Police and Globalization

The government of Canada has mismanaged native affairs in several different ways including how they have been policed. There have been a few controversial incidents in recent history where native protests have become violent and it can be argued that police made mistakes in an effort to maintain peace. These incidents include the Oka Crisis, the Dudley George shooting and the Caledonia land claim dispute. The Oka Crisis took place during the summer of 1990. It was a land claim dispute between the Mohawk nation and the town of Oka Quebec. The protest resulted in one police officer dead and many others injured. The second incident occurred in September of 1995 and was dubbed the Ipperwash Crisis and resulted in the shooting death of native protester Dudley George. This was yet another land claim dispute that became a violent clash between the Police and Natives. Currently there is an ongoing land claim dispute in Caledonia that at times has become violent. These violent situations could have been avoided if better policy from the government.

The Oka Crisis took place over the summer of 1990. The conflict arose because of a planned expansion of the Oka Golf Club. The land planned on being used to expand the course in what the Mohawk nation referred to as the Pines (Winegard 2008, iv). Mohawk nation believed the land belonged to them as it was used as a burial ground for members that had passed away. Members of the Mohawk nation began to protest interrupting work that was taking place on the Pines. On July 11th the SQ (Surete du Quebec) Quebec’s police force conducted operation DORE 90-4 a plan to remove the protesters (Winegard 2008, 107). The SQ would discover that The Mohawks were armed as Corporal Marcel Lemay was shot and killed. The question is who is responsible for this death. Confrontations with natives are very sensitive issues. There has been a long history of distrust between the Native society and the rest of Canada. Since European contact most