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Ipperwash Inquiry
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'''Ipperwash Inquiry''' was a two year judicial inquiry led by Commissioner [[Sidney B. Linden]] which culminated in a four volume 1,533-page Ipperwash Inquiry Report released on May 30, 2007.<ref name="ontariocourts_2015"/> The inquiry was established by then Premier [[Dalton McGuinty]] shortly after he took office after winning the [[Ontario general election, 2003|Ontario general election]] on October 23, 2003. On November 12, 2003 the Liberals called for an inquiry with a twofold purpose, to investigate events surrounding the death of 28-year-old [[Dudley George]], who was shot and killed by an OPP officer at [[Ipperwash Provincial Park]] in September 1995, and to make recommendations to prevent the escalation of violence that took place during the [[Ipperwash Crisis]].<ref></ref> According to the report, George was the "first aboriginal person to be killed in a land-rights dispute in Canada since the 19th century."<ref name="Linden_20070530_fullreport"/> The report found that "the appropriation of the Stony Point reserve by the Government of Canada in 1942 was unprecedented in Canadian history."<ref name="newswire_20120531"/>
==Mandate==
The inquiry had a twofold mandate,"to look into and report on events surrounding the death of Dudley George and to make recommendations focused on the avoidance of violence in similar circumstances."<ref name="newswire_20120531"/>
==Landmark inquiry==
The Ipperwash inquiry has been called a landmark by [[Amnesty International|Amnesty International Canada]].<ref name="AI_20170307"></ref> According to a June 1, 2007 article in ''The Toronto Star'', the Law Society of Upper Canada described it as "a landmark report on Aboriginal, police and government relations."<ref name="thestar_20070601"></ref><ref group="Notes">According to ''The Star'', Sidney Linden, [https://ift.tt/2O8LHrz "as "head of the judicial inquiry] into the Dudley George shooting, Linden spent two years listening to 139 witnesses, 229 days of testimony and was presented with 23,000 documents. Yesterday, he ended his work by issuing a four-volume, 1,533-page report and an eloquent half-hour speech that all sides believed to be fair and reasonable. Linden was Toronto's— and Ontario's — first police complaints commissioner. He started in a tiny office with few staff in 1980 and investigated complaints about police until 1985. He then became executive director of the Canadian Auto Workers' prepaid legal services plan. In 1987, he was appointed Ontario's first information and privacy commissioner and in 1990 he was appointed chief justice of the newly reorganized Ontario Court of Justice (provincial division). Since 1999, and until being named to head the inquiry in 2003, Linden served as the chair of the board of Legal Aid Ontario while on leave from the Ontario court."</ref>
==Ipperwash Inquiry Report==
The inquiry culminated in the four volume 1,533-page Ipperwash Inquiry Report released on May 30, 2007.<ref name="Linden_20070530_fullreport"> Full report</ref><ref name="ontariocourts_2015"/> According to the report, George was the "first aboriginal person to be killed in a land-rights dispute in Canada since the 19th century."<ref name="Linden_20070530_fullreport"/><ref name="ontariocourts_2015"/>
The full report<ref name="Linden_20070530_fullreport"/> consisted of 4 volumes.
===Volume 1 Investigation and Findings===
Volume 1, Investigation and Findings<ref name="Linden_20070530_Chap2"></ref><ref name="Linden_20070530_Vol1"> Full text 773 page PDF</ref> included Chapter 1, [https://ift.tt/2O9w43b "Introduction"], Chapter 2 [https://ift.tt/2Fh3nP4 "History of Stoney Point and Kettle Point"] with expert testimony by Joan Holmes who was retained by the Commission to write a report for the inquiry,<ref name="Linden_20070530_Chap2"/> Chapter 3 [https://ift.tt/2O8CNKz "Life at Stoney Point Prior to the Appropriation by the Canadian Government"], Chapter 4 [https://ift.tt/2FgZEB9 "The 1942 Appropriation"], Chapter 5 [https://ift.tt/2OgIpCV "Effects of the Appropriation"], Chapter 6 [https://ift.tt/2Fj92UJ "May 1993–July 1995 — Occupation of the Military Ranges and Subsequent Events"], Chapter 7 [https://ift.tt/2ObwINx "Occupation of the Army Barracks"], "the Built-Up Area", Chapter 8 [https://ift.tt/2FfRybG "OPP Prepare for Park Occupation"], Chapter 9 [https://ift.tt/2Ob1vKi "September 4, 1995: The Occupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park"], Chapter 10 [https://ift.tt/2FhuHN4 "September 5, 1995"], Chapter 11 [https://ift.tt/2O8kfua "September 6, 1995: Before 7:00PM"], Chapter 12 [https://ift.tt/2FhW3Ta "September 6, 1995 — Government Meetings to Address the Ipperwash Occupation"], Chapter 13 [https://ift.tt/2O8pWbu "September 6, 1995 — Miscommunication and Poor Intelligence"] Chapter
