Mair and Schultz had arrived in Toronto…

Mair and Schultz had arrived in Toronto shortly after this, and with the assistance of George Taylor Denison III had immediately set about inflaming anti-Métis and anti-Catholic sentiment over the execution of Scott in the editorial pages of the Ontario press.

Nevertheless, Macdonald had decided before the provisional government was established that Canada must negotiate with the Métis.

Although the delegates had been arrested following their arrival in Ottawa on April 11 on charges of abetting murder, they are quickly released.

They soon enter into direct talks with Macdonald and Cartier, wherein Ritchot emerge as an effective negotiator; an agreement enshrining many of the demands in the list of rights is soon reached.

This will form the basis for the Manitoba Act of May 12, 1870, which will admit Manitoba into the Canadian confederation on July 15.

Significantly however, Ritchot cannot secure a clarification of the Governor General's amnesty—anger over Scott's execution is growing rapidly in Ontario, and any such guarantee is not politically expedient.

The delegates return to Manitoba with only a promise of a forthcoming amnesty.