Sun - Lessons learned from Ipperwash

The federal government’s unwillingness to settle aboriginal land claims, the impatience of the Conservative Ontario government and the cultural insensitivity of the provincial police all contributed to the shooting death of aboriginal protester Dudley George in Ipperwash Provincial Park 12 years ago, an exhaustive public inquiry concluded Thursday.
“The federal government, the provincial government, and the OPP must all assume some responsibility for decisions or failures that increased the risk of violence and make a tragic confrontation more likely.”

“After carefully assessing the evidence, it is my view that Michael Harris made the statement ‘I want the fucking Indians out of the park’,”Linden wrote. “I agree with Premier Harris’s characterization of the statement … as racist.”

(Edit: That statement had NOTHING to do with the facts, and was ruled by even this slanted pre determined whitewash report to have had no impact on the events at Ipperwash)

Harris’s lawyer Peter Downard said the most important finding from Thursday’s report is that Harris did not interfere in the police response at Ipperwash.

“It’s easy to try to stretch things, to make it look as bad as possible for (Harris),” said Downard.“ But there is no evidence to suggest that the premier had any responsibility for Mr. George’s death.”

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