14 [https://ift.tt/2FhGP0r "September 6, 1995 — The Unintended Consequences of Precipitous Action: Confrontation Between the OPP and the First Nations Occupiers"], Chapter 15 [https://ift.tt/2O8pWIw "September 6, 1995 — Pursuit and Arrest of Marcia Simon"], Chapter 16 [https://ift.tt/2FhJBTs "September 6, 1995 — Nicholas Cottrelle Is Transported by Forest Ambulance to Strathroy Hospital"], Chapter 17 [https://ift.tt/2O6I4lS "September 6, 1995 — Cecil Bernard George Is Transported by St. John Ambulance to Strathroy Hospital"], Chapter 18 [https://ift.tt/2FiE27l "September 6, 1995 — Unsuccessful Attempts to Resuscitate Dudley George"], Chapter 19 [https://ift.tt/2O8pYjC "September 7, 1995 — The Hours Following the Confrontation"], Chapter 20 [https://ift.tt/2FhVzwc "The Weeks and Months Following the Death of Dudley George — The Development of a Status Quo, but No Resolution"], [https://ift.tt/2O8c016 "Conclusion"], and [https://ift.tt/2FgYG7E "Recommendations"].
===Volume 2 Policy Analysis===
Volume 2, "Policy Analysis"<ref name="Linden_20070530_Chap2"/> included Chapter 1 [https://ift.tt/2O8pYQE "Introduction"], Chapter 2 [https://ift.tt/2Fh3r1g "Primer on Aboriginal Occupations"], Chapter 3 [https://ift.tt/2O8myNI "Treaty Relations in Ontario"], Chapter 4 [https://ift.tt/2Fh3ryi "Settling Land Claims"], Chapter 5 [https://ift.tt/2O8mzkK "Natural Resources"], Chapter 6 [https://ift.tt/2Fh3s5k [https://ift.tt/2O8mzRM "Aboriginal Burial and Heritage Sites"], Chapter 7 [https://ift.tt/2O8mzRM "Education about Aboriginal Peoples"], Chapter 8 on [https://ift.tt/2Fh3sCm "Provincial Leadership and Capacity"], Chapter 9 [https://ift.tt/2O8q1fi "Policing Aboriginal Occupations"], Chapter 10 "[https://ift.tt/2Fj95jn First Nation Policing"], Chapter 11 [https://ift.tt/2O8mAoO "Bias-Free Policing"], and Chapter 12 [https://ift.tt/2Fj95zT "Police/Government Relations"].<ref name="Linden_20070530_Chap2"/>
===Volume 3 Inquiry Process ===
Volume 3 included chapter 1 "Introduction", 2. The Decision to Establish the Ipperwash Inquiry, 3. Principles Governing the Inquiry, 4. Early Decisions, 5. Rules of Procedure and Practice, 6.
Administrative Infrastructure, 7. Communications, 8. Standing and Funding, 9. Preparing for the Evidentiary Hearings: Part I, 10. Conduct of the Hearings, 11. Policy Phase: Part 2, 12. Research and Consultation, 13. Report, 14. Wrapping Up/Winding Down, and 15. Inquiry Process Recommendations.<ref>[https://ift.tt/2O8q2jm Volume 3]</ref>
===Volume 4 Executive Summary===
Volume 4 included "Executive Summary", "Investigation & Findings, Volume 1 — Executive Summary", "Policy Analysis, Volume 2 — Executive Summary", "Recommendations", "Volume 1 — Investigation & Findings", "Volume 2 — Policy Analysis", and "Volume 3 — Inquiry Process."<ref>[https://ift.tt/2FhuJVc Volume 4]</ref>
==Background==
According to a 2015 history of the [[Ontario Court of Justice]], for many years the family of Dudley George had called for an investigation, questions had continued to be raised in the Ontario Legislature, and journalists had continued their investigations.<ref name="ontariocourts_2015"></ref> On November 12, 2003, the Liberal government that had just won the [[Ontario general election, 2003|Ontario general election]] on October 23, 2003, under Premier McGuinty, called for an inquiry.<ref group="Notes">The Ipperwash crisis and the tainted water crisis in [[Walkerton, Ontario|Walkerton]] improved McGuinty's chances of replacing the Conservative government that had been in power under Mike Harris from 1995 through 2002 and under [[Ernie Eves]] from 2002 through 2003.</ref><ref name="DundasStar_DAngelo_20030924"></ref><ref></ref>
==Original land claim==
According to a September 20, 2015 ''[[CBC News]]'' report twenty years after the Ipperwash Crisis, the land dispute dated back to 1942, when the federal government appropriated [[Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation]]'s land to build [[Camp Ipperwash]], a military base, under the [[War Measures Act]] and relocated 16 First Nation families and their homes.<ref name="CBC_20150920"/> The land was supposed to be used as a base only during the war and with a promise of compensation. After [[World War II]], the land was not returned to the First Nation, Camp Ipperwash was used for training cadets until 1995. [[Ipperwash Provincial Park]] had been established in 1936.