Still no action on Ipperwash inquiry

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New Ontario Premier Ernie Eves says he "is open" on the issue of whether to call a public inquiry into the shooting death of Dudley George, but he's steering away from an accounting any time soon.

Eves cites the wrongful death law suit against former premier Michael Harris and others in the matter as a reason to put an inquiry on hold.

"There is a civil lawsuit going on that precludes an inquiry from being called," Eves said at his first cabinet meeting in mid-April. After the civil proceedings conclude, it seems to depend on whether or not cabinet believes there is any information still to come out that Ontarians are "entitled to hear."

Some provincial police officers are said to be calling for the probe, since one of their members, Kenneth Dean, obtained a conviction for criminal negligence causing death and was made to quit the force after he shot George, 39, on Sept. 6, 1995.

Dudley George's brother Sam is disappointed. Five members of the family involved in the civil action have offered to suspend legal proceedings if they can have a public inquiry.

The attorney general has nixed that. David Young says too much effort has been expended in moving the civil action forward.