The Black Rod

                                     The Huron Expositor, Nov. 20, 1885                                                 RIEL HANGED The execution of Louis David Riel took place at Regina on Monday morning last.  He met his fate bravely and never winced even to the last moment. Riel never slept after receiving intelligence that the execution would take place Monday morning, and thoughout the night was constant in his devotions.  At seven o'clock he had a light supper, and at five in the morning mass was celebrated, following two hours later by the administration of the last sacrament.  Riel towards the last almost entirely dropped his new religious idiosyncracies and decided to die a devout Catholic.                                                                                          His Last Devotions The hour fixed for the execution was eight o'clock, but it was fifteen minutes past that hour before those who had passes from the sheriff were admitted to the

The Sarnia Observer, April 1, 1870                         NEWS FROM RED RIVER The latest news of any importance from Red River, is the particulars of the shooting, by the usurper Riel, of a Canadian of the name Thomas Scot, for alleged faithlessness to the Provisional Government.  It appears Scott was one of the imprisoned Canadians, but had been released on condition that he would not take up arms against the insurgents, a promise to this effect having been extorted from him as the condition of his liberation. This was during the time  the Boulton-Schultz movement was in progress, and it seems Scott, in all probability having his temper excited by the conduct of Riel towards those who had been his fellow prisoners, and anxious to secure their liberation, and the downfall of this upstart French half-breed, joined the movement referred to, on the evening of the same day on which his release took place. He was captured with others of Major Boulton's party,

It's TIME TO PANIC! Manitoba Hydro didn't ask for a rate increase last month--- they begged, they pleaded, and ... they threatened dire consequences if they didn't get their way. And that was just for the best-case scenario. Which is disastrous. The reason for their desperation is in the supporting documents that were filed with their application which can be summed up in four words: Manitoba Hydro Horror Show. Here's how the crisis shapes up: * Manitoba Hydro won't be able to raise enough money to make its interest payments in eight of the next 13 years. * Manitoba Hydro won't earn enough money to cover the cost of replacing aging infrastructure in nine of the next ten years , never mind paying the billions required for new dams and transmission lines. * If the Province has to backstop Hydro, the utility will lose its credit rating and borrowing costs will go way up. * If Hydro loses its credit rating, it will tak