Ojibway National Urban Park to be designated, open this year: MP
Work has been underway to create a national urban park in Windsor since 2021
The Windsor-Essex community will see the opening of a national urban park this year, Windsor-Tecumseh Liberal MP Irek Kusmierczyk says.
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault was in Windsor over the weekend to reaffirm millions in funding for the proposed Ojibway National Urban Park, joined by Chief Nikki van Oirschot of Caldwell First Nation, as well as MP Irek Kusmierczyk.
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, and at the time was the first time federal funding had been dedicated to the park.
Kusmierczyk is pushing for the park to open as early as the fall, he told CBC Windsor Morning on Monday.
"This year we're going to have an Ojibway National Urban Park that's open," he said.
"We're going to have a Gordie Howe International Bridge that's open. And we'll have a battery plant that is fully open. So I feel very bullish about — very optimistic about where Windsor Essex is going."
Parks Canada now has all the resources that it needs to get agreements signed, 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, he said
Work has been underway to establish a national urban park in Windsor since 2021 and in 2023, the last piece of undeveloped shoreline, Ojibway Shores, was transferred to Parks Canada for inclusion in the park.
In March 2024 Caldwell First National and Parks Canada signed a memorandum of understanding working toward the park.
"Caldwell First Nation is committed to ensuring that Anishinaabe perspectives and knowledge are embedded in the governance, management, and protection of this national urban park," said Chief Nikki van Oirschot. "We view this as an opportunity to restore balance, to honour the teachings of our ancestors, and to ensure that future generations inherit a relationship with these lands that is grounded in respect, sustainability, and cultural strength.
"Our active participation is not optional, it is necessary, and it is time that our voices lead the way in shaping the future of these lands."