Proportional Representation in PEI

There's a plebiscite vote on Proportional Representation going on in PEI today.

A Man Called Dudley

So, last May, there was an important announcement in the Ipperwash Inquiry: the contents of a tape, which put the former Progressive Conservative government in a bad light, were finally released to the public. One of the things that was especially interesting about that release was that it happened on a day when a non-confidence vote was taking place in the House of Commons. hobbitbabe pointed out that it was certainly interesting timing that this info was released on a day that the major news sources were occupied with a bigger story.

So, today we have another non-confidence vote. The government has been defeated. We're having an election. Oh, and today Mike Harris, himself, was supposed to testify at the Ipperwash Inquiry. It looks like he's been pushed back to January for reasons that aren't clear to me.

But former Attorney General Charles Harnick continued his testimony, today, about Harris' September 6th meeting about the Ipperwash occupation. Harris had a group of people in his dining room at Queen's Park. This meeting included two police officers responsible for handling the occupation: OPP Inspector Ron Fox and Inspector Scott Patrick. Later, Fox would record his perceptions of what they heard in the meeting, saying that the Premier believed that the government has "tried to pacify and pander to these people far too long" and that Harris wanted "swift, affirmative action" to end the occupation.

According to Harnick, Harris told the room, "I want the fucking Indians out of the park."

The comments were quickly called into question. In cross-examination, Harris's lawyer Peter Downard said that when his client gives testimony in January, he will deny uttering the words.

Harnick replied, "I heard what I heard."

He also said to Downard, "Do you know how difficult this has been for me?

"I have nothing but admiration for the premier. I've agonized over this."

Still, Harnick also suggested he had the "impression" the premier's words were said in anger and that afterwards Harris's demeanour changed.

"He knew what he said was wrong," Harnick said.