Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew has introduced a private member's bill to recognize Metis leader Louis Riel as the honorary first premier of the province.

“Manitoba’s 150th anniversary (in 2020) is an opportunity to recognize that Louis Riel is more than just a significant figure in history — he is the founder of our province and the premier of our first government,” says NDP leader Wab Kinew, in a press release.

The bill would require support from the Progressive Conservative government to pass and is not expected to come to a vote before March.

Riel was central to the Red River and North-West rebellions to assert Indigenous rights. He was hanged in Saskatchewan in 1885 for treason.

But a motion passed in Parliament in 1992 recognized him as the founder of Manitoba and the province celebrates a statutory holiday on the third Monday in February as Louis Riel Day.