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Canada’s Senate has postponed until the fall a final vote on Windsor MP Brian Masse’s bill to create and protect an Ojibway National Urban Park.
With other pending legislation deemed more urgent ahead of the current session end, senators recently decided to wait to vote on Bill C-248 until after their 12-week summer break.
Negotiations to finalize amendments to the private members’ bill were taking more time than anticipated, according to Masse. Rather than a setback, however, Masse said it was a “wise move” that will allow more time to address specifics of the bill with the City of Windsor, the province, and other stakeholders.
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“We want this bill as quickly as possible, but at the same time, we don’t want to forego a better product at the end of the day,” he told the Windsor Star.
Over the past couple of months, witnesses have testified before the Senate’s standing committee on energy, the environment and natural resources, including Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, MPP Andrew Dowie (C — Windsor-Tecumseh), Caldwell First Nation Chief Mary Duckworth, and others.
During those meetings, concerns arose concerning privately owned parcels of land located inside the proposed boundaries outlined in Bill C-248. Masse said they are starting to receive the coordinates of these properties to make modifications.
Questions also surfaced regarding the City of Windsor’s ability to maintain access to critical infrastructure — hydro corridors, municipal roads, sewers, water lines and gas lines — within the proposed area.
At the most recent meeting on May 23, Dowie told senators that the provincial government requested that the bill be amended to exclude the Ojibway Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve from the description.
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Last year, the province indicated an interest in transferring the 105-hectare parcel, currently managed by Ontario Parks, for inclusion in the proposed Ojibway National Urban Park.
Since the provincial land — a significant part of the overall park — will be automatically surrendered to the federal government if Bill C-248 passes, Dowie is urging Parks Canada to negotiate an official land transfer with the province beforehand.
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Masse (NDP — Windsor West) said he hopes the extra time will help facilitate these discussions between the province and Parks Canada, which were delayed while waiting for the bill to reach the committee phase.
Although Masse said he is concerned the delay pushes the vote closer to the federal election scheduled for October 2025, he said the decision shows that “there’s really a genuine interest” among senators “to help Windsor achieve this goal.”
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