Queen's Park

Apublic inquiry into the shooting death of an unarmed native demonstrator in

Ipperwash Provincial Park has wound up without hearing some testimony that would have helped its search for the truth.

A court already having convicted a police sergeant of criminal negligence causing death, the most important questions for the inquiry are whether then Progressive Conservative premier Mike Harris ordered police to remove the demonstrators from the park and used words that slurred Indians.

Elected politicians are not supposed to direct police actions, but Harris's attorney general at the time in 1995, Charles Harnick, told the inquiry he heard Harris tell police and others at a meeting a few hours before police moved in `I want the f***ing Indians out of the park.'

Harnick testified unequivocally and in detail before the inquiry, which will report its findings by the end of the year. He said Harris spoke loudly and the room suddenly fell silent.

Harnick said he considered the comment wrong and inappropriate and was stunned by it.

He said Harris appeared quickly to understand that he had erred, his demeanour changed and he became philosophical and almost reserved.

Harnick explained that he agonized over testifying, because he had nothing but admiration for Harris, "but I heard what I heard." He said he now views Harris as human and having made a mistake.

Harnick was a steady, unspectacular minister not known for seeking the limelight and generally having as little to say on an issue as he could get away with.

He had nothing to gain by his testimony against Harris. It will cost him some friends among Conservatives and it is difficult to see why he would lie.

The only obstacle to accepting his testimony is that when questioned soon after the shooting about a rumour the offending remark had been made by an unidentified person, he claimed he was unable to substantiate it, which has now emerged as untrue and a cover-up.

Harris testified equally firmly that he did not make the remark Harnick attributed to him, or words to the same effect, at any time in the meeting. He said "the adjective is not foreign to me," but he would not have used it at such a meeting. "It wasn't the kind of language I would think was appropriate even if I have used it from time to time."

The former premier could not think of a reason Harnick would lie in saying that he made the remark or of any bias his former minister had against him.

Lawyers for Indians trying to show Harris was prejudiced against them pointed to a newspaper report that he once complained some spent all their time making land claims instead of improving themselves economically, but Harris said it did not accurately represent his views

One trying to establish that Harris tends to use the offending adjective produced a report that forced him to concede that when he voted in a party leadership contest after retiring, he was asked for identification and replied "just give me the f***ing ballot."

But reporters covering the legislature could have told the inquiry that Harris used the obscenity more frequently.

A TV cameraman invited to picture the premier at work focused on papers in front of him to obtain light settings and Harris told him to "bugger off" and "use your f***ing head."

This had not been everyday language used by premiers and the press gallery representing journalists wrote the strongest letter it had ever sent a premier, saying he was demeaning his office and they would not accept his verbal abuse.

A pushy lobbyist also once tried to bring half a dozen clients into a press gallery reception and introduce them to Harris, who ordered his press aide to "tell this guy to get the f**k away from me."

This is not proof that the premier used his favorite offensive word again when discussing what to do with the native protesters at Ipperwash, but it would have been very much in character.