Ipperwash Summer Series: Ipperwash Crisis Timeline

THE IPPERWASH CRISIS

The Ipperwash Crisis took place in 1995 on expropriated land in and around what is known as “Ontario’s Ipperwash Provincial Park”. The underlying cause of the crisis was the expropriation of the Stoney Point Indian Band (now known as the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation) reserve land by the federal government for use as a military camp in 1942. After repeated requests from the First Nation for the land to be returned, members of the Stoney Point Indian Band occupied the camp in 1993 and in 1995. On September 4, 1995, protesters also occupied Ipperwash Provincial Park nearby. The tension between the protesters and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) increased, resulting in a lethal confrontation on September 6, 1995, during which unarmed protestor Anthony “Dudley” George, was killed.

The Ipperwash Crisis: A Brief History

Events on September 6, 1995, are the result of OPP moving in on protesters occupying Ipperwash Provincial Park, land expropriated from the Stoney Point Indian Band in 1942 by the federal government under the War Measures Act. The citizens of Stoney Point Indian Band were relocated to nearby Kettle Point First Nation and the federal government built a military camp – Camp Ipperwash. Ancestral burial grounds were destroyed when the camp was built. After 18 families were relocated, the government changed the name to Kettle and Stony Point First Nation. In the years following the war, the Stoney Point citizens tried to get the land back.

By 1972, the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, the Honourable Jean Chrétien, recommends that if the land is not returned to Stoney Point citizens, the band should be offered another piece of land as compensation. This advice was ignored.

On April 16, 1992, citizens of Kettle and Stony Point serve the army with a 90-day eviction notice.  Families from the original Stoney Point community begin moving back onto the land.

The Ipperwash Crisis: Occupation

After Ipperwash Provincial Park closes for the season on September 4, 1995, a group of approximately 30 protesters build barricades in the park to underline their land claim and protest the destruction of the burial ground. Dudley George is one of the group’s leaders.

On September 6, 1995, the OPP move in on the protestors during the night. Shots are fired and Dudley George is shot and killed by Acting Sergeant Kenneth Deane. Protestors say they were unarmed and that police used unnecessary force. The OPP claim that the protestors were armed which necessitated their guns and riot gear.

The OPP placed blame on Premier Mike Harris, claiming he issued the go-ahead order for the rush of barricades at the nighttime raid.

Sgt. Deane is convicted of criminal negligence causing death on April 28, 1997, after the court ruled he did not have “reasonable belief” George was armed.  He later resigned from the OPP.

On June 18, 1998, the federal government and Kettle and Stony Point First Nation sign an agreement returning Camp Ipperwash to the band.

The Ipperwash Crisis: The Inquiry

A United Nations commission on human rights urged the Government of Ontario on April 9, 1999, to call a public inquiry into the death of Dudley George. The Progressive Conservative government of the time resists, saying it had nothing to do with police actions of the day.

On November 12, 2003, after eight years of First Nations and other groups calling for an official inquiry into George’s death, the Ontario government, under newly-elected Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty, announces a public inquiry into the death of Dudley George.

The Ipperwash Inquiry was established on April 20, 2004, to examine and report on events surrounding the death of Dudley George and make recommendations aimed at avoiding violence in a similar situation.  The Union of Ontario Indians had official standing in Part Two.

On May 31, 2007, the Report of the Ipperwash Inquiry was released to the public and included 100 recommendations. Justice Sidney Linden, the commissioner of the inquiry into the shooting death of unarmed protestor Anthony ‘Dudley’ George by an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) sniper, ruled that the OPP, the government of former Ontario Premier Mike Harris, and the federal government, were all responsible for events that led to Dudley’s death.

In December of that year, the Government of Ontario agrees to turn over Ipperwash Provincial Park, 56 acres on the southeast shore of Lake Huron, to the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation.

In May 2009, Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation and the Government of Ontario sign an agreement to transfer the park. A year later, Ontario introduces legislation to deregulate the parklands, bringing the land transfer another step closer to finality.

Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation host a two-day Healing and Reconciliation Gathering on October 15-16, 2010, where archaeologist Brandy George announces that human remains dating back to 1,000 years has been found at the Stoney Point dig site.

The Ipperwash Crisis: After the Inquiry

The cleanup of Camp Ipperwash continues.  It was estimated in 2010 that it would take 20 years to finish.