Caldwell First Nation and Parks Canada have signed an agreement to work towards shared governance of the proposed Ojibway National Urban Park.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on the Northwest Beach of Point Pelee National Park on Monday afternoon, with Caldwell representatives calling it a "significant achievement", which gives members an opportunity to "have a voice in the protection and management of the cultural and natural heritage" of the urban park.
This agreement speaks to the relationship between Caldwell First Nation and Parks Canada in working towards ongoing collaboration for the proposed national urban park.
The MOU was signed after over a year and a half of discussions between Caldwell and Parks Canada.
Chief of Caldwell First Nation, Mary Duckworth, says it was a great day that meant a lot to Caldwell after two years of speaking with Parks Canada of what this MOU could look like.
"Parks Canada was always willing to come to the table and Caldwell was always willing to sit down and work on advancing our relationship so that it's very strong, so that going forward that there will be a co-governance model, or an understanding, of how we will conduct business and how we will take care of each other in the lands."
Caroline Macintosh, Executive Director for Protected Areas Establishment at Parks Canada, says Parks Canada are looking to remediate some of the wrongs of the past that have been done.
"Going forward all parks that are being established new, and there are many, as you know we have a broad 30 by 30 agenda to create 10 new national parks, 10 new marine conservation areas and 15 urban parks by 2030. And as we work forward on all of those we're working in collaboration with First Nations and Indigenous partners across the country."
Brian Masse, Windsor West MP, says this Bill needs to be approved quickly.
"We're hoping that actually we're going to see some movement on it. I've been in touch with a number of different individuals, and if we can we're going to try and get it done this session of Parliament."
Windsor was selected as one of six communities by the federal government for its new National Urban Park Program back in 2021, and steps to see the creation of Ojibway Urban National Park come to fruition have been ongoing since.
Windsor West MP Brian Masse's Bill C-248, which would see the park be fully protected by the federal government under the Canada National Parks' Act and supported by Parks Canada, has been in senate since early last year.
-with files from CTV Windsor's Sanjay Maru & AM800's Meagan Delaurier