Gretzky pledges NDP’s commitment to National Urban Park, transfer of provincial parcel to Parks Canada

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If the NDP forms government in June, transferring a provincially owned parcel of greenspace to Parks Canada to form a national urban park would be a priority, the incumbent candidate for Windsor West says.

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Standing at an entrance to the Ojibway Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve on Monday, Lisa Gretzky said her party is committed to doing its part to establishing a national urban park in Windsor by contributing Ontario’s piece of the puzzle.

“These are wonderful pieces of land,” Gretzky said. “If they are well connected, the people in our community and from outside of our community will be able to appreciate them and the wildlife — we’ll have an opportunity to enjoy this for years to come.”

A sign by the nature reserve’s Malden Road entrance says the province acquired the land in 1974, and that it is home to thousands of species, including 2,000 insect species and more than 700 plant species. In addition to the provincial property, the hoped-for Ojibway National Urban Park — about 900 acres total — would include Ojibway Shores, Black Oak Heritage Park, Ojibway Park, Tallgrass Prairie Park, and Spring Garden Natural Area.

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Gretzky has for years supported MP Brian Masse (NDP — Windsor West) in pushing for a national urban park in the city. While such a park would be in federal hands, Gretzky said her office de ella has heard from residents who feel it’s important the province transfers its land to Parks Canada.

“That’s something the New Democrats are committed to making happen very quickly,” she said.

Last week, Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault announced a memorandum of understanding had been signed between Transport Canada and Parks Canada to transfer a 33-acre Ojibway Shores property — an outstanding piece of the urban national park jigsaw owned by the Windsor Port Authority — with the goal being to preserve the land in a natural state. For years prior, that land had been targeted for industrial use.

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Parks Canada has been tasked with finding another local property that can be swapped with the port authority to compensate it for the loss of Ojibway Shores.

When asked by Masse on Friday if the federal Liberals would support his private member’s bill with proposed legislation to create the urban park, Liberal House Leader Mark Holland said they would “work with (Masse) on this important issue,” and, “absolutely we ‘ll move forward and (look) at this national park.”

The provincial NDP last week announced their full support for Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens’s Platform4Windsor, five key city issues he’s asked each party to endorse. One platform item asks is that the province integrate its West-end holdings into the new national urban park.

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