More. I'm originally from Saskatchewan, while I was in elementary school and high school we were taught about his personality, how he shouldn't have been executed, etc. Basically, unless the curriculum has changed, Louis Riel is treated like a kind of regional rebel who resisted Eastern domination.

Although he is portrayed as losing his mind, and Gabriel Dumont is given some credit, there is a definite tendency to gloss over how insane Riel was and the very real tensions between the Metis and First Nations.

Again, this is was a while ago so the story may have changed.

The place to go is the curricular guides/program of studies for each province, which are available online. This is covered in grade 7 in Alberta for example. Much of the provinces' guides have been revised in the last decade to give a greater emphasis on aboriginal issues. Many teachers use Riel as well as the associated conflicts between the aboriginals and the Hudson's Bay Company as a way to explore this narrative. But this is by no means universal.

In Winnipeg there is a statue of Riel in a downtown park, a Google search returns several thousand pictures.

In Regina, for about last 40+ years, there is a summer time theatrical play called "The Trial of Louis Riel", the script completely based on actual trial testimony, recreating the trial in a court room setting with judge, jury, crown prosecutors, defense, witnesses, translators, NWMP officer, and Riel in a prisoners dock complete with ball and chain. I'm out of touch with it, the theater stage has moved elsewhere, but the play used to take place in Government house, the residence of the Saskatchewan Lt. Governor, or, also known as, the actual location Riel was tried in, although since rebuilt. The play hosts numerous school tour groups every season.

Although these are primarily tourist attractions, they are real and on going, 130 years later.

Just to clarify, are you looking for an explanation of the narratives commonly associated with Riel, or the actual curriculum that is laid out via the provincial education system?

Growing up in Saskatchewan, we were taught all the narratives that Riel has been given over the course of history.

A Roman Catholic, Metis, Francophone who resisted Eastern expansion that was viewed by the inhabitants as being illegitimate.

We were also taught that he was declared insane, believed that the Metis were Gods chosen people, ordered the execution of Thomas Scott during the Red River rebellion, and led an armed uprising that ultimately, did lead to the murder of, "innocents."

The narratives for Riel are all there, and at least in my High School history classes, were all taught.

At a young elementary school age, it would be tough to teach the narratives appropriately and effectively. I don't remember them being taught.

That fact that he wasn't and isn't taught more indepth in the Ontario school system is troubling, as he was one of Canada's Founding Fathers, regardless of his rebel status.