A local member of the Ontario legislature has solidified his support for giving protected status to a west Windsor area.
Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Andrew Dowie has tabled a motion asking Queens Park to consider integrating the Ojibway Prairie Nature Reserve as part of the Ojibway National Urban Park. He said it's a key step in the process in bringing the area under the control of Parks Canada.
Dowie told WindsorNewsToday.ca, however, that he tabled a motion because it cleared up a concern about land management.
"The sole difference is really on the land ownership piece," said Dowie, of the PC. "The process for land management has not yet begun at all, and the ministry was not comfortable with making a commitment to an outcome this early in the process, without going through the consultation."
Dowie's NDP colleague, Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky, introduced a motion of her own last month, but Dowie said he was not made aware of it and would have liked the chance to work with Gretzky on it.
"I think the barrier here was that she was one of the first, if not the first, who had to remit their private member's bill," said Dowie. "And so, given how quickly that deadline came up, I did not have any sort of an opportunity to contribute to it. I was unaware of it until I read about it in the media and on the Order Paper."
If any legislation is passed, the national urban park will include the area currently occupied by Ojibway Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve, Spring Garden Natural Area, Black Oak Heritage Park, the Tallgrass Prairie Park and Ojibway Shores. The latter represents the last remaining undeveloped shoreline along the Detroit River.
A bill in Ottawa to create the national urban park, sponsored by Windsor West MP Brian Masse, most recently passed second reading and was headed to committee.
Editor's Note: Previously WindsorNewsToday.ca previously reported the motion would create the Ojibway Prairie Nature Reserve. MPP Andrew Dowie's office corrected the wording of a previous communication.