Ontario's First Nation chiefs are calling on the province to reflect on its relationship with Indigenous people on 25th anniversary of the Ipperwash crisis.
Chiefs of Ontario head Alvin Fiddler says distrust between First Nations and authorities continues to exist as a result of unaddressed inequality that the crisis highlighted.
Fiddler says the government hasn't taken seriously the results of the Ipperwash Inquiry -- which was started after protester Dudley George was shot and killed by a provincial police sniper on September 6th, 1995.
The crisis began two days earlier, on Labour Day, after members of the Chippewas Kettle and Stoney Point First Nation occupied Ipperwash Provincial Park.
They did so to protest the federal government's seizure of nearby reserve land during the Second World War to create a military base.
The inquiry revealed a number of concerns in how the police response was handled, and the judge ultimately found that former Ontario premier Mike Harris and the federal government were responsible for George's death.
In response to Fiddler's call for action, Greg Rickford, Ontario's current Minister of Indigenous affairs, said the government is committed to listening to the perspectives of Ontario's Indigenous peoples and to improving their quality of life.