The promise of an Ojibway National Urban Park on the city’s east end has come up on the campaign trail, as local candidates in the Windsor West riding promised their support to see the long-awaited green space finally opened.
During the Windsor-Essex Chamber of Commerce’s customary candidates debate held on Tuesday, five candidates from the riding squared off on some of the most talked about topics heading into this federal election — like housing, immigration and the tariff war.
But on one issue at least, they all seemed in agreement — the opening of Ojibway National Urban Park.
“The biggest thing we’ll do is retable my bill,” said NDP candidate and incumbent Brian Masse. “The Senate has the bill already, it’s all set to go.”
Masse was referring to a pre-election private member’s bill he brought forward to create the park. That bill had passed its third and final reading and was on its way to the Senate before Parliament was prorogued. At the same time, the Liberals say the park is already being created through a process with Parks Canada and will open this year.
At Tuesday’s debate, Masse said his bill would put Ojibway on par with a park like Point Pelee, and that he has the support of Windsor’s city council.
“So we’d be guaranteed for the future, it would have the investments necessary to make sure that the proper planning is done, Indigenous consultation, and it’s going to get the support that’s necessary to make sure that it’s going to protect the species at risk — 550 in particular.”
Conservative candidate Harb Gill also pledged to see the park open.
“I can promise you this, whether Brian’s elected or not, I will, as your Member of Parliament, help bring that across the finish line because that park belongs to all of us,” said Gill. ” It should not be a divisive issue as far as politics goes.”
Gill said partisan politics has no place when it comes to the environment or park spaces, and emphasized the need for an fiscally responsible plan for the park that includes local stakeholders and Indigenous communities.
“That is the way forward and that is my promise that we shall bring it forward,” he said.
The Windsor-Essex Chamber of Commerce hosted its traditional all-candidates debate on Tuesday, welcoming candidates across the three Windsor-Essex ridings for a day of discussion and debate. In Windsor West, a riding to watch, five candidates took the stage while two were not invited to participate. The CBC’s Jennifer La Grassa reports.
Green Party candidate Louay Ahmad said Ojibway is important to him, and questioned the Liberal government’s promise to open the park — a promise made before this election began.
“I think it’s particularly suspicious that in an election year, something so important to us is, as my contemporary here said, is being left up to partisan politics,” said Ahmad. “So please ask yourself, if you can’t trust these people to protect nature where we’re at, how can we trust them to protect nature across our country or around the world?”
Liberal candidate Richard Pollock doubled down on his party’s pre-election promise.
“As we can trust Mark Carney, the United Nations selected him to be the special envoy with respect to the environment, and Mark Carney is committed to opening 10 urban national parks in Canada and 15 new national parks,” he said.
“But the real fact here is the government, the Liberal government, before the election was called, committed to Ojibway, committed the monies necessary to Ojibway. Ojibway will be open by the end of the year and with your support and your vote, I’ll be there to open it.”
People’s Party of Canada candidate Jacob Bezaire wrapped up this section of the debate well:
“As far as I’m aware, there’s not a single party or person against the Ojibway, so … that’s all,” said Bezaire.
There are two other candidates in Windsor West hoping to grab the seat, who were not invited to the chamber’s debate. They are Margaret Villamizar with the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada and Joey Markham with the Communist Party of Canada.
Windsor’s mayor casts doubt on 2025 opening
In March, before the election was called, the federal environment minister visited Windsor to to reaffirm millions in funding for the proposed Ojibway National Urban Park, joined by Chief Nikki van Oirschot of Caldwell First Nation.
Steven Guilbeault confirmed $36.1 million in funding over five years for Ojibway National Urban Park, as well as $4.6 million a year in ongoing long-term funding. The funding was first announced in the federal budget last April.
Irek Kusmierczyk, who is now seeking re-election as the Liberal MP for Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore, promised the park would open this year.
He said at the time that Parks Canada would be able to move forward to get the governance agreements in place, to set the boundaries of the park and to complete it and to operate it year after year.
Following that announcement, Windsor’s Mayor Drew Dilkens took aim at the pace of progress on the park and cast doubt on whether it would be completed in time.
“This work needs to happen and I want to reaffirm our commitment to seeing the national urban park happen. We have been proud stewards of this land since 1957,” said Dilkens. “There is no way we were walking away or giving up on that prospect today. But we need to see work happen and they can’t be hollow pre election promises.”
A spokesperson for the city said Friday that outstanding issues include “ensuring all associated lands are included within the boundaries of the National Urban Park, formalizing a plan for the city’s role with the site and safeguarding barrier-free access to the community in perpetuity.”
“The city remains committed to working collaboratively toward the development of the ONUP. While progress continues, a number of key items, including those listed above, remain unresolved, and at this time, there are no further updates to share.”
After the election was called, Masse said that Parks Canada is facing budget and staffing cuts, data that appears to come from a departmental planning report which normally outlines expected staffing levels for the following three years. He noted it’s one of the reasons his legislative pathway is best for the property.
