Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A Macdonald, has also been the subject of much controversy. He had the NWMP (Northwest Mounted Police) and damned near every other person in Canada looking fo Louis Riel who was causing lotsa trouble in what is now southern Manitoba. However, Sir John A didn't really want Riel caught because that would have forced a trail and the creation of a martyr (because Riel would have been hanged or at least jailed for the Red River uprising of the Metis people. Anyway, while the whole damned country and its police/army were searching for Riel, Sir John A met Riel face to face walking down the street. The story goes that Sir John A reached in his pocket and gave Riel money to get out of Canada. Riel took the money and went to Minnesota where he taught school.