44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 17, 2024
- This bill, known as Bill C-248, aims to amend the Canada National Parks Act to establish the Ojibway National Urban Park of Canada. The park will be located in the Province of Ontario and will consist of various parcels of land in the City of Windsor. The bill provides specific coordinates and descriptions of the boundaries of the park. Its purpose is to protect and preserve this area as a national park for the benefit of the public.
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- Nay (10)
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague and the Green Party for supporting Bill C-248 since the very beginning and the Ojibway national urban park. They were instrumental in getting that done.
She is quite correct that it is not a double standard, by any means, to do this. It is a challenge. I have seen a game going on for a lot of years where if a member votes against the budget, they vote against everything in the budget. That is not true. There are many things, even with this budget, that the Conservatives would do, the Liberals would do and others would do back and forth. I think that argument is rather tired. It has been used against me repeatedly, but I have been able to get back here. Some have even said that I voted against the bridge, which I have been working on for a long period of time.
I think people are smart enough to know this, so it is not a double standard by any means. I am glad they are supporting it and they can differentiate between the two.
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Mr. Speaker, I am happy to rise on Bill C-47.
First, I want to thank members here in the chamber and those who are not for supporting Bill C-248, my private member's bill on the Ojibway national urban park, which passed almost unanimously. I thank members for that.
It is good to talk about how this place can work. I have worked, at the industry committee, on a couple of Conservative bills, one from the member of Essex, and I am glad that this Parliament is continuing, because that work will continue. However, if we do not support the budget bill, it is very clear what happens. As I hear from many members from all political sides, what they say in the chamber and sometimes in public is not the same thing as we hear in private. They are glad we are not going to an election for a lot of reasons, and they will talk about that quite openly because the consequence would be losing all private members' legislation.
I have worked with a couple of Conservative members, in particular, on their private member's bill, which are quite good. They are excellent, and a good step forward in making a difference for Canadians. One is on affordability and one is on interoperability with regard to sharing information on farming and other things. Lastly, there is one related to tax incentives, which is important for a number of reasons.
I think it is important to note, as I start to think about why I am supporting this bill, that there are some things I do not like in a bill and there are things I do like in a bill. That has been the same for me in this place for over 20 years for any government that has come forward. It does not matter which one it has been, whether it was Jean Chrétien's when I first got here or, most recently, that of the member for Papineau, the current Prime Minister. There are certain things I do like and certain things I do not like in a bill. However, overall, I am pretty proud of the NDP being able to use this opportunity to get things passed that were defeated in the previous Parliament, whether it is dental care or more housing initiatives.
They are not all of the things we wanted and asked for, and we wanted other things to go with them, but we are 25 members moving this country forward. Also, imagine going through another election during a pandemic with no results and it costing hundreds of millions of dollars. The Speaker would have to go through another election for the Speaker position, and we would have all the rigamarole to get the House back in operating form, for probably a regular scenario like we have here.
I have seen in this chamber other political parties get a lot less or not do anything. I remember that during the Harper minority years, the Liberals supported Harper over 100 times without an amendment. Over 100 times they supported the government de facto, letting it operate as a majority government without any challenges. During that time, Harper brought in the HST, a new tax on consumers, and even taxed hospital parking lots, which are no longer taxed. I could go on with a bunch of things that happened with no resistance whatsoever from the Liberals at that time. We sat next to each other in the old chamber, and I remember asking why they were not doing anything about it. They said they did not want to be bothered right now. We bother because we have to fight for things.
When I got here, there were only 14 New Democrats, and we played our role, as anybody in opposition, in trying to hold the government to account for a lot of reasons, such as making change and so forth. Then, when Jack Layton joined us, there was a real change in where we were. With where we stand today, we want to make propositions as well as be in opposition. That is what Jack instilled in many of the members here today.
With the culture we now work in on a regular basis, we look at this as an opportunity to get what Tommy Douglas wanted. Tommy Douglas wanted eye care, dental care and pharmacare as part of the full package, and that is part of what drove us as New Democrats. It was the understanding that our freedom, our sense of well-being and our health are so critically important, not only to us and our families but also to the economy and society, that they should be the number one things protected. That is one of the reasons Tommy Douglas was voted the number one Canadian, with the population supporting him as Canada's favourite Canadian.
We are now realizing a part of that dream that never came to fruition. It is important to recognize that each province does have some elements of dental care and some elements that are stronger than others. However, this is not across the whole country from coast to coast to coast.
In the area I represent, I have a lot of child poverty and a lot of single mothers. A lot of people, including my own hygienist, do not have dental coverage. These things are wrong because they affect human health, everything from one's heart to wellness to how one feels as a person. This is all preventable.
