First Nations chiefs say Harris honour opens ‘ unhealed wound’
Former premier’s role in 1995 Ipperwash violence makes move ‘ painful’
Ontario First Nations chiefs and the family of slain Indigenous activist Anthony ( Dudley) George say they’re dismayed that former premier Mike Harris is receiving the province’s top honour.
“This announcement of Mike Harris being appointed to the 2020 Order of Ontario has opened up an unhealed wound for First Nations,” Ontario Regional Chief RoseAnne Archibald of the Chiefs of Ontario said in a prepared statement.
“This announcement is hurtful to First Nations in Ontario,” Archibald said. “It’s painful.”
The Chiefs of Ontario is a political arm for the province’s 133 First Nations communities.
The chiefs and George family members pointed to Harris’s role in violence at Ipperwash Provincial Park in 1995, and what a judge called Harris’s subsequent misleading of the provincial legislature.
George was shot dead by a police sniper after the OPP riot squad marched on Ipperwash park, flanked by the force’s paramilitary tactics and rescue squad.
George and other Indigenous protestors occupied Ipperwash on Lake Huron near Sarnia on Sept. 4, 1995, saying the park was rightly First Nations’ land, and that they were protecting sacred burial grounds.
Their claims about burial grounds were later supported by documents released by the federal government.
Acourt later ruled George was unarmed late at night on Sept. 6, 1995, when he was shot dead.
After a two- year inquiry, Justice Sidney Linden accused Harris of misleading the legislature by repeatedly denying that he told a high- level meeting of police and government officials: “I want the f--- ing Indians out of the park,” hours before the massive police operation that ended in George’s death.
Pam George, Dudley’s younger sister, and Veronica George, widow of Dudley’s brother Maynard ( Sam) George, said they found the announcement of Harris’s honour deeply painful.
“It just brought back a whole lot of memories that I was trying to get past,” Veronica George, of Kettle Point, said.
“I just thought, ‘ Why are they giving him this, after all of the pain and suffering of our family, our community and all of Ontario?’ ” she said in a telephone interview. “It was just unbelievable. It really upset me.”
Kettle Point Chief Jason Henry called it deeply troubling and ironic for Harris to receive the award, which was awarded to Sam George in 2008 for his role in calling truth on the Ipperwash violence and his brother’s death. At the time Sam George was honoured with the Order of Ontario award, Lt.- Gov. David Onley said his quest for justice was an inspiration to all Ontario residents.
Henry called the decision to honour Harris with the same award disturbing.
“I was appalled,” Henry said of the decision to honour Harris. “It might be 25 years ago, but it’s yesterday in the minds of people who live here.”
Sam George died of cancer at age 56 in 2009.
Earlier this week, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, announced Harris would be one of 25 new appointments to the 2020 Order of Ontario.
During the Ipperwash inquiry, then- attorney general Charles Harnick testified that on Sept. 6, 1995, 11 hours before George’s death, Harris bluntly addressed a meeting in his private dining room at Queen’s Park that included three plain clothes OPP officers.
“The premier, in a loud voice, said, ‘ I want the f--- ing Indians out of the park,’ ” Harnick testified.
One of the OPP officers at the dining room meeting, thenInsp. Ron Fox, was taped in a conversation immediately afterwards. The tape was played at the inquiry and revealed Fox told then- OPP Insp. John Carson, who was in charge at Ipperwash, that Harris had called for “swift affirmative action.”
Harris said he didn’t realize Fox and two others at the meeting were plain clothes OPP officers.
In his final report, Linden concluded that Harris did not interfere or give inappropriate directions to the police during the operation.
Linden suggested the government’s “imperative for speed” in removing the protesters from the park led to poor decisions by both the politicians and police, and that while the OPP had a “go- slow” approach, it was overruled by Harris’s desire for a quick end to the occupation.
“The provincial government’s imperative for a speedy conclusion to the occupation was difficult to justify by events on the ground … There was no proven substantial risk to public safety that would justify this urgency,” Linden wrote.
Veronica George said she’s still waiting for the province to implement Linden’s recommendations, including on calls for the creation of an independent and impartial Ontario agency to deal with land claims.
Archibald urged the province to push for healing, rather than reopening wounds by honouring Harris. That would include working to resolve land claims disputes and apologizing for past wrongs, like Ipperwash.
“A healing path is needed today,” Archibald said. “It is important that collectively, First Nations and the Government of Ontario create a healing space where we can reconcile the painful moments from our shared history.”