Girard and Joseph Royal met with Riel on August 23, 1870, and may have encouraged his flight from Winnipeg before Canadian soldiers arrived the next day.

He continued to hold his provincial seat after being appointed to the Senate of Canada on December 13, 1871, maintaining a controversial "dual mandate" for several years.

In June 1874, cabinet minister John Norquay attempted to redistribute Manitoba's electoral districts so as to reflect the increased English presence in the province.

Girard's government was founded on an unstable alliance with Hay's English party, and fell as a result of ongoing recriminations over Louis Riel's Red River Rebellion (1869–70).

During its brief existence, Girard's ministry promoted fiscal restraint and an effective system of auditing public accounts, also advocating the abolition of the unelected Legislative Council.

This committee secured Alphonse LaRiviere's victory by acclamation (elections during this period were sometimes determined by public meetings, rather than formal balloting).

Girard was probably at the height of his popularity with the French community during this period, securing a compromise on bilingualism and receiving guarantees on education and representation.

He was unable to run in Manitoba's fifth general election (January 23, 1883) due to a recent legal change which made his "double mandate" illegal.

He opposed the efforts of Thomas Greenway and D'Alton McCarthy to eliminate French-language services in Manitoba and the North West Territories, though he also condemned Louis Riel's second rebellion in 1885.