This is money that goes back in the economy. Yes, it does cost the government money and there is a cost and expenditure there, but it is not a tax cut, which is something the Conservatives and the Liberals have done in the past. In fact, Stéphane Dion was arguing with I think Michael Ignatieff at the time about tax cuts not going deep enough and fast enough.
When there are a lot of U.S. corporations and taxes on worldwide profits, some of our industries send money back to Washington. Instead of doing that, I would rather invest in dental care, as an example, because it saves jobs and lowers the cost of jobs in Canada for foreign investment and other investment.
Earlier in the debate today, we talked about the Volkswagen plant that is coming in. I have been after a national auto policy and I do not want to see one-offs. I would rather see a strategic investment, especially when it comes to batteries and the platinum age of auto, which we are in right now. In the calculations to do the deal here is the cost of labour. When we look at the productivity of Unifor and other labour organizations in the auto sector, yes, their wages and benefits are a little higher, but they also produce significantly more and better than their counterparts.
On top of that, when there are programs with subsidies going to the worker instead of the corporation, we control those subsidies and those subsidies are not going off to other countries. They are staying here and are investing in people. Those people with those subsidies are better off regarding production and making sure we can be economically viable.
There is also the social justice argument, which should be a no-brainer. How anybody in this chamber can accept dental benefits for their own children but deny others the same thing is beyond me. I do not understand how they can come to this place and check that at door every single time. We know we get a privilege benefit from the taxpayers, but we tell them they cannot have that. By the way, we still have not fixed eye care. We do not have that either. That is wrong. We should lead by example, and leading by example means providing things that would be fair and balanced.
Coming from the border town of Windsor, Ontario, in Essex County, where we have to compete against American jobs every single day, I know from talking to executives that they want health care in this country because they know it means a lower production cost for their workers in the United States, Mexico and other places. It means less turnover and less loss of skills and abilities. Especially with an unemployment rate now of 4% to 5% and having a problem attracting workers, this is key. That is what dental care adds to the equation. It will also bring better stability at the bargaining table.
The government needs to get on this and help negotiate a settlement agreement for its workers, because we are not going to see any value in keeping the public service out right now. It is not going to pay off whatsoever, and the government needs to change that.
The point is that, yes, there is a surface cost to paying for Canadians to get dental care for themselves and their families, but it is an investment back in them, our communities and our economy versus a net loss. That is one of the reasons I will support this budget. It is going to complete at least one chapter of Tommy Douglas's dream.
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I declare the motion carried.
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Pursuant to order made on Thursday, June 23, 2022, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at third reading stage of Bill C‑248 under Private Members' Business.
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Pursuant to order made on Thursday, June 23, 2022, the recorded division stands deferred until Wednesday, April 26, at the expiry of the time provided for Oral Questions.
It being 2:18 p.m., the House stands adjourned until next Monday at 11 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).
(The House adjourned at 2:18 p.m.)
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise here today. I want to, first, thank all my colleagues who have spoken on this bill in the previous hour of debate and this hour of debate. I have much gratitude for them getting to know my area.
This area is the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of first nations, which includes the Ojibway, the Odawa and the Potawatomi. As appropriately put, this is part of reconciliation. This is a story that is very important because it shows that we can do better.
For my part, I am thankful for the timing of this taking place. One of my heroes is Chief Duckworth. I want to thank Walpole Island First Nation as well. Chief Duckworth from Caldwell First Nation was left out of the consultation for the Gordie Howe bridge. We got to know each other when I invited them to come down to the community benefits, where they did not receive any invitation. We crashed the event together; I would not go in without them. The council let them in. That was the start of a very good relationship with Caldwell First Nations. More needs to be done, but it is a good start.
It is also a great tribute to my past mentor, Senator Earl "Boots" Scofield, who was a Métis senator. He also flew 17 missions in World War II in the bubble of a Mosquito bomber.
I want to quickly thank Janet Sumner and Dave Pearce from the Wildlands League, who have also been partners from the start and amazing heroes of mine. I thank the City of Windsor Council, and Mayor Dilkens, Councillor McKenzie and Councillor Francis in particular. Mayor Dilkens has been instrumental in this. I am grateful for the work that we have done, because this has included our region. The city has been at the forefront, giving up land, and that has been important.
I want to thank Lisa Gretzky, in my provincial Parliament, my colleague for Windsor West, who has always been wonderful to work with. She has been very involved in this. I want to thank MPP Andrew Dowie and also Minister Piccini in the Province of Ontario, who authorized the transfer of land that is coming up.
Of course the Friends of the Rouge are important. The Unifor Environmental Committee with Mark Bartlett, Rick Labonte, Ric St. Denis, Dave Cassidy and others were huge with this.
