The Ipperwash crisis occurred in 1995
along the shores of lake Huron in southern Ontario
and involved some members of the Stoney Point band
who in 1936 had a portion of their reserve expropriated
by the federal government for use as a provincial park
and that became Ipperwash Provincial Park.
During WWII the federal government expropriated
the rest of the reserve for use as an army training camp.
They forcibly relocated members of the Stoney Point
Band to the nearby reserve, which was Kettle Point.
They promised that the land would be returned
after the war. But of course the land was never returned.
Stoney Point Band members were basically
living as second class citizens on the Kettle Point
reserve where they suffered discrimination.
They had poor housing, etc.
So the descendants of those people always
remembered that they were supposed to get their
land back, but of course the land was never returned.
In 1980, the federal government paid just over
2 million dollars to the Kettle and Stoney Point Band
as partial compensation and again
promised that the land would be returned.
In 1992, a government committee called
for the land to be returned to the Stoney Point Band.
At that time, the members of the Stoney Point Band
served an eviction notice to the Department
of National Defence.
In May 1993, about 30 members of the Stoney Point
Band moved into a portion of the army base
where they set up a camp, with trailers,
and tents and whatnot.
Over the next couple years, they maintained
that reoccupation camp.
There were some minor incidents with the military.
But the military was beginning to close down the base
and began withdrawing equipment and personnel
In the summer of 1995, Stoney Point Band members
entered the provincial park because it was
being closed down for the season.
They wanted to reclaim that as well because
that was not only a portion of their original reserve
but it also contained a burial ground
that the federal government was aware of
back in the 1930s when they expropriated it.
As they began the occupation of the provincial
park, the Ontario provincial government sent in
the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP)
and wanted the people evicted.
So the OPP began a major police operation.
they had brought in a couple hundred police officers,
they got military assistance including
two armoured personnel carriers.
On September 6th, they sent in a riot squad
to attempt to forcibly evict the people
from the provincial park.
But they fought back and forced the riot police
to withdraw.
But they came back later that evening.
Not only the riot police but a heavily armed
tactical response unit.
When the police entered the provincial park,
there was a band councillor from Kettle Point
who tried to intervene to stop the police.
But he was badly beaten by the police officers.
At that point, a sixteen year old youth, Nicholas Cotrelle,
drove a school bus into the police lines
in an attempt to stop the assault.
At that time the police opened fire,
and they fired between 1000 to 2000 rounds.
They shot the sixteen year old youth in the back.
They killed the dog that was also on the bus.
And at that time, acting sergeant Kenneth Deane
shot and killed Dudley George.
Even though the police had launched this major
operation, they had no medical assistance
on hand so Dudleyâs brother Pierre George
actually drove him to a nearby hospital
but he was pronounced dead at around midnight.
Kenneth Deane was eventually charged
with criminal negligence causing death.
During his trial, the judge found him to be
untruthful because Deane claimed that he saw
Dudley George carrying a rifle
and thatâs why he opened fire.
But even though the judge found him to be untruthful,
he only got two years community service.
In 2003 the Ontario government called a inquiry
into the crisis.
All these different documents came out and
it was found that Mike Harris who was the
premier at the time of the crisis had intervened
and called for the police to forcibly evict
the Natives from the park.
In 2016, the federal government paid 90 million dollars
to the Kettle and Stoney Point Band as compensation.
To this day, the members of the Stoney Point Band
continue to live on the former army base
which was their reserve lands.
They basically won their struggle,
even though there was a lot of sacrifice.
Dudley George was shot and killed.