The newspaper accounts of the inquiry into the shooting death of Dudley George in 1995 have made chilling reading over the past months.
Ever since something went horribly wrong with the occupation of a portion of Ipperwash Park, which resulted in the shooting of George by an OPP officer, there have been widespread suspicions that the freshly-minted Tory government of Ontario had used the incident to try to put its mark on the political landscape.
The pivotal point of the drama was a meeting that former Premier Mike Harris attended with his senior staff, some Cabinet ministers and senior OPP officials.
The OPP walked away from the meeting with the distinct impression that the new government didn't believe the aboriginals' claim that the park contained a sacred burial ground (it did); with the distinct impression that the government erroneously believed it could direct police action (it couldn't); and, with the impression, as one officer put it, that Harris was a "redneck."
Harris testified this week that he is mystified about how anyone could have had those impressions.
Somebody at the meeting apparently made the statement: "I want the f***ing Indians out of the park."
One former Cabinet minister said it was Harris. Another staff member said it was former Natural Resources Minister Chris Hodgson. Both have denied it.
In a way, it doesn't really matter who said it because it has come to symbolize what was wrong with Harris and his government: an attitude and an arrogance that said 'We know more about this than you do, we're here to impose our agenda whether or not you like it and we're going to kick ass.'
The former Premier, who refused to call an inquiry while he was in office, didn't help his cause by saying he never anticipated that the park occupation would become a major issue. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone out trying to hit the ball as far as Freddie Couples," at the Canadian Open Pro-Am the day before the shooting.
In perhaps the most disturbing note of all, Harris testified that until the occupation was almost over, it was never clear to him what it was actually about.
Does anybody else have the uneasy feeling that maybe the new Premier might have been a lot more interested in trying to match shots with a PGA star than in the details of a park occupation by marginalized citizens he didn't really have the time of day for?
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I'm on vacation next week, enjoying the Olympics.