A member of city council wants to see a large piece of land up for sale near the former Windsor Raceway purchased and added to the proposed Ojibway National Urban Park.
Four parcels of land totaling 43.39 acres, or 17.5 hectares, were listed for sale on November 14. The lands are located along Ojibway Parkway, Sprucewood Avenue, and Matchett Road and border the proposed national urban park, but do not include the former raceway track property.
The price is $17 million for all the land, but the listing by CBRE says the property can be acquired as a consolidated land assembly, or each parcel can be purchased individually.
Ward 1 Councillor Fred Francis says he spoke with Mayor Drew Dilkens and city staff, and they're all on the same page on this.
"There are meetings happening with Parks Canada to see if some of that money that's allocated to the Ojibway National Urban Park can be used to acquire these lands," he says. "I believe there's around $32 million that's allocated for Ojibway through Parks Canada that's just sitting in a bank account right now. It's not money that has to be budgeted for; it's money that's just there."
In March 2025, the federal government had pledged $36.1 million over five years to establish the park, along with $4.6 million in annual operating funds.
Francis says it's a 'no-brainer' to have that property and fold it into the city's Ojibway Nature Reserve or make it part of a national urban park.
"It would certainly increase the biodiversity in the City of Windsor and would protect species at risk pretty much forever. If we're looking at an Ojibway National Urban Park, this is a great opportunity for the province and the federal government to step in," he says.
Francis says the ideal situation is that they acquire these lands in some way.
"Right now, it's just an opportunity, but we have to get more into the detail of what that looks like and if we can actually do it or not. I'm not going to lie to you or sugarcoat it; the city doing this on its own would be very, very difficult-not impossible, but difficult," he says. "Certainly, would be made a whole lot easier if the provincial government and the federal government would step up."
A private member's bill to form the Ojibway National Urban Park was put forward by former Windsor West New Democrat MP Brian Masse. Bill C-248 had passed the third and final reading but was stuck at the committee level before the federal election was called in March 2025.