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dudley george vigil
We invite you to take part in a vigil to honour the memory of Dudley George
on his birthday.
Ceremony at Sunrise (about 6:00 am) followed by vigil until Sunset.
Date: March 17th
Place: Parliament Hill
Endorsed by the Coalition for a Public Inquiry into the Death of Dudley George
Guest speakers will be joining the vigil throughout the date to speak about
Dudley George, and to call attention to the need for the Minister of Indian
and Northern Affairs to call a public inquiry into his death.
Join the vigil for a few minutes or for the whole day. If you can join for
only part of the day, try to paticipate in the Sunrise ceremony, the
closing at Sunset or join the vigil for noon hour.
Please bring a lawn chair if you are joining for a long period of time.
For further information contact 236-4103
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Background
The following sample letter which can be sent to Jane Stewart, Minister of
Indian and Northern Affairs, provide some background on why this vigil is
happening. Please read and send this letter, and attend to vigil on March
17th.
The Honourable Jane Stewart, Minister
Department of Indian & Northern Affairs
Suite 2100, 10 Wellington Street,
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H4
fax: 819-953-4941
Dear Minister Stewart,
As you are aware, an unarmed Aboriginal man, Dudley George, was shot and
killed by the Ontario Provincial Police at Ipperwash Provincial Park during
a peaceful land rights demonstration on September 6, 1995. No one in
authority, including you, seems to care very much about what happened at
Ipperwash, but many citizens do. As Minister of Indian Affairs, I believe
it is your
responsibility to ask the federal government to call an inquiry into the
death of Dudley George, or to pressure the provincial government to do so.
Instead, you have chosen to side step the issue.
All avenues to get an inquiry in Ontario have been exhausted. Premier Mike
Harris has repeatedly refused to call an inquiry whenever the matter has
been raised in the legislature. His office has not responded to the many
letters and petitions that have been sent to him. Other avenues within the
structure of the provincial government to get an inquiry have also failed.
To date, you have chosen not to pressure the Ontario government to call this
inquiry, and, in doing so, have failed in your fiduciary responsibilities to
the Aboriginal people of this country. There seems to be no alternative now
but to seek a remedy outside our great country, which prides itself as a
champion of human
rights world wide.
I urge you once again to change your position and to call an inquiry
immediately. The issues raised by the tragic events at Ipperwash concern
the rights and freedoms of all of us and cannot be side stepped.
Will you call a public inquiry into the death of Dudley George?
Sincerely,
Your Name
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In addition, an Osgoode Hall Law professor will be relaesing an opinion
shortly one the rights and obiligations of the Minister of Indian and
Northern Affairs to call an inquiry. We expect that the opinion will
demonstratet that the Minister has a responsibility to undertake an inquiry.
The Coalition has appealed to the Federal Minister of Indian Affairs to call
an inquiry. They are prepared to take these complaints about human and
civil rights violations to the United Nations at the end of the month, in
conjunction with the UN Human Rights Ctte's review of Canada's 4th Report
on Civil and Political Rights - which will talk place on March 26th.
brian edgecombe - ottawa, ontario, canada
"We are all bound together by the task that lies before us"
James Taylor
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