A film by Ron Harpelle and Kelly Saxberg

When WWl broke out in 1914, the 90th Winnipeg Rifles were one of the first regiments asked to form a battalion for the Canadian Expeditionary Force. They were nicknamed The Little Black Devils during the 1885 North-West Rebellion by the defeated Métis resistance and they brought Louis Riel to Regina where he was tried and hanged for treason. So, when the troop train stopped in Fort William to pick up recruits from Northwestern Ontario, everyone was surprised to learn that one of Louis Riel’s relatives had joined the Little Black Devils. Patrick (Paddy) Riel became one of Canada’s top snipers. His story, like too many of the 60,000 other Canadians who lost their lives in the conflict, was lost in time. His descendants knew he had died a hero, but they knew little else about him. The Sniper tells the story of Patrick Riel and the family he left behind.