The Ipperwash Inquiry didn’t alter my recollection or change my views about the Dudley George shooting.

George died by OPP sniper fire Sept. 6, 1995, the third night after the Stoney Pointers occupied Ipperwash Park, mostly young women, men and some kids moving in to take back a disputed burial ground.

They had splintered from the initial Camp Ipperwash occupation, a two-year effort involving a former reserve borrowed during the Second World War but not returned 50 years later.

External forces from other native communities were rumoured to be leading the military base protest, giving room for some of the locals to migrate into the park and shift attention to a burial ground everybody denied but them.

Even the Kettle and Stoney Point First Nation council wasn’t convinced the park held such a sacred mission, and their support for the Camp Ipperwash entanglement was eroding due to personal and political conflicts.

Hundreds of miles a way, northeast of Toronto and toward Ottawa, the Serpent Mounds Provincial Park occupation had gone differently.

Native protesters there had moved in peacefully enough at the beginning of the Labour Day weekend, but park officials cleared the campers out to satisfy safety concerns.

It didn’t look good on the MNR, OPP or the new government of the day, as far as the right-leaning crowd was concerned.

Premier Mike Harris was getting hit from the east and west just a few months after grabbing the reins of Ontario, stalling his bid to trot out the Common Sense Revolution.

Also distracting was some Wolverine guy out in B.C., with a firefight going on between Mounties and more natives over other issues.

Don’t forget, the five-year-old shadow of Oka was relatively fresh on everyone’s mind.

As the Hon. Mr. Linden correctly deduced in his inquiry report, Premier Harris had an opportunity at this point to urge patience regarding Ipperwash and for all sides to move cautiously.

That’s not how it went, quite the opposite, actually.

But Linden didn’t hold Harris responsible for the subsequent choices the police made, he merely slapped him on the wrist for having the poor judgement of appearing like a hawk instead of a dove.

Most interesting was the dinner meeting where an OPP representative heard Harris stating he wanted the natives out of the park, sooner than later would be nice.

The ‘F’ word and the ‘I’ word were used.

The fact the OPP guy immediately communicated this sentiment to the officer in charge of the riot squad and snipers that fatal night doesn’t seem to count for much.

I believe the police could have done something different that night; and they would have handled it differently if Harris and other politicians urged caution when it was needed most.

There was a court injunction being sought the next day, for example.

But the atmosphere was all about taking the bull by the horns and the riot squad was suited up for business at 11 p.m., a misguided night-time confrontation against natives allegedly armed with guns.

Good thing they didn’t have the machine guns because they were in a perfect position to slaughter the OPP as police pounded Bernard George, a Kettle and Stony Point First Nation councillor, near to death.

I’m curious to know what the police were thinking as they lay the boots and batons to a man who had walked up to shielded troops unarmed and seeking peaceful solution.

The beating of Bernard George is what prompted the bus incident where teenage protesters drove a bus into the squad of armed police.

Dudley George, standing to the side of the melee, caught sniper fire and things went south from there.

That’s when the police and government figured out they weren’t on the same side afterall.

Years later, a judge cited the police and their sniper, Sgt. Kenneth Deane, for being dishonest as they tried to justify and misrepresent their actions.

Queen’s Park, you will recall, was also a mess as every question created more questions as misleading answers backfired.

It was so bad over the next four years, Ontario promptly re-elected Harris to another majority term.

Nothing said during the inquiry spoke as loudly as the voters in 1999.

Linden is right aboutthe blame game, it was a combination of provincial and federal apathy, prejudicial angst and poor leadership — including the voters who supported it all.