XI (1857-1939) was so impressed by the courage of the Oblates that he referred to them as "specialists in the most difficult missions of the Church." Canadian mission In 1841, at the request of Bishop Ignace Bourget, OMI sent its first missionaries to Canada. Arriving first at St-Hilaire in Montérégie, the Oblates then settled in Montreal and Bytown (Ottawa). The Oblates began in parish missions and later, moved to parishes in poor areas. The Oblates expanded to Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Moose Factory, and Fort Albany in James Bay. In 1845, at the request of the Bishop of Saint Boniface, Norbert Provencher, the Oblates went to Red River Colony, Manitoba. This was the beginning of their missions of Western and Northern Canada. Arriving at the Métis Red River Colony in a birch bark canoe in 1845, Oblate Alexandre-Antonin Taché (1823-1894) was ordained by Bishop Provencher. Taché was elevated to Bishop of Saint Boniface in 1854, a year after Provencher's death. In 1857, Taché selected 13-year-old Louis Riel as a candidate for the priesthood and sent him to study at College de Montreal. After Riel returned in 1857, he became increasingly involved in Métis leadership and led the Red River Rebellion. Taché acted as intermediary between Riel's provisional government and Canadian Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Cabinet and then worked to establish the terms of the Manitoba Act of 1870, which would join the colony to Canada. After the failure of rebellion, Taché unsuccessfully advocated for Riel's amnesty. To facilitate their mission, after his installation as Titular bishop of Ibora in 1890, and ordination as Bishop of Athabaska in 1891, Émile Grouard instructed Oblates to construct of a fleet of steamboats. The Western Canadian steamships of the Oblate Order of Mary Immaculate consisted of at least four boats, including St. Alphonse (built in 1894) and St. Charles (built in 1903). The boats also carried supplies for the North-West Mounted Police and Hudson's Bay Company. Treaty 11 In order to receive funding from the Canadian Government for the OMI mission to the Dene people, the area they served needed to be under treaty. From 1909 to 1921, Oblate Gabriel-Joseph-Elie Breynat, Vicar Apostolic of Mackenzie and titular Bishop, lobbied and negotiated so that the Dene would have such a treaty but reception from the Canadian government was lukewarm. This changed in 1921 when, driven primarily by desire for rights to newly discovered oil, Duncan Campbell Scott,