There is Green Ummah, who have gotten young people involved. There is the Friends of Ojibway, Claire McAllister, Paul Pratt and Mike Fisher. There is Save Ojibway community group. There is Jonathan Choquette from the Wildlife Preservation Canada, and John Hartig, another hero of mine. He is an American who has a Canadian part of his heart.
There is Bill Rousel, Phil Roberts, Derek Coronado, Frank Butler and the Citizens Environmental Alliance. We also have the Detroit River Canadian Cleanup and Windsor Essex Bike Community.
I want to again talk about some of the MPs here. The member for Essex has been instrumental in this, which is very important because the land that he represents is very close to this. I want to thank him for this, and his Bill C-241. It has been fun working together. It is hard to say “fun” in this place sometimes, but it does happen.
I want to thank the member for Windsor—Tecumseh for coming on board. We will need his support in the Senate, as well as for the whole area and this House.
I want to thank numerous ministers that I have had discussions with, even though originally there was a difficulty in getting the government onside. I am glad it is, and look forward to the vote. As well, I thank the Conservatives, Bloc and Green and the two Liberals who voted for it earlier. It is very important.
I do want to say that there is one person who has been a custodian and who sometimes gets overlooked, Peter Berry at the Port Authority. He is a hero. He is actually a former service person from Canada's military, and served in Bosnia. He is very much a hero.
I want to thank Parks Canada staff. I cannot say who is watching right now, but I think people are watching, including my partner, Terry Chow, my good friend, Jeff Mussen, and of course my daughter and son, Alex and Wade.
I want to quickly note Mo Peer and Melanie, the lead in my office, as well as Darlene, Eva, Farah, Heather and Myrna.
I cannot get through everything, but I do want to conclude soon. I want to say that we have been consulting on this a long time. There are so many other people I wish I had time to recognize. Please forgive me if I did not say someone's name.
The reality is we have done consultations for thousands of people. There were public meetings, interactions and a whole number of different social events and other things that brought us to this point. I am looking forward to us working together further.
I am going to read a quick poem to close things out. It is from Marty Gervais, a historian in Windsor, who is very much part of the fabric of our history. There are also four other persons who helped collaborate on a book. It is called Pathway:
I don't know where this pathway leads as I walk alone. Trees keep me company, offer shelter from wind, and there is sunlight enough to soften shadows, to warm me as I continue deeper into the mystery of this Ojibway day.
The reason I mention that is because tomorrow is Earth Day, and a new chapter starts for this with this vote on Wednesday.
I want to thank all of the members who have been supportive of this process as we went forward because it is not about us. It is about the next generation. That is what is amazing.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege and an honour to rise on such a momentous occasion. I think about the work that my colleague from Windsor West has done to preserve such an important piece of his riding. I cannot say enough about his work in bringing all people together. The establishment of the Ojibway national park is a cumulation of many years, if not decades, of work.
I want to salute my colleague, because it takes a lot of work to do even the smallest project when it comes to conservation and to make sure all community members and stakeholders have been heard. Not only has he done that, but he has also brought together and supported the wishes of his local city council. He has brought forward concerns from labour, stakeholders, and obviously the environmental groups and the NGOs of the region. Most importantly, he has been working very closely with Caldwell First Nation, the rights holders of that region. That is absolutely the most critical piece.
To me, someone who has a national park reserve in his region, Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, which was put on the indigenous peoples' lands of the Tla-o-qui-aht, Uchucklesaht, Toquaht and Tseshaht without their permission, this is an example of the collaboration and true reconciliation that are needed. When we see a national park placed on the lands of the traditional landowners, the peoples of those lands, without their permission, it creates resentment.
My colleague from Windsor West has done this in a historic way, the right way to move things along. He has worked with Caldwell First Nation, and I give him huge credit, because this is what it needs to look like moving forward when it comes to respect, conservation and true reconciliation.
I also want to thank members of the Conservative Party, the Bloc and the Green Party, as well as the two members of the Liberal Party who got behind this bill. I was disappointed about the delaying tactics, about the government's trying to block this very important bill and this very important achievement that my colleague has been trying to move forward.
This national park would protect 200 of Canada's 500 endangered species. This is absolutely incredible. It is timely that we are debating this on the eve of Earth Day, which is tomorrow, at a time when we know we are seeing warming temperatures around the world, the threat of climate change and also the loss of biodiversity. It is so important that we do everything we can to conserve those critical pieces.
My colleague has talked about the importance of this location, which is in a temperate environment, and the fact that it has Carolinian forests that are a refuge for species at risk. This includes trees, fauna, amphibians and the Massasauga rattler. It is pretty wild for someone who comes from British Columbia to hear this. These are endangered species. As in other places in our country, people are fighting to protect these green spaces.
