Ipperwash Findings: Give the land back

(Photo: Sam George calls for Mike Harris to apologize.)


The results of the inquiry into the 1995 shooting of Dudley George by an OPP sniper are "a damning indictment" says Julian Falconer, a lawyer for the Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto.

"The government of former Ontario premier Mike Harris, Ottawa and the OPP [Ontario Provincial Police] all bear responsibility for events that led to the 1995 death of Dudley George, the head of the Ipperwash inquiry said Thursday [May 31, 2007.]" (CBC)

"The provincial government could have appointed a mediator or negotiator at any time, but did not," [Commissioner Sidney] Linden wrote. "The premier could have urged patience, rather than speed."

Commissioner Linden blames the OPP for racism and the government for "successive neglects" in failing to return the land to the Stony Point tribe.

The report's recommendations:

• The disputed land should be returned immediately to the Stony Point First Nation, which should also receive compensation.
  
• Ontario should establish a permanent, independent and impartial agency to facilitate and oversee the settling of land and treaty claims.
  
• Ontario should improve public education about its land claim policies as well as aboriginal burial and heritage sites.
  
• Access to the Ontario land claims process should depend on whether the documentation filed by the First Nations provides clear evidence that there's been a breach of the legal obligations of the Crown.
  
• The OPP should establish a formal consultation committee with major aboriginal organizations in Ontario.
  
• Provincial police should establish an internal process to ensure racist and culturally insensitive behaviour by police is dealt with publicly.
  
• The province should establish and fund an Ontario Aboriginal Reconciliation Fund.

It will be very interesting to see how quickly the current provincial government follows up on these recommendations. Premier McGinty was quick to call the inquiry -- probably hoping to tarnish his predecessor, Mike Harris. Now that the ball is in his court, we'll see how anxious he is to see justice done.

It's too bad that someone had to die before the government (regardless of its political bent) does the right thing.

For more information on the report go here.

Colleen

Ipperwash Inquiry Report

In 1995, during the unarmed protest of a land claim dispute, Dudley George was killed by a police sniper.

George, pictured at left, was one of the Stoney Point band whose land was appropriated in 1942 under the War Measures Act to be used for a military base. The tribe has been trying to get the land back ever since.

The inquiry of George's death was called, in part, to look at the role that former Ontario premier Mike Harris [Conservative] may have played. During the inquiry, "former attorney general Charles Harnick... testified that former premier Mike Harris said 'I want the f****** Indians out of the park,' during a high level meeting about the Ipperwash occupation just hours before the fatal shooting of Dudley George. When Harris appeared at the inquiry in February 2006, he denied using that language." (CBC)

The police officer who shot George was "acting Sgt. Kenneth Deane of the OPP. In 1997, Deane was convicted of criminal negligence causing death after a court ruled he did not have a 'reasonable belief" George was armed. Deane later resigned from the force." (CBC)

While Native groups called for an inquiry, the Harris government claimed it had nothing to do with police actions that day. The inquiry was called days after the Liberal government was elected in 2003 -- eight years after the incident.

The following year, the CBC obtained copies of video surveillance tapes that contain the use of may racist slurs by the police.

For info about today's report go here.

For an in depth look at the incident at Ipperwash go here.

The CBC will be covering the release of the final report live at 10 a.m. this morning. (I assume that would be Eastern Time.)

Colleen