Ipperwash Crisis: Difference between revisions
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== References == |
== References == |
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Revision as of 06:08, 21 April 2006
The Ipperwash Crisis was an crisis that occurred in Ipperwash Provincial Park, Ontario in 1995. Several members of the Stoney Point Ojibway band occupied the park in order to assert their claim to the land. This led to a violent confrontation between the unarmed protestors and the Ontario Provincial Police, who killed protestor Dudley George. The ensuing controversy was a major event in Canadian politics, and a provincial inquiry investigating the events continues today.
Background
In 1936, the Province of Ontario created Ipperwash Provincial Park, and the following year, workers discovered a First Nations burial ground on the site. Despite band council requests to have the site fenced off and federal promises to do so, the park was completed on top of the grave land.
In 1942, during World War II, the Government of Canada wanted reserve land from the Stoney Point Band and offered to buy it for $15 per acre, and a promise to return the land after the war ended. The Natives rejected the offer, and in response, the federal government appropriated the Stoney Point Reserve under the War Measures Act.
Occupation of the park
On Labour Day Monday, September 4th, 1995, a group of natives started a protest in Ipperwash Provincial Park to draw attention to the decades-old land claims. The park had closed at 6:00 p.m., and by 7:30, protestors had cut back a fence and moved vehicles into the Park. About thirty-five unarmed protestors occupied the park. The occupation came as no surprise to local police, as they had been threatening to occupy the park since the previous May.
The police decided not to intervene that evening, hoping that the group would be more cooperative in the morning. That evening, Acting Superintendent John Carson of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) prepared a plan -- Project Maple -- for dealing with the Ipperwash occupation. The plan stressed "a peaceful resolution", and called for a team of thirteen negotiators to be on call around the clock.
Progressive Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament Marcel Beaubien was in contact with the police the following day, and Beaubien was believed to have contacted Premier Mike Harris. On Tuesday, September 5, several government officials were involved in a meeting in Toronto to discuss the Ipperwash protest. The meeting notes conclude that "The province will take steps to remove the occupiers as soon as possible."
Death of Dudley George
By Wednesday, plans for negotiations and peaceful resolution were abandoned. On Wednesday evening, police riot squads stormed the park in an attempt to apprehend the protestors. Various police officers fired on vehicles and buildings. Among the police was Acting Sergeant Ken "Tex" Deane, who carried a Heckler and Koch submachine gun, which has been common amongst police forces for years.
Near the park entrance, Deane fired three shots at Dudley George, who was shot and badly injured. Deane later claimed he had mistaken the elongated dark coloured branch which George was carrying for a rifle.
George had been shot with a hollow-tipped bullet,commonly used by law-enforcement for decades, which can cause internal injuries and did in this case. He was declared dead at 12:20 a.m. on September 7, 1995.
Consequences
Acting Sergeant Ken Deane was convicted of criminal negligence causing death. Deane's defence was that he had believed that Dudley George was carrying a rifle. The judge rejected Deane's claim, but sentenced Deane to two years less a day of community service.
Despite Deane's conviction, larger questions about the role of the office of PC Premier Mike Harris remained. Some argued that Harris urged strong police action in Ipperwash because a similar incident – the Oka crisis in Quebec – had caused the public to view the Quebec government as weak, and that this view contributed to the government's defeat in the next election. Some also believe that as Harris' government had been newly elected, they were both attempting to signal a departure from the policies of the previous NDP government of Bob Rae and were also inexperienced in dealing with crises.
Inquiry
The George family repeatedly called on the Ontario and federal governments to launch an inquiry into the events at Ipperwash. An investigation was finally launched on November 12, 2003, after the Ontario Conservatives lost power to the Ontario Liberal Party in the 2003 provincial election.
In Ontario, a public inquiry is funded by the Government of Ontario but conducted by a neutral third party. The mandate of the Ipperwash Inquiry is to investigate and report on the events leading to the death of Dudley George, and to make recommendations that would help prevent similar circumstances. The inquiry is neither a civil nor criminal trial.
During the inquiry, a 17-minute tape recording surfaced that cast new light on the events at Ipperwash. The tape records a conversation between OPP Inspector Ron Fox and Inspector John Carson, the OPP commander overseeing the standoff at Ipperwash, prior to Dudley George's death. In it, they discuss the Premier's view that the government has "tried to pacify and pander to these people far too long" and to use "swift affirmative action" to remove them from the park.
Other testimony has further put the Harris government in a bad light. In particular, former Harris aide, Deb Hutton repeatedly testified in November, 2005, that she couldn't remember any specific conversations, leading one cross-examiner to pointedly remark that she had used phrases such as "I don't recall" or "I don't specifically recall" on 134 separate occasions. Also former Ontario Provincial Attorney General Charles Harnick testified that Harris used profanity (shouting, "I want the fucking Indians out of the park."), although later witnesses denied Harnick's evidence.
Former Premier Mike Harris appeared before the inquiry on February 14 2006. He testified that he had never said the statement attributed to him by Harnick. [1]
A tape recording made the day before Dudley George was killed heard then OPP Sgt. Stan Korosec, in charge of the OPP emergency response team at Ipperwash, say "We want to amass a fucking army. A real fucking army and do this. Do these fuckers big-time."