Ipperwash Crisis

The Ipperwash Crisis was an Indigenous land dispute that took place in Ipperwash Provincial Park, Ontario in 1995. Several members of the Stoney Point Ojibway band occupied the park in order to assert their claim to nearby land which had been expropriated from them during World War II. During a violent confrontation, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) killed protester Dudley George. George was unarmed and an OPP officer fired and killed Dudley George, believing the flashlight he held in his hand was a weapon.

The shooting of Dudley George came a day after newly elected Ontario premier Mike Harris told the OPP "I want the fucking Indians out of the park".

The ensuing controversy was a major event in Canadian politics. In 2003 a provincial inquiry was started after a change in government. Former Ontario Chief Justice Sidney B. Linden led the investigation of events, which was completed in the fall of 2006.

In 1936, the Province of Ontario created Ipperwash Provincial Park.

In 1942 during World War II, the Government of Canada wanted reserve land from the Stoney Point Band to use as a base for military training and offered to buy it for $15 per acre. They also promised to return the land after the war ended. The Natives rejected the offer.

Under the War Measures Act, the federal government expropriated the lands from the Stoney Point Reserve and established Military Camp Ipperwash. The First Nations claim that the grounds contain a burial site. As of 2010, archaeological surveys have established that such a site does indeed exist.

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