The chair of the Windsor Police Services Board says there are still "a lot of things to be answered" when it comes to the service operating a police helicopter.
Jo-Anne Gignac says they still don't have all information they need to sign an agreement with the province.
The 2025 Ontario Budget released May 15 included $57 million for two new H-135 helicopters to support Niagara Regional Police and Windsor Police with increased patrols, security and enforcement at key entry points at the Canada-U.S. border.
Gignac says her understanding is that it's for border security.
"The question becomes, is the municipal police force, should that helicopter have the police badge on the side? Should it be OPP? Should it be the mounted police who are under federal jurisdictional oversight? So there are still a lot of things to be answered," she says.
Gignac says there's still a lot of things to be answered about how the operation will be funded.
"The early conversations are municipalities, in terms of policing costs and other costs, it's just getting to the point where downloading of different responsibilities that were never part of our municipal responsibilities are coming left and right, so we have to be very careful," she says.
Shortly after the budget announcement, Chief Jason Bellaire indicated he didn't know what the staffing for this type of operation-in the helicopter and on the ground-would look like or the timeline for when the service would receive it.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford indicated in December 2024, as well as in February of this year, that Windsor Police would be getting a helicopter to address border security.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened hefty tariffs unless security at the border was improved.