Louis Riel had considered returning to Montana while awaiting news from Ottawa but had by February resolved to stay.

Without a productive course of action, Riel has begun to engage in obsessive prayer, and is experiencing a significant relapse of his mental agitations.

This leads to a deterioration in his relationship with the Catholic hierarchy, as he publicly espouses an increasingly heretical doctrine.

On February 11, 1885, a response to the petition is received.

The government proposes to take a census of the North-West Territories, and to form a commission to investigate grievances.

This angers the Métis, who interpret this as a mere delaying tactic—a faction emerged that favors taking up arms at once.

This is not supported by the Church, the majority of the English-speaking community, or, indeed, by the Métis faction supporting local leader Charles Nolin, but Riel, undoubtedly influenced by his messianic delusions, becomes increasingly supportive of this course of action.