TORONTO — Sam George's decade-long campaign to uncover the truth behind his brother's death at the hands of a police sniper reaches a crescendo this week as Mike Harris submits to the scrutiny of the Ipperwash inquiry.

During four days of testimony, the former Ontario premier will face a gallery of spectators, a room full of lawyers and damning allegations he uttered an obscene slur in demanding native protesters be removed from a provincial park.

On Tuesday, Sam George will assume his preferred seat at the judicial probe into the 1995 fatal police shooting of his brother - directly in front of the witness stand.

"It's going to be close," George said of his front-row view of the proceedings, just metres away from where Harris will sit. "We managed to get him up here. I want to see him on the stand, giving his answers."

Those answers have been long coming for the George family, who for years sought a public inquiry into the Sept. 6, 1995 confrontation between Ontario Provincial Police and native occupiers that culminated in the death of Dudley George.

The extent to which Harris directed the police response to the occupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park has been a key issue at the Forest, Ont.,-based inquiry, which has seen some 100 witnesses provide testimony spanning 20 months.

Last November, former attorney general Charles Harnick stunned the inquiry in testifying he heard Harris say "I want the f**king Indians out of the park" during an emergency meeting held just hours before George was shot.

That allegation has become the unofficial focus of the probe in recent months, with ensuing witnesses who attended the so-called "dining room" meeting consistently questioned, and re-questioned about Harris's words.

Former solicitor general Bob Runciman testified he doesn't recall any such comment being made. Runciman's former deputy Elaine Todres attributed similar obscene words to Chris Hodgson, then minister of natural resources.

Hodgson told the inquiry that neither he, nor Harris, uttered any slurs concerning the protesters.

Harris's lawyer, Peter Downard, told the inquiry his client will testify "he does not recall saying anything like that in the meeting."

Still, the George family wants to hear Harris respond to the allegation.

"We've had some pretty strong evidence, come out from a very reliable witness, saying that Mr. Harris made these statements," Sam George said. "Now we're going to have the opportunity to listen to what Mr. Harris has to say about them."

The allegation has shone the spotlight on the Sept. 6 meeting in the premier's dining room, attended by Harris, his executive assistant, three cabinet ministers, their deputies, and two plain clothes O.P.P. officers seconded to the Ministry of the Solicitor General.

"The dining room meeting in the premier's office was critical, quite possibly," said George family lawyer Murray Klippenstein. "When the most powerful man in the province (speaks), you know he expects to be listened to."

During his testimony, Harnick defended his former boss in saying he believed the offensive words were spoken in anger, and that Harris quickly realized his mistake.

Still, Klippenstein argues that such an outburst, if it was made, could have enormous repercussions.

"When, and if, the premier said these things, did that get pipelined to the police commanders and police officers on the ground with the guns? Did it affect their behaviour? Was it the critical tipping-point factor that made the difference between Dudley George dying and not dying?"

Those are among the most pressing questions facing Harris this week as he is cross-examined by a battery of lawyers at the inquiry.

Even if the former premier fails to provide any further insights into George's death, Klippenstein says the inquiry has uncovered "a lot of truths that could never had been brought out any other way."

"For people, native and non-native, who care about the benefits of truth in a public process, we think the benefits of this inquiry are great."