A backbench Conservative MPP has contradicted a claim by Premier Mike Harris that his office was unaware of a massive Ontario Provincial Police buildup at Ipperwash Provincial Park, where a native protester was shot to death by police last year.
Marcel Beaubien, MPP for Lambton, says he was in regular contact with the Premier's office and informed a senior government official there that police were massing forces at the park, which is in his riding.
"It was quite obvious to anybody that was in the area that there was a buildup of OPP officers because there were more cruisers. There is no doubt about that. I mean, it's quite visible to the tourists in the area," Mr. Beaubien told reporters yesterday.
During his comments to reporters, Mr. Beaubien first denied witnessing the buildup, then almost immediately changed his position.
He said he gave the information to Bill King, the Premier's executive assistant for caucus liaison. "Sure, this is something you would pass on," Mr. Beaubien said.
It is the first time a government member has contradicted Mr. Harris's claim that he and his staff knew nothing about police plans at the park, and were unaware of an OPP buildup involving more than two hundred officers.
On Sept. 6, 1995, Anthony (Dudley) George, a native protester, was shot to death by the OPP tactical squad at the park, the first killing in Canada of a native involved in a land claims dispute.
The killing has led to a civil suit by members of Mr. George's family against Mr. Harris and several other prominent government officials.
As recently as May 29, Mr. Harris denied in the legislature that his office had any knowledge of the police activities at the park, located on the shores of Lake Huron in Southwestern Ontario. "We knew nothing of any OPP build up," Mr. Harris said that day in response to a question from the Opposition Liberals.
Mr. Beaubien's information puts a new light on the long-simmering political problem Ipperwash poses for Mr. Harris and the government.
Opposition politicians have been trying to demonstrate that Mr. Harris's office gave political direction to the OPP and covered up its links to the police action.
Under the previous NDP government, the OPP had a standing policy of trying to avoid violence in land-claim disputes, but the Ipperwash occupation, which occurred 2½ months after the Tories took office, seemed to follow a different script.
There was a rapid escalation of force, and the OPP even requested an armoured personnel carrier from the federal military to help equip its forces.
Mr. King yesterday confirmed that he had received information from Mr. Beaubien on the Ipperwash dispute. "I'm sure he's telling you the truth," Mr. King said, adding: "I don't discuss with reporters my dealings with caucus members but certainly you can talk to Marcel and he's free to talk to you about his contacts."
Mr. King also indicated that he had spoken to the Premier about the occupation at the time, although he couldn't provide details on what they talked about. "I can't imagine that I haven't had some conversations with him" about Ipperwash, Mr. King said, referring to the Premier.
The spotlight has shifted to Mr. Beaubien because he was at the OPP command centre and in touch with the Premier's office the night Mr. George was fatally shot by police, according to police records obtained by The Globe and Mail.
According to the police log book outlining the chronology of events on Sept. 6, 1995, Mr. Beaubien was at the command post at 6:42 p.m., about four hours before Mr. George was killed.
"Marcel [Beaubien]advised that he had sent a fax to the Premier advising of his intentions and that he wanted a return phone call regarding his intentions," the log said.
Mr. Beaubien, asked what he meant by his "intentions" referred to in the police log, declined to comment.
"There is a court case right now and Eaton's doesn't tell Simpson's their business. At this point in time it's for me to know," he said.
In response to a question in the legislature by Liberal MPP Gerry Phillips yesterday, Mr. Harris again said there was no political interference in the police actions at the park.
"At no time did the police receive any instructions from anybody that I know in my caucus, or my office or me or the cabinet," he said.
Asked about Mr. Beaubien's communications that Sept. 6, Mr. Harris said in an interview yesterday that he couldn't recall speaking to the backbench MPP that day.
"It's not my recollection, but I talked to him on many occasions about the problems in Ipperwash," Mr. Harris said.
According to Mr. Harris, he'd been kept informed about the situation at the park by Mr. Beaubien. The Premier said his MPP related that " 'There's a problem down here affecting both natives and non-natives and I hope that the government can do something about it.' "
In his comments to reporters, Mr. Beaubien said he had discussed Ipperwash with the Premier's office "probably three or four times during the sensitive period" around the time of the killing.
Mr. Beaubien returned to the command post after the killing in the early morning of Sept. 7.
Mr. Phillips said yesterday the OPP log book placing a Tory MPP at the command post undermines the Premier's claims of not knowing what was going on at the park.
"He has said that they knew nothing of what was going on there. We've now heard that there was a Conservative provincial member of the legislature at the OPP command post on a regular basis," Mr. Phillips said.
Mr. Phillips also said the fact that a politician went to the police command post could have complicated their work.
"On a regular basis, police had in their midst as they tried to handle this situation an elected provincial person who is claiming to be there and be consistently in contact with the Premier," Mr. Phillips said.