Read My Lips - I Never Said that Word

They say it's not over 'til the fat lady sings. Except there is no fat lady, just a goofy ex-premier. At last the Dudley George inquiry has reached its conclusions that the OPP acted erroneously and had much to do with bringing of a critical situation. It also found that Ontario's Premier - the 'common sense guy' Mike Harris' macho maunderings might have egged them on.

Mr. Harris had much to do with a new-look OPP, a bunch of macho guys in riot gear manning the barricades between the welfare bums and the guys who counted. He must have made it clear to them where their cheques got cut, for every time his bunch of creeps in Queen's park aggravated some segment of the population, the double-blues turned out in full-force to see that no evil would befall the purveyors of public policy. Under his watch Gwen Boniface rose through the ranks and a couple of colourful chaps as well, the great conservative - "We really like Jamaican immigrants" political ploy. They certainly 'beefed out' the Queen's Park Cohort.

Mike didn't have much use for a lot of people and Indians were right down there with the whiners and other leeches living off the common weal. So, early in his premiership, when he still thought that the light of divinity illuminated his night visits to the john, the residents of the Stony Point reserve made the mistakes of:
1. Trying to take back something they believed belonged to them (Ipperwash P.P.), and
2. Mocking the police while they were about it.

Mike, according to testimony, was having none of that. He made it clear that an empty park was a precondition to any dealings with those Indians. Reputedly he said "I want those F*cking Indians out of the park".

The next night Dudley George got himself shot at Ipperwash.

There followed a number of years of premierish bullshit, quasi-testimony, fall guys and the death of the cop that did it. Mike looked like he'd dodged a bullet too. All serious and quiet, rehearsed and 'leaderly' as he lied his ass off on the stand. He should be afraid that one of the other 'browners' who was at that meeting doesn't get an attack of conscience, or he might be Ontario's first preemie to go to jail (although I wouldn't bet on that).

The libs were quick off the mark to apologize for what the Tories did - pusillanimous twits that they are. They've allowed the new ' we-shot-an-Indian, so-now-we're-all-helpless' OPP to develop. The Natives are more restless - due to the fact that the basic complaints about land claims remain unresolved. Ipperwash Park - which admittedly was taken from the Indians for training purposes in World War Two - remains a provincial park. The Feds took it away, so how did the Province get it? Worse still, why do they persist in thinking it's theirs? It ain't. Give it back!

The Province needs to do what it can to redress the lands claims in a just and equitable manner, so far they haven't done so. They've taken the 'stupid' approach giving too much with no proof and nothing at all when it suits their fancy. They should leave the discussion to the courts (even purely objective courts). If the native people have a claim, they should be able to prove it in court. If they deserve a settlement, it should be fairly-struck.


The native people of Canada deserve the opportunity to become full citizens, tax-paying productive people who have their own resources. The governments should stop treating them as wards of the state and children, keeping their belongings 'in trust' using them and paying back a beggars' pittance that makes everyone think they're dependents. It's time to move ahead.

Dudley George is long in his grave, another Indian whose fate was described by the 'whiteys' . The inquiry has found no legal culpability - because stupidity isn't illegal, and there was a ton of that flying around - on both sides. What it has done is point a finger in a direction or two that need pointing at, and some change. And it's given a direction for policy, I think; but that's being ignored, again, for politics.