Camp Ipperwash
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Canadian Forces Camp Ipperwash existed from 1942 until 1995. It was built on land belonging to the Stoney Creek First Nation and was expropriated in 1942 under the War Measures Act. It was to be returned to the Stoney Creek Band when it was no longer needed. It was a Basic Training Centre for troops from western Ontario, Military District #1. It also saw service as a training area for the Royal Canadian Regiment of London, Ontario.
It was generally thought after WW II ended the camp would be returned to the Indian people, however the Department of National Defence found it necessary to keep it open. During the Korean War it was used as the Home Depot of the 2nd Canadian Rifle Batallion, which unit later adopted the name of The Queens Own Rifles of Canada.
Following the Korean War it was used as a training camp for the Royal Canadian Army Cadets. This use continued until 1992 at which time the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point pressured the federal government to return the land. Part of the land had been made into a Provincial Park and is reputed to contain an Indian burial ground. Some violent protests occurred in the early 1990s and the federal government agreed to return the land by 1995.
See Ipperwash Crisis. The land claim was settled in 1998. In 2004 a judicial inquiry began into the shooting of an unarmed protester, Dudley George, by Ontario Provincial Police in 1995.
The Army Cadet Training Centre was moved to Blackdown Park at Canadian Forces Base Borden, Ontario. During its time as a Cadet training centre, over 75,000 cadets trained at Camp Ipperwash.