[[File:Canada provinces evolution 2.gif|thumb|right|alt=When Canada was formed in 1867 its provinces were a relatively narrow strip in the southeast, with vast territories in the interior. It grew by adding British Columbia in 1871, P.E.I. in 1873, the British Arctic Islands in 1880, and Newfoundland in 1949; meanwhile, its provinces grew both in size and number at the expense of its territories.|Territorial evolution of Canada, 1867–present]]
Rupert's Land was ceded to Canada by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1869 and incorporated into the Northwest Territories; a lack of attention to Métis concerns caused Métis leader [[Louis Riel]] to establish a local provisional government which formed into the Convention of Forty and the subsequent elected [[Legislative Assembly of Assiniboia]] on 9 March 9, 1870.<ref>{{vcite web |title=Indigenous and Northern Relations |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/inr/resources/print,the-legislative-assembly-of-assiniboia.html |publisher=Province of Manitoba|accessdate=21 October 2018|archivedate=14 October 2018 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20181014010142/https://www.gov.mb.ca/inr/resources/print,the-legislative-assembly-of-assiniboia.html}}</ref><ref>{{vcite web |author==Lawrence, Barkwell |title=A History of the Legislative Assembly of Assiniboia/le Conseil du {{as written|Gover|nement}} Provisoire |url=http://www.legislativeassemblyofassiniboia.ca/sites/default/files/history_legislative_assembly_of_assiniboia_final_w_footnotes.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023084632/http://legislativeassemblyofassiniboia.ca/sites/default/files/history_legislative_assembly_of_assiniboia_final_w_footnotes.pdf |url-status=dead |archivedate=23 October 2018 |publisher=Legislative Assembly of Assiniboia }}</ref> This assembly subsequently sent three delegates to [[Ottawa]] to negotiate with the [[government of Canada|Canadian government]]. This resulted in the ''Manitoba Act'' and that province's entry into [[Canadian Confederation|Confederation]]. Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald introduced the ''Manitoba Act'' in the [[House of Commons of Canada]], the bill was given [[Royal Assent]] and Manitoba was brought into Canada as a province in 1870.<ref name="sprague">{{vcite book|author=Sprague, DN|title=Canada and the Métis, 1869–1885|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press|location=Waterloo, ON|year=1988|pages=33–67, 89–129|isbn=978-0-88920-964-0}}</ref> Louis Riel was pursued by British army officer [[Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley|Garnet Wolseley]] because of the rebellion, and Riel fled into exile.<ref>{{vcite book|author=Cooke, OA|title=Dictionary of Canadian Biography|editor=Cook, Ramsay|publisher=University of Toronto/Université Laval|year=2015|orig-year=1998|edition=online|volume=14|chapter=Garnet Joseph Wolseley|url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/wolseley_garnet_joseph_14E.html|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170615205354/http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/wolseley_garnet_joseph_14E.html|archivedate=15 June 2017}}</ref> The Canadian government blocked the Métis' attempts to obtain land promised to them as part of Manitoba's entry into confederation. Facing racism from the new flood of white settlers from Ontario, large numbers of Métis moved to what would become [[Saskatchewan]] and [[Alberta]].<ref name="sprague"/>
[[Numbered Treaties]] were signed in the late 19th century with the chiefs of First Nations that lived in the area. They made specific promises of land for every family. As a result, a [[Indian reserve|reserve system]] was established under the jurisdiction of the [[Government of Canada|federal government]].<ref>{{vcite book|author=Tough, Frank|title=As Their Natural Resources Fail: Native People and the Economic History of Northern Manitoba, 1870–1930|publisher=UBC Press|year=1997|pages=75–79|isbn=978-0-7748-0571-1}}</ref> The prescribed amount of land promised to the native peoples was not always given; this led Indigenous groups to assert rights to the land through [[aboriginal land claim|land claims]], many of which are still ongoing.<ref>{{vcite web|url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/stem/mrd/mines/sustain/first.html|title=First Nations Land Claims|publisher=Government of Manitoba|accessdate=28 October 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030030837/http://www.gov.mb.ca/stem/mrd/mines/sustain/first.html <!--Added by H3llBot-->|archivedate=30 October 2009}}</ref>
