Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council is calling on the province to rescind the appointment of former Premier Mike Harris to the Order of Ontario, citing his “controversial” handling of the 1995 Ipperwash Crisis that resulted in the death of an Indigenous man.
The calls echoes First Nations across the province who have asked the appointment to be rescinded.
Harris was Premier of Ontario when heavily armed OPP officers moved in on unarmed protesters from the Kettle and Stoney Point First Nations in an attempt to remove them from Ipperwash Provincial Park, resulting in the shooting death of George, who an OPP officer claimed was holding a gun.
A subsequent inquiry found that George was holding a stick and the officer who shot him, Kenneth Deane, was found guilty of criminal negligence causing death. The inquiry also revealed that Premier Harris said to staff: “get those fuc*ing Indians out of the park.”
Harris’s legacy in handling the crisis has led to SNGR joining several other First Nations in calling the lieutenant governor to rescind his appointment.
The Order of Ontario is a provincial honour reserved for citizens who have made outstanding contributions to public life in the province.
SNGR Elected Council said in a press release it is standing in solidarity with the Chief and Council of Kettle and Stoney Point, the George family and with First Nations across Ontario in calling for the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario to rescind the appointment of former Premier Mike Harris to the province’s highest honour.
Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell announced the former Premier’s addition to the Order of Ontario last Friday, news that has been met with outrage from many First Nations and those who best remember Harris for his role in Ipperwash in 1995.
Council said in a statement that the “tragic” circumstances around the shooting death of the unarmed protestor and the role the former Premier played in it were captured in detail in the 2007 Ipperwash Inquiry Report.
“A report that to this day remains unfulfilled. We are asking the government of Ontario to rescind this appointment and to focus on completing the work outlined in the Ipperwash Inquiry Report and take hold of the long term solutions to prevent this and further tragedies for occurring again.”
Elected Chief Mark Hill called the appointment “tone deaf.”
“In an age where active, societal debates around state-enforced and executed violence against marginalized groups are taking place, and as monuments to the figures who knowingly contributed to these atrocities continue to fall, this decision seems tone deaf, to say the least,” he said. “Our communities’ hearts break thinking of how this decision is affecting Anthony “Dudley” George’s family and community.”
