And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 17:34:16 -0000
Reply-To: Public Policy and First Nations Relations <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sender: Public Policy and First Nations Relations <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Public Inquiry into the death of Dudley George
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Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 10:28:50 -0400
From: Russ Mitchell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Coalition for a Public Inquiry into the Death of Dudley George
Summer Newsletter #24 ~ August 3, 1999
*** Uphold Aboriginal Land and Treaty Rights ***
SEPTEMBER 6, 1995 - 4 YEARS SINCE IPPERWASH
STILL NO INQUIRY - NOT EVEN AN INQUEST!!
Commemorate the 4th Anniversary of Dudley George's Death
Demand a Public Inquiry into the Ipperwash Affair
An Injury to One is an Injury to All!
Remember Other Victims of Human Rights Violations at APEC and Gustafsen Lake
Speak out on Aboriginal Rights Issues across Ontario
LET YOUR VOICE HEARD
~ JOIN THE LABOUR DAY PARADE ~
SEPTEMBER 6, 1999
Meet us in front of the Provincial Courthouse, one block north of Queen West
on University Avenue
GATHER FROM 8:30 AM
BRING DRINKS FOR THE LONG WALK
DRUMS, SINGERS ASKED TO SUPPORT
More than 20,000 organized workers participate in Toronto's annual Labour
Day Parade, organized by the Toronto and York Labour Council (TYLC). The
Coalition for a Public Inquiry is mobilizing a contingent for the annual
Labour Day Parade. The Parade celebrates the human rights protections won by
unions, for workers, over the past century. This year, the Parade occurs on
September 6th - a very significant date for our Coalition. On that day in
1995, numerous human rights violations occurred at Ipperwash Park, including
the fatal shooting of non-violent Aboriginal rights protestor Dudley George.
Since 1995, the Labour Council has been one of the most dedicated allies on
the call for a Public Inquiry. The founding organization of the Coalition,
Turtle Island Support Group, developed a strong fraternal relationship, on
land, treaty and inherent rights issues, with the TYLC through-out the
'90's. The Labour Council's advocacy for an Ipperwash Inquiry is just one
element of their strong support on Aboriginal rights issues.
TYLC is affiliated with both the OFL (Ontario Federation of Labour) and the
CLC (Canadian Labour Congress, it's national 'parent' organization). The
members of these groups have helped us reach out to social justice activists
across Ontario and at the national level, broadening the call for an Inquiry
from being just about what and how decisions are made at Queen's Park.
Organized labour understands that an armed, lethal attack by the Police on
persons engaged in peaceful protest is a dangerous precedent. The motto of
organized labour is "an injury to one is an injury to all".
We are participating in this Parade as a way of continuing to educate the
larger public about the horrible abuses which occurred at Ipperwash. Turtle
Island Support Group, and others involved in the Coalition, will also be
carrying information which speaks about Aboriginal rights concerns in other
parts of Ontario. The Parade contains thousands of activists with whom we
can share our information and ask for their support. It also follows a
several-kilometer route through downtown Toronto, providing an opportunity
to educate the spectators. We will prepare special flyers for this day, and
also develop a visual presentation based on our skit "Un-Cover the Cover-Up".
PARADE ENDS AT "EX" - GET INTO THE CNE FREE!
The route is along Queen Street West and south on Dufferin to the CNE. You
can join us enroute. On arrival at the CNE Dufferin Gates, Parade
participants enter the EX grounds free-of-charge. Bring the family and make
a day of it!
The parade mobilizing area is University Avenue in downtown Toronto. The
contingents begin leaving at 9:30 am. At the present time we don't know the
line-up, so we have no idea whether we will have to leave University Ave. at
9:30 am SHARP! or if we might be standing around for quite a while longer.
Further details will be released by poster, fax and email two or three weeks
before the Parade, but please MAKE PLANS NOW to attend. If you don't get a
second notice, call 416-537-3520 for more information after the 25th of August.
"BLUE INDIANS"
We join the Labour Day Parade in an act of solidarity with the organized
workers' movement. Labour and Aboriginal activists understand that in the
emerging global economy all working poor, unemployed and marginalized
persons, regardless of race, gender or age, are experiencing the historical
fate of "Indians". John Trudell (co-accused of Leonard Peltier) has recently
produced a CD with the song "Blue Indians" which addresses this topic:
"Blue Indians, being pulled into melting pots
Ruling Class rules the have and the have-nots
Industrial reservation - tyranny stakes its claim
Blue Indians, emotional siege and civilized stain"
We are all subject to the greed of the multinationals, through their
emerging global trade agreements which permit them untrammeled access to the
cheapest possible labour and the most lenient environmental controls and
labour laws. In this way, the international business community of the 1990's
resembles the international merchant sector which initiated the voyages to
the "New World" - thus beginning hundreds of years of exploitation, genocide
and misery for the Aboriginal inhabitants of Turtle Island. Our opponents
are powerful in money and greed, but we have justice and numbers on our
side. We must pull together with our allies NOW, while the rewards are
still worth winning.
ALL OUT ON SEPTEMBER 6th
If you don't live in Toronto or close by, try to think of some way you can
get out and be seen on September 6th. There may be a Labour Day event
sponsored by the Labour Council in your area, or you may feel more
comfortable with some other kind of action or commemorative event. Let us
know if you are planning something, so we can promote it. The main thing is:
KEEP THE ISSUE ALIVE! We lose - BIG TIME! - if this ceases to be an issue
of public concern.
FOUR YEARS AND NO ANSWERS
On September 6, 1999, it will be four years since the Ontario Provincial
Police assault at Ipperwash Park took the life of Anthony O'Brien "Dudley"
George. That same night, Bernard "Slippery" George, a Kettle Point Band
Councillor, was almost fatally beaten by a gang of riot police. His crime?
He was making a speech asking the OPP to be less confrontational with the
protestors. Members of Dudley's family were arbitrarily arrested as they
sought medical aid for Dudley. We already have a lot of information, but we
must push for an Inquiry until these questions are answered:
* Who ordered the massive OPP deployment?
* What was the financial cost of this deployment?
* What was the objective for the deployment of police?
* Was there ANY evidence that the protest constituted any serious threat to
the surrounding community?
* The right to non-violent protest is a guaranteed human right: on the basis
of what threat to Canada's security was this right over-ridden?
* Why were the tried-and-true OPP techniques, of responding to non-violent
protest with non-violent control methods, abandoned in favour of approaches
which had already been proven to be dangerous?
* Why have the land, treaty and inherent rights of the Stoney Point People
been violated for so long?
When these questions are answered, through a full, impartial, Public
Inquiry, we will know if Canada really does honour the principles of
universal human rights.
Coalition for a Public Inquiry, c/o Turtle Island Support Group
Donations and Information: P.O. Box 111, Station C, Toronto, Ontario M6J 3M7
tel: 416-537-3520
fax: 416-538-2559
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
net: http://www.web.net/~inquiry.
TO SUPPORT CIVIL, DEMOCRATIC AND HUMAN RIGHTS, AND ABORIGINAL SOVEREIGNTY,
PLEASE JOIN US.
Petition For A Public Inquire Into The Death Of Dudley George
http://www.nt.net/~russell/petition.html
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