<ref name="Brown">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> The First Nations claimed that Sandy Point was a sacred burial site.<ref name="CBC_20150920"/> By 1993, members of the First Nation began to occupy Camp Ipperwash while the military was using the land for training army cadets.<ref name="CBC_20150920"/> In 1995 the military withdrew.<ref name="CBC_20150920"/> A group of 30 First Nations protesters marched into [[Ipperwash Provincial Park]] and took up occupation on September 4, 1995.<ref name="CBC_20150920"/> In the section "History of Stoney Point and Kettle Point", Joan Holmes reported that in 1937 the Chief and Council of the Kettle and Stony Point Band had requested that the provincial government preserve an old Indian burial ground at Ipperwash Beach by fencing it to protect it.<ref name="Linden_20070530_Chap2"></ref>
==Conclusions==
The report found that "the appropriation of the Stony Point reserve by the Government of Canada in 1942 was unprecedented in Canadian history."<ref name="newswire_20120531"/>
The inquiry "found that the OPP, the provincial government led by Premier Mike Harris, and the federal government all bore responsibility for the events that led to George's death. Linden also called on the federal government to issue a public apology and return Camp Ipperwash – along with compensation – to the Kettle and Stoney Point First Nation."<ref name="ontariocourts_2015"/> In Volume 1 of the report it was noted that, Premier Harris's "comments" and "generally the speed at which he wished to end the occupation of Ipperwash Park, created an atmosphere that unduly narrowed the scope of the government's response to the Aboriginal occupation."<ref name="Linden_20070530_Vol1_fulltext"> Volume 1</ref>
The report made 100 recommendations.<ref name="AI_20170307"/><ref></ref>
==Responses==
===In reference to the Aboriginal occupation of land in Caledonia===
The Ipperwash inquiry proceedings were taking place at the same time as the Caledonia land dispute also known as the [[Grand River land dispute]]. In 2006, members of the [[Six Nations 40, Ontario|Six Nations of the Grand River]] took control of a disputed parcel of land in [[Caledonia, Ontario]], in [[Haldimand County, Ontario|Haldimand County]] known as the [[Haldimand Proclamation|Haldimand Tract]].
The Caledonia occupation resulted in a successful $20 million lawsuit by Caledonia residents against the Crown.<ref name="Blatchford_Helpless_2010"/> The [[University of Western Ontario]]'s political science professor, Andrew Sancton wrote in his 2012 article, that the case for Caledonia residents would have been weaker if the Crown had implemented Linden's "democratic policing" model.<ref name="Sancton_201209">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> In her 2010 book entitled ''Helpless: Caledonia's Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy, and How the Law Failed All of Us'', reporter [[Christie Blatchford]] said that that Linden's democratic policing model received "virtually no public attention". She decried the vacuum of policy accountability.<ref name="Blatchford_Helpless_2010">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> Blatchford said that a "more intelligent and sympathetic view of aboriginal and Canadian history [than the Ipperwash Inquiry report] would be hard to find"<ref name="thestar_Blanchford_20130111"></ref>
==Five year anniversary of the Inquiry (2012)==
By 2012, Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse said that, "the most meaningful recommendations remain[ed] unaddressed and combined with the fact that the province ha[d] cut funding to support joint implementation work by half compared to 2007 levels" First Nations questioned whether the Ontario government was "committed to making the changes necessary to achieve reconciliation with First Nations in Ontario."<ref name="newswire_20120531"></ref>
==Twenty years after Dudley's death (2015)==
By January 2015, the disputed land still had not been returned to the Kettle and Stoney Point First Nation.<ref name="thestar_Bryant_20150122"></ref><ref name="ontariocourts_2015"/> In 2010 the Ontario government had confirmed that the land had been transferred to the "federal government, which alone has the power to designate reserve territory."<ref name="ontariocourts_2015"/> On September 18, 2015 members of the [[Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation]] voted to approve a deal with the federal government which included a "$90-million dollar financial settlement", the "return of land appropriated by the federal government in 1942 and the cleanup of Stoney Point lands."<ref name="CBC_20150920"></ref>
==Notes==
==References==
March 17, 2019 at 12:35PM
