Critics say new Ipperwash tape reveals racist attitudes

Last Updated Wed, 21 Jan 2004 21:45:14

TORONTO - Racist comments made by two Ontario Provincial Police officers
have been condemned by the Assembly of First Nations. CBC News obtained a
videotape under the Freedom of Information Act that contains several
disturbing comments from the officers who were watching aboriginal
protesters during a standoff at Ontario's Ipperwash Provincial Park in
1995.

The day after the videotape was recorded, native protester Dudley George
was killed in a confrontation with an OPP officer. The two OPP officers on
the tape posed as a TV crew at a barricade at Ipperwash Provincial Park so
they could observe the aboriginal protesters.

One officer suggested they "bait" the protesters with several
cases of beer and wait with a net and a pit. The other officer laughs, then
says, "Creative thinking."

Grand Chief Phil Fontaine of the Assembly of First Nations says those
comments are offensive and unacceptable. He says the remarks show there are
"pervasive and systemic problems" in Ontario's justice system.
"We have to weed out these people, before they become part of the
problem."

Peter Edwards, a reporter with the Toronto Star, wrote a book about the
standoff. He says the comments "fit perfectly with what we've been
hearing for eight years with regard to Ipperwash: racism, arrogance,
coverup. It fit right in."

The OPP has apologized for the remarks. So too has the association that
represents OPP officers. "I thought the comments were inappropriate,
and they should not have been made. It's not what the majority of our
people feel about our First Nations citizens. And we are sorry that they
made those comments," said Ed Kinnear, the association's
vice-president.

One of the officers involved is no longer with the OPP after his contract
was not renewed. The other officer was suspended for a day and ordered to
take "sensitivity training."

But critics now want to know if racism was a factor in Dudley George's death.
"What we need to see here is a broader investigation which gets at the
critical question and that is: Was there some sort of broader climate or
culture of racism and discrimination that fuelled the events around
Ipperwash," said Alex Neve of Amnesty International.

The Ontario government won't comment on the videotape. It says to do so
could jeopardize the upcoming public inquiry into the incident.


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