All events for 1870 – 1879
1870
Talle-de-Saules (now Willow Bunch), Saint-Laurent-de-Grandin and Batoche leave their mark in Saskatchewan
These new communities, created by Métis families trying to preserve their semi-nomadic lifestyle, are established in regions that will later become part of Saskatchewan.
1870
The Red River Rebellion, a popular democratic movement led by Louis Riel, leads to the creation of Manitoba
This is the new Canadian government’s first major crisis since Confederation.
1871
New Brunswick passes the Common Schools Act, 1871
The Common Schools Act effectively removes public funding from separate Acadian schools.
1871
The Collège de Saint-Boniface becomes one of the first official institutions of Manitoba
Founded by Monseigneur Alexandre Taché in 1855, the Collège de Saint-Boniface was a pivotal point, a protector and a promoter of French life and culture.
1871
The Grey Nuns, a Francophone religious order, found the St-Boniface Hospital in Manitoba
The first hospital in Western Canada starts out with only four beds to meet the health care needs of the people of the new province of Manitoba.
1871
The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba passes the province’s first education legislation
Catholic and Protestant school systems are completely separated.
May 27, 1871
Manitoba’s first French-language weekly newspaper, Le Métis, is published
Lawyer Joseph Royal, who bought the presses and equipment in St. Cloud, Minnesota, for $500 is the man responsible for the publication of Le Métis.
1874
Francophone trader François-Xavier Mercier goes head to head with the Hudson’s Bay Company
Mercier builds a trading post in the Yukon, and his efforts will have a major impact on the development of the territory.
1877
An amendment to the Northwest Territories Act gives English and French equal status in the Legislative Assembly and before the courts
This means that English and French are on equal footing.