A scathing inquiry report has found an impatient Mike Harris government, Ottawa's neglect of aboriginal land claims and the cultural insensitivity of police all contributed to the death of a native protester who has become a symbol for aboriginal demands for justice in Canada ever since.
Dudley George was gunned down by an Ontario Provincial Police sniper in 1995 for refusing to end an occupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park where he said his ancestors were buried.
Justice Sidney Linden faulted then Ontario premier Mike Harris for giving police 24 hours to remove aboriginal protesters from Ipperwash park, just days after they occupied it claiming it was the site of a sacred burial ground.
Harris uttered a racial slur at a meeting hours before George was shot, Linden concluded, but the premier did not direct police to enter the park or prompt them to conduct the botched raid.
"After carefully assessing the evidence, it is my view that Michael Harris made the statement 'I want the (expletive) Indians out of the park'," Linden wrote. "I agree with premier Harris's characterization of the statement ... as racist."
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 concluded.