Report : 'Settle land claims'

Ipperwash inquiry concludes Harris misled legislature by denying racial slur but did not direct police

May 31, 2007

Peter Edwards
Robyn Doolittle
Staff Reporters
Toronto Star

FOREST - Former Ontario Premier Mike Harris misled the provincial legislature when he denied telling a high-level meeting of police and government officials that “I want the f-----g Indians out of the park” hours before the massive confrontation late at night on Sept. 6, 1995, when Native activist Anthony (Dudley) George was shot dead by an OPP sniper, a provincial inquiry has found.

But Harris did not interfere or give inappropriate directions to the police during the massive police operation, Mr. Justice Sidney Linden ruled in his report.

About 200 people filled the hockey arena in this tiny community near Ipperwash Provincial Park to hear the report today. The arena is close to where Dudley George was shot to death and where 139 witnesses testified over two years.

Native leaders and George’s family, who heard Linden deliver his report, gave favourable reviews and applauded at the conclusion of his remarks.

Among other things, Linden called for a public apology by the OPP to a native protester who was severely beaten by riot squad officers the night George was killed.

The report also calls for Ottawa to immediately return land taken in 1942 for a World War II military base to the Kettle and Stony Point band.

“In my view, the most urgent priority is for the federal government to return the former army camp to the Kettle and Stony Point First Nation immediately with an apology and appropriate compensation,” Linden said as he released his report.

He also called for the provincial government to create a ministry of aboriginal affairs, with its own minister, a seat at the cabinet table, a deputy minister and a budget.

Linden also dismissed the denial of Chris Hodgson, former minister of natural resources, who was accused of telling a government meeting, “Get the f-----g Indians out of my park.”

“I believe the minister of natural resources made the comment . . . which was a racist statement,” Linden wrote.

“I have found that the both the former premier and minister of natural resources made racist comments,” Linden said.

Harris’s lawyer, Peter Downard, rejected the finding that Harris made racists comments and stressed that the commissioner also found that Harris did not direct police in the massive police operation.

Linden called for OPP commissioner Julian Fantino to issue a public apology to Cecil Bernard (Slippery) George for a beating he received that night, leaving him unconscious with 28 blunt force trauma wounds.

Fantino was not OPP commissioner at the time of the Ipperwash violence.

“The OPP should direct a public apology to Cecil Bernard George for the use of excessive force in the form of blows to his head and face at the hands of one or more unidentified police officers,” Linden wrote. “The apology should be delivered in person by the current commissioner, or his delegate, and via a press release and conference.”

He praised the OPP for improving communications with First Nations people since 1995, but also slammed the force for never correcting the false press releases it issued on Ipperwash that incorrectly stated that Natives fired at police.

“No officers saw firearms amongst the Aboriginal people” Linden wrote.

He also had sharp words for the federal government, which expropriated the Stoney Point band in 1942 to use their land for a military base, with the promise it would be returned after World War II.

Those lands were never returned.

“The federal government should issue a public apology with appropriate compensation to the Kettle and Stony Point First Nation for the failure of the federal government for more than 60 years to honour its promise to return the lands to the First Nation,” Linden wrote.

“The federal government should immediately return the former army camp to the peoples of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation and guarantee that it will assume complete responsibility for an appropriate environment clean up of the site,” Linden continued.

He also wrote that the federal and provincial governments have to improve how they deal with aboriginal land claim disputes.

“If the governments of Canada and Ontario want to avoid future confrontations like Ipperwash or Caledonia, they will have to deal with treaty claims effectively and fairly,” Linden wrote.

He dismissed a call for a police services board for the OPP, instead praising the Irish model of citizen advisory committees for policing. “These committee could reflect the local communities they serve and include Aboriginal participation,” he wrote.

Linden criticized former Harris aide, Debbie Hutton, for her role in the former provincial government’s handling of Ipperwash, noting that she and Harris met with police officers who were seconded to the solicitor-general’s office.

Linden blamed part of the problem on inexperience, writing; “… neither Deb Hutton nor Michael Harris fully appreciated at that time the power of the premier or the premier’s office. They were a new government and did not understand that Ms. Hutton’s forceful personality and her strong statements made on behalf of the premier at the IMC meetings had the effect of halting the exchange of important ideas and recommendations by other members of the committee who very much wanted the occupation at Ipperwash to be resolved peacefully.”

Hutton’s lawyer Anna Perschy noted that the report found that she did not direct police.

“Ms. Hutton is pleased that the report has conclusively set to rest the unfounded allegations that have been made over the past 12 years,” Perschy said in a written statement.

Among other recommendations;

- “The ministry of community safety and correctional services should issue a directive to all police services in Ontario, including the OPP, requiring police officers to report incidents of racism or other culturally insensitive behaviour by other officers to their superiors.”

- “The provincial government should establish a permanent, independent, and impartial agency to facilitate and oversee the settling of land and treaty claims in Ontario.”

- “The provincial government should work with First Nations and Aboriginal organizations to develop policies that acknowledge the uniqueness of Aboriginal burial and heritage sites, ensure that First Nations are aware of decisions affecting Aboriginal burial and heritage sites, and promote First Nations participation in decision-making.”