, then Prime Minister Paul Martin acknowledged Riel's contribution, “not only to the Métis Nation, but to Canada as a whole.” Louis Riel Day is celebrated on the third Monday of February in Manitoba, the same day as Family Day in Ontario, but the Métis Nation marks the day of his death
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COVID Spike Continues In KFL&A, With Kingston Driving The Surge By Jeff Green r. Piotr Oglaza, medical officer of health with Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health, is not contemplating bringing any new restrictions at this time in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases in the region. He said that, in comparison to the Sudbury region, where new restrictions have been implemented, there is no “pattern of general spread” in KFL&A. “We are seeing are seeing patterns of cases in clusters, interventions such as the ones being implemented in Sudbury are designed to address a general spread. Our current spread is conducive to targeted interventions.” Dr. Oglaza made his comments at a media briefing last week, when active cases in the KFLAPH region were in the
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120 case range. The case load has increased substantially since then, and between Friday (November 12) and Monday (November 15) a further 69 cases have been confirmed. As of November 15, there were 169 active cases in the KFL&A region, 10 requiring hospitalization, of which 5 were in the Intensive Care Unit, 2 of them requiring ventilation. There have been no deaths from COVID in the KFL&A region since July, and only 6 since the onset of the pandemic in March of 2020. The largest outbreak at this time is centred around the Integrated Care Hub (ICH) in Kingston. The ICH is operated by the City of Kingston as a 24-hour, wraparound service for a vulnerable population with immediate needs such as food and
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shelter, and longer term needs such as addictions and mental health. in the City of Kingston. Doctor Oglaza indicated that the staff and clients at the ICH are a focus of targeted efforts by KFLAPH “We are addressing barriers to care that some face. One is to offer testing and vaccination to people who do not have health cards. If we do testing, we may see more cases, which we can track and that allows to do something to slow the spread,” he said. The Integrated Care Hub outbreak is responsible for 33 recent cars, 19 of which are still active. It is noe the making it the second largest outbreak of the entire pandemic in the region. There were also 4 new cases over the weekend in South Frontenac, bringing the total since the beginning of the month to
21. Most of the South Frontenac cases, at least earlier in November, were attributed to an outbreak at Perth Road Public School. There are 7 cases associated with that outbreak on the KFL&A dashboard, but only 1 of those cases is still listed as an active case, and the school is gradually returning to the COVID normal. There have been 21 cases in South Frontenac this month, among a population of 18,500 people, making it the jurisdiction in KFL&A with the second highest per capita case rate, still well behind the City of Kingston, with 210 cases among about 120,000 people. There have been no cases in Central and North Frontenac in November, nor have there been any in Addington Highlands or Frontenac Islands. This makes this 4th wave spike dif-
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