Aboriginal youth must be given hope for the future if Canada wants to avoid future tragedies like the police shooting of an unarmed aboriginal protester 12 years ago, aboriginal leaders said yesterday.
The comments came following the release of a scathing public inquiry report which found the federal government's neglect of aboriginal land claims, the impatience of the former Conservative Ontario government and the cultural insensitivity of the provincial police all contributed to the death of Dudley George at Ipperwash Provincial Park.
Commissioner Sydney Linden concluded that federal and provincial governments have to deal with land claims fairly if they want to avoid future confrontations, while the police have to show greater cultural sensitivity to aboriginal occupations and recognize such protesters are "different than a soccer crowd."
The province should establish a Treaty Commission to help settle land claims and appoint a minister of aboriginal affairs with a separate budget and bureaucracy as aboriginal leaders warn of more protests this summer, he added.
"Unfortunately, the issues that were at the heart of the Ipperwash occupation remain to this day," Linden said following the release of his 1,500-page report on the Sept. 6, 1995, shooting. "This inexcusable delay and long neglect, by successive federal governments, are at the heart of the Ipperwash story."
Premier Dalton McGuinty said the government will work with aboriginal leaders to review the report with a view to carrying out the recommendations. He also apologized to the George family on behalf of the province.
David Ramsay, Ontario's minister responsible for aboriginal affairs, said the Linden report is a testament to Dudley George's memory and vowed to "honour his life as we move forward."
Ramsay added the report shows the patient approach Ontario has taken in Caledonia is the correct one.
Aboriginal leaders said the way forward is to improve the daily life of their communities and give their young people something to live for.
"There are a lot of young people out there who have nothing to lose," said Grand Council Chief John Beaucage, with the Anishinabek Nation. "They've got no hope for the future. They're poor. They have poor housing, poor water in their communities. They have nothing to lose if they go out and protest. Let's make sure we give them something they can hold on to in the future."
A dedicated minister of aboriginal affairs and a provincial treaty commission would be a good start, said Angus Toulouse, Ontario regional chief with the Assembly of First Nations. But the federal government must also create an independent body to assess and settle land claims, separate from the federal government, Toulouse added.
"Physical occupations by First Nations are used as a last resort," he said. "It's Canada's choice."
Linden's report comes as the province and federal government continues to grapple with a 15-month aboriginal occupation in Caledonia and aboriginal leaders are warning of more protests to come this summer as frustration with the slow pace of land claims boils over in many communities.
Sam George, Dudley's brother who fought for more than a decade for the inquiry, said the Linden report lays out a guide for future land disputes.
"My brother's legacy is that he stood up for what he believed in," George said. "He stood up for himself, he stood up for his community, he stood up for his land. I believe he did right but, for that, he paid the ultimate price. I think the most important recommendation in this report is that we all try to work together."
The death of 38-year-old Dudley George on Sept. 6, 1995, was the tragic result of federal neglect and cultural insensitivity on the part of provincial police and then-premier Mike Harris, Linden concluded.
The government's "imperative for speed" and its reluctance to examine the legitimacy of the aboriginal claim made it virtually impossible for either side to negotiate an end to the dispute, Linden said.
Provincial police also made negotiation unlikely because of their insensitivity, poor communication and unwillingness to involve aboriginal mediators, he said.
Mark Sandler, the OPP's lawyer, said it's clear from the Ipperwash report that the approach police have used in Caledonia is the correct one.
He described Caledonia as a "policing success" because no one has been hurt.
"The OPP cannot solve Caledonia -- only a land claim resolution will do that," he said.
How they handle aboriginal incidents is entirely different now than in Ipperwash, he said.
The OPP have used so-called Aboriginal Response Teams in Caledonia.
"It helps diffuse tensions when aboriginal people are dealing with their own community," he said, adding that many of the officers who have worked on the standoff have had special training.
Asked about whether the raid of Douglas Creek Estates in April 2006 was also the correct approach, Sandler said he is reticent to talk about it because it is operational in nature.
"It doesn't contribute to things," he said, adding that it's a decision that will be reviewed at some point.
Despite the report, 12 years later Ipperwash Provincial Park remains occupied. Both the federal and provincial governments say it isn't their responsibility to determine the ownership of the park. The federal government said the park is under provincial jurisdiction, while the province maintains land claims are a federal responsibility.