Multiple failures at Ipperwash, inquiry reports

James Cowan and April Lindgren, CanWest News Service
National Post

Published: Thursday, May 31, 2007

FOREST, Ont. -- After years of examining the 1995 death of native protester Dudley George at an Ontario provincial park, commissioner Sidney Linden laid blame on Thursday for the fatal shooting on the police and governments.

And, as Ontario's aboriginal affairs minister offered apologies, the commissioner in charge of the Ipperwash Inquiry said: "the most urgent priority is for the federal government to return" the land to local native bands "immediately."

In Ottawa federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice pledged to fulfill Linden's recommendation.

"We'll do something immediately," he told reporters following question period on Thursday.

"I've made it very clear we intend to transfer the land back to the First Nation. It has to be done in an orderly way though, where it is safe," Prentice said, citing environmental and other concerns that need to be resolved.

Ontario Provincial Police officer Ken Deane shot George on Sept. 6, 1995, two days after protesters occupied Ipperwash provincial park.

"There is no doubt that OPP acting Sgt. Deane shot and killed Mr. George and nothing in the inquiry challenges or undermines this conviction," Linden said Thursday. "However, acting Sgt. Deane should not have been in a position to shoot Mr. George in the first place."

Linden, whose inquiry began in 2003, said George's death occurred as result of a deadly mix of aboriginal frustration over decades of broken federal promises related to confiscated land, the provincial government's desire for a quick end to the park occupation and errors and miscommunications on the part of the Ontario Provincial Police.

In the Ipperwash case, which is unresolved to this day, Linden concluded Ottawa's refusal to honour its pledge to return native lands confiscated in 1942 for use as a military base meant the issue "festered for decades" while aboriginal frustration grew.

In 1995, a long-term occupation of an abandoned military base spread to neighboring Ipperwash Provincial Park on the shores of Lake Huron, the site of a native burial ground.

The commissioner added little has been done to defuse ongoing tensions over land claims.

"The flashpoints for aboriginal protest and occupations are very likely as intense today as they were at the time of Ipperwash," Linden said. "No one can predict where protests and occupations will occur, but the fundamental conditions and catalysts sparking such protests continue to exist in Ontario, more than a decade after Ipperwash.

"If the governments of Ontario and Canada want to avoid future confrontations they will have to deal with land and treaty claims effectively and fairly."

In Ottawa, Prentice noted the disputed land should have been transferred back to the Stoney Point First Nation years ago, and he apologized that previous governments failed to do it.

While Linden exonerates former Ontario premier Mike Harris of allegations he interfered in police operations, he finds Harris did push for a "speedy conclusion" to the conflict.

"The premier could have urged patience rather than speed. These decisions effectively foreclosed the possibility of initiating a constructive dialogue with occupiers or others on ways to end the occupation peacefully."

Linden also concluded Harris made racist comments, stating he wanted the "f-cking Indians out of the park" during a meeting with senior officials.

Harris denied making the remark when he testified at the inquiry.

Sam George, the brother of the slain protester, on Thursday called upon Harris to apologize for his role in the protester's death. "We wonder if it might be appropriate for Mr. Harris at this time to apologize to my family," George told reporters.

But Peter Downard, a lawyer representing Harris, said the commissioner's report made it clear "that no apology is required."

"He didn't do anything wrong to effect the death of Dudley George," the lawyer said.

Premier Dalton McGuinty rose in the legislature Thursday afternoon to formally acknowledge the province's role in the killing.

"On behalf of the people of Ontario, we apologize for the events that led to the loss of life. We deeply regret the death of Dudley George," said McGuinty, who added he had personally apologized to the victim's brother, earlier in the day.

In a statement Harris said: "I am pleased that 12 years' worth of false and politically motivated accusations were rejected by Mr. Justice Linden in his report.

"I hope that Justice Linden's findings completely absolving me and my government of these malicious and petty political allegations will allow the George family to move on and allow all levels of government, including aboriginal governments, to work co-operatively and positively towards a better future for Aboriginal people in Canada."

While Harris offered no apology, Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Ramsay was quick to express regrets on behalf of the government.

"We apologize for the events that led to the death of Dudley George," Ramsay said. "This report, and the implementation of its recommendations, will serve as a testimony to his memory. We will honour his life as we move forward."

Linden cites numerous other failures in police strategy and intelligence as contributing factors in the death of George, including the failure to use aboriginal mediators to communicate with individuals occupying the park. And he details a chain of "miscommunication and poor intelligence" leading to the OPP's decision to confront the protesters on Sept. 6.

Linden went on to recommend the Ontario government and First Nations reach a co-management agreement for Ipperwash park so that it can be re-opened for public use.

The commissioner urged the establishment of a Treaty Commission of Ontario to advance the "peaceful, effective and fair resolution" of land claims in the province and advocated the creation of a full ministry of aboriginal affairs with its own budget.

The province, he added, should develop a policy toward aboriginal occupations that puts peacekeeping as a central tenet.

In Calgary, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine said if the Ipperwash report joins the long list of aboriginal inquiries whose recommendations fell aside, it will be a disservice to George.

"I think there's a glimmer of hope here and if there is good faith on the federal government and the provincial government, in this case, to do right by the memory of Dudley George and understand that something different and better is needed to fix this problem, I think we'll be in a far better position," he said.

Canada has an obligation to resolve the backlog of outstanding land claims, he said. In the case of Ipperwash, Dudley died needlessly because all levels of government didn't meet their moral and legal obligations, Fontaine said.