Indigenous member of Nipissing U’s board quits over Mike Harris controversy

Maurice Switzer quit Nipissing University's board of governors because of an interaction between an Indigenous student and former Premier Mike Harris.

Maurice Switzer, one of the 26 board of governors for Nipissing University, is resigning because of an interaction between an Indigenous student and former Ontario Premier Mike Harris.

Switzer, an Indigenous representative, said it’s not appropriate for him to stay on the board due to the university’s ties to Harris, who was premier during the Ipperwash crisis in the 1990s.

“It’s a blight on the university,” he told CTV News.

Switzer’s resignation comes three weeks after a student-led campus protest took place that called on the school to rename the Harris Learning Library and remove Harris’s honorary degree from the university.

Those demands came after First Nations student Cheyenne Sego had a negative interaction with Harris over the Ipperwash crisis and Dudley George’s shooting death by Ontario Provincial Police on Sept. 6, 1995.

The interaction took place at an event to celebrate a $2 million donation from the Joyce Family Foundation on March 20, which Harris attended on behalf of the foundation.

“People like Mr. Harris using other people’s money to burnish his legacy -- I call it ‘Mikewashing,’” Switzer said.

Last straw

“That was sort of the last straw I had as a board member.”

Sego is a member of Sagamok First Nation and Wikwemikong Unceded Territory and was at the event to receive the Ron Marleau Memorial Award.

She said she wanted to speak with Harris and initially thanked him for the contribution towards the bursary.

Sego said she then asked the former premier about how he planned to reconcile with Indigenous youth.

During the Ipperwash crisis, Harris allegedly said he wanted “the f---ng Indians out of the park,” hours before police moved in and shot 38-year-old protester Dudley George.

Harris and eight other witnesses have repeatedly denied that he ever made the racist comment. However, the head of the Ipperwash Inquiry said he believed Harris did make the remark.

Sego said Harris responded to her by saying he did want the protestors to leave and that First Nations people “were on Indian land.”

She then said he put his hands on her and she immediately reacted, telling him to never touch her again, before he “scoffed and walked away.”

In a previous statement from Harris, he told CTV News that the interaction took him “by surprise, as she approached me as I was leaving.”

Harris said he supports ongoing “efforts towards building a better, more inclusive future for all Indigenous communities.”

As someone who attended the Ipperwash commission when Harris testified, Switzer said the entire interaction left a sour taste in his mouth.

Badge of honour

“A lot of people in North Bay think it’s a wonderful badge of honour to have the local resident serve as premier,” he said.

“But unfortunately, not when you have things like deaths on your CV or your resume.”

Switzer was the board member appointed by the Nipissing University Indigenous Council on Education. He plans to remain chair of that committee as he said it’s his job to ensure the school’s 120 First Nations students feel welcome.

“The university is going to have to come to grips with that and understand that in this era of reconciliation, that name … on that library are anti-reconciliation actions,” Switzer said.

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The university said in early April that an investigation into the incident was underway.

In a statement, the school’s board of governors thanked Switzer for this time and service.

“The board and university look forward to continuing to work with Maurice in his capacity as chair of the Nipissing University Indigenous Council on Education as we endeavour to make the university a more welcoming place for Indigenous students,” board chair David Smits wrote.

Switzer has educated Indigenous studies classes about Ipperwash because he said it’s important that it is not forgotten.

He also plans to push the school to change its naming and gifting policies.

Meanwhile, an audit is currently being conducted by a third-party group, ParriagGroup.

The audit is reviewing Nipissing University’s level of inclusivity and accessibility on campus.

The school expects that a final report will be issued sometime during the summer.