Dudley George’s soul can rest a little easier as the final report of the botched raid on peaceful Natives in the Ipperwash National Park on September 6, 1995, which ended in his death, spells out who was to blame; and George is not one of them.
The Ontario and Canadian governments and the police all share responsibility, said the scathing 1433-page document.
“It is impossible to attribute Mr. George’s death to a single person, factor, decision or institution,” Commissioner Sydney Linden concluded in his four-volume report.
“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.”
Kettle and Stony Point community members were occupying and at the time of the raid. Land that was taken in 1942 and never returned.
Former Premier Mike Harris is also blamed in the report for ‘impatience, uttering a racial slur and misleading the legislature.
Former Ontario Attorney General Charles Harnick testified at one point during the inquiry that Harris allegedly uttered “I want the fucking Indians out of the park” behind closed doors.
The George family is asking for an apology from Harris after a haphazard apology by the Ontario government shortly after the report’s release.
