François-Xavier Pagé (May 30, 1833 – February 24, 1912) was a farmer and political figure in

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

. He was a member of the Convention of Forty and served in the

Legislative Assembly of Assiniboia The Legislative Assembly of Assiniboia () was a short-lived legislature established to pass laws for the North-Western Territory and Rupert's Land under the provisional government led by Louis Riel from 1869 to 1870. The Legislative Assembly was n ...

. His brother, Alexandre Pagé, was also a representative to the Convention of Forty.

Life

François-Xavier Pagé was born on 30 May 1833 in St. François Xavier, Manitoba, to Joseph Pagé (b. 1783) and Agathe Letendré (b. 1790). He married Philomène Lavallée (b. November 8, 1843, in

Saint Boniface Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

), daughter of François Lavallée and Josephte Morin. The couple had 14 children. According to the Red River Relief Committee, in 1867 Xavier Pagé had 1 horse, 3 oxen, and only harvested 40

bushel A bushel (abbreviation: bsh. or bu.) is an Imperial unit, imperial and United States customary units, US customary unit of volume, based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel was used mostly for agriculture, agricultural pr ...

s of wheat, suggesting that he made his living as a tripman for cart brigades. Pagé was one of the representatives of Saint-François-Xavier to the Convention of Forty in January 1870 at the

Red River Colony The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assiniboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hudson's Bay ...

. On 19 January, Pagé was one of the four members of this convention (along with

Ambroise-Dydime Lépine Ambroise-Dydime Lépine (18 March 1840 – 8 June 1923) was a Métis politician, farmer, and military leader under the command of Louis Riel during the Red River Rebellion of 1869–1870. He was tried and sentenced to death for his role in the e ...

, John Sutherland, and John Fraser) who went to find out if William MacTavish still considered himself the governor of

Assiniboia Assiniboia District refers to two historical districts of Canada's Northwest Territories. The name is taken from the Assiniboine First Nation. Historical usage ''For more information on the history of the provisional districts, see also Distric ...

. MacTavish responded that he was devoid of all authority and strongly urged the formation of a new government. Returning to the convention with this news, Pagé raised the motion to adopt the Provisional Government with

Louis Riel Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis in Canada, Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of ...

as president, becoming a councilor of the Provisional Government when it was formed. Pagé was sent out as a scout for the Métis at the approach of the Red River Expeditionary Force and was arrested along with François-Xavier Dauphinais and Pierre Poitras on 24 August 1870. He was called upon to testify at the trial of Ambroise Lépine in 1874. He died in St. François Xavier at the age of 78.

References

1833 births 1912 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Assiniboia People of the Red River Rebellion Canadian Métis people {{Manitoba-MLA-stub