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Photo by Dan Janisse /Windsor Star
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It’s official.
After years of dreaming, lobbying and politicking for a grand protected natural area, funding set aside in Tuesday’s federal budget has cleared the path for Windsor to become the second city in Canada to host a national urban park.
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Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s 2024 federal budget earmarks $36.1 million over the next five years for Parks Canada to create an Ojibway National Urban Park in Windsor.
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“This is it, we’re guaranteed a park,” said MP Irek Kusmierczyk (L — Windsor-Tecumseh).
“The funding was the last barrier,” he told the Windsor Star in a phone interview. “This gives Parks Canada all the resources and the impetus that they need to finish the job, and to put all the pieces together so that we can open an Ojibway National Urban Park within a year, maybe sooner.
“My strong belief is that by next summer we’ll be able to take our kids and grandkids to an Ojibway National Urban Park right here in Windsor.”
The budget also allocates $8.25 million for remaining amortization and $4.6 million in ongoing funds to manage the urban green space. The funding ensures that Parks Canada can fully cover the expenses to operate, manage and staff Ojibway National Urban Park.
Windsor will follow Toronto to become the second Canadian city to establish a national urban park within municipal boundaries. The Rouge National Urban Park opened in May 2015 and now welcomes the public for free, 365 days per year.
“This puts Windsor-Essex on the map,” said Kusmierczyk. “We are one of the very, very few fortunate communities that will have a national urban park.
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“It’s historic.”
Photo by Dan Janisse /Windsor Star
The first steps toward establishing a national urban park in Windsor began more than three years ago after years of lobbying by local nature lovers.
Windsor was chosen by the federal government in August 2021 as one of six communities — including Halifax, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, and Victoria — for its new National Urban Park Program.
The green space covers an 865-acre footprint of Windsor’s Ojibway Prairie Complex in the city’s west end, along with a number of surrounding natural parcels of land.
“There’s never been a park in Canada that has been created so quickly as Ojibway National Urban Park,” Kusmierczyk said. Windsor, he added, is the only municipality chosen for the federal government’s program that has advanced beyond the pre-feasibility phase.
Kusmierczyk said this is the culmination of more than two decades of advocacy in the community from groups, including Friends of Ojibway Prairie, Essex Region Conservation Authority, Essex County Field Naturalists, Citizens Environment Alliance, Little River Enhancement Group, as well as local member of Parliament Brian Masse.
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“This is terribly exciting for all of the people who have worked so hard for over a decade,” said MP Brian Masse (NDP — Windsor West), who has been at the forefront of lobbying efforts to establish an urban park in Windsor.
“There were a lot of people pushing for this dream.
We’ve been blessed with the advocacy of the community behind all this.
In February 2022, Masse proposed a private member’s bill to make a national urban park in Windsor a reality through legislation.
On Thursday, the Canadian Senate will vote on Bill C-248, which would bake Ojibway National Urban Park into federal legislation, protecting it from potential undoing by future governments.
“That’s why we want to make sure that we do this properly,” he said. “And that’s why it’s exciting to see the bill continue.
“It’s got the eye and the attention of the nation now.”
Last week, Masse launched a petition for residents to sign, pushing for the bill to advance to the committee stage following its stagnation in the Senate since October.
“This is what happens when when you have strong partnerships on the ground, when you have strong organizations and a united community advocating together,” said Kusmierczyk.
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“It’s incredible when you think about the fact that, 10 years ago, Ojibway Shores was under threat of being converted into industrial lands. It’s amazing what our community has been able to pull off here.”
Funding for the new national park marks just the latest of several large-scale federal investments in Windsor-Essex County.
Next year, Kusmierczyk expects to “cut the red ribbon” at the Ojibway National Urban Park, the Gordie Howe International Bridge, and the NextStar Energy EV battery plant within months of each other.
He added that this also represents a significant stride toward repairing relationships with Indigenous communities.
“Ojibway National Urban Park is reconciliation in action,” said Kusmierczyk.
“Every single day that that park is open this whole process is walking the path of reconciliation, because Caldwell and Walpole Island First Nations will share the governance.”
In March, Caldwell First Nation signed a landmark agreement with Parks Canada to help co-manage the Ojibway National Urban Park in Windsor, alongside Walpole First Nation.
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The memorandum of understanding marked their shared commitment to overseeing conservation efforts and the operation of the protected natural area in the city’s west end.
Now that the federal government has earmarked funds to fully operate Ojibway National Urban Park, Kusmierczyk said the speed at which it opens now lies within local control.
The final steps to prepare Ojibway National Urban Park for its official opening includes settling the particulars of the co-governance structure with Caldwell First Nation. The federal government will also work with the provincial government to finalize the land transfers and lock in the park’s boundaries.
The Ontario government announced last April that it would hand over the Ojibway Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve for the national urban park.
Another vital piece of land — Ojibway Shores — was transferred from Transport Canada and Port Windsor to Parks Canada. The 33-acre natural area boasts roughly seven acres of shoreline waterfront.
The Town of LaSalle also offered to hand over some pieces of town greenery, adjacent to the town’s northern boundary with Windsor, to Parks Canada for inclusion in the Ojibway National Urban Park.
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When it comes to adding more acreage to the Ojibway National Urban Park, Kusmierczyk said “everything is on the table. We want to expand the park’s footprint.
“That’s definitely something that we’re pushing for. This funding will allow us to have those conversations and enter into those agreements if the right opportunity presents itself.”
He said this could provide an opportunity for private homeowners to turn some of their land over to the national urban park as a legacy.
“Ojibway National Urban Park will … expand over time. This really is just the beginning.
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