I think about green spaces in my own riding and the amount of work it took to protect the Kus-kus-sum, which is at the estuary. It is shared with my good colleague from North Island—Powell River. There is the work the community has put in, together with the Comox people, such as Tim Ennis, who led a really important group through the Comox Valley Land Trust to protect that land. I think about Meaghan Cursons and the work she does at the Cumberland Forest Society; Lynn Brooks at Arrowsmith Naturalists, which is trying to save the Hamilton marsh; Denise Foster, who worked with the Qualicum people and Snaw-Naw-As to save the estuary land in Qualicum; and of course the Wild Pacific Trail Society in Ucluelet, which also works with first nations for conservation resources.
I want to go back to the importance of reconciliation. In the creation of the Ojibway national park, one thing that I really like is that it is being done in collaboration with Caldwell First Nation. This is important. We have seen, with Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, promises from the government in a national park reserve where it promised beneficial agreements with first nations but did not deliver them. It is really important, as we see this park come forward, that the Caldwell people would be getting a beneficial agreement with the park so that they are also the operators of the park and ensuring that they get jobs out of it.
I want to quote Chief Duckworth, who spoke at committee. She said, “We know that we need a legislative framework in order to make this national park happen, and I am here to support the hard work that's been done and the hard work going forward.” It is really exciting to see this kind of important collaboration. It is really important that I highlight again the important work of my colleague from Windsor West.
As someone who ran the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce in British Columbia for five years, I can say that we were the runner-up for chamber of the year, Mr. Speaker, out of 130 chambers of commerce, something that I know you are not used to, because I know people always laugh at the New Democrats and say that we are not small business people, but we are. We are the engine of the working people. We work the closest with working people and workers and small business people.
We really understand the importance of chambers of commerce and business organizations. They understand how important it is to protect the environment, to work with indigenous peoples and reconcile the damage that has been caused by colonial laws, to work closely together so that we can walk forward together. Of course, we know that when we protect the biodiversity and the environment, it is good for the economy. It is good for workers.
Also, as the critic for mental health and harm reduction, I know how important it is to get outside. Just the other night, I was with the Canadian Association for Physicians for the Environment, because I am co-chair of the all-party environment caucus, and we talked about the importance of getting outside and being in nature. There is no pill that one can take that is better and that would make one healthier than getting outside or getting on a bike.
My colleague is not only doing something that is good for tourism, good for the people in the community, good for climate action and good for protecting endangered species and biodiversity, but he is also improving the lives and the health of the people in his community. This is a tremendous achievement and, again, I salute him for this important work. It is so exciting to be here and it is an honour to rise and talk about this.
We know that the Gordie Howe bridge is going to be placed next to this area, which is going to create a lot of economic activity, but also challenges for the environment. This is an absolutely critical mitigation piece when it comes to biodiversity.
I do know that the government has committed $2.3 billion, which is far from adequate, in terms of its nature legacy fund. We need to go much further. The government will spend $31 billion on the Trans Mountain pipeline, and $2.3 billion to protect biodiversity. Its priorities are completely out of order. We need more money to support more initiatives like this, and I hope that the government, when it moves forward with this legislation, will invest heavily in this national park, this incredible legacy.
We are talking about really important environmental issues, and I want to talk about one of the greatest environmentalists in my life. It is Wayne Adams, from Freedom Cove. He just passed away. His funeral is going to be on Tuesday, and sadly I am going to be here, so I will not be able to join Catherine, Shane, Shauna and the many people in our community and the Ahousaht people whose territory he lived on. He lived on a floating garden and, really, a paradise and a park of its own, and that is the park of the ocean and our natural environment.
I salute Wayne. We are going to miss him so much. He was a renowned carver. People like Ken Thomson would travel to buy his art and store it. He was just such an incredible environmentalist himself.
Here we are, talking about the environment on the eve of Earth Day. It would be a big mistake for me not to talk about the legacy of Wayne Adams and what he taught us in Clayoquot Sound and the people in our region about how we can live differently, how we can live a much slower life and protect the environment, and the importance of biodiversity and the species and living in nature. I salute Wayne.
Back to the bill, my friend and colleague from Windsor West has been determined and tenacious. He has demonstrated the willingness to work with everybody. I hope that the people in his community really see the determination and effort that he has made. He was seventh in the order of precedence in the lottery for PMB and he chose this. It shows his commitment to the people in his community, to reconciliation and to social, environmental and economic justice.
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Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely delighted to speak today in support of Bill C-248, an act to amend the Canada National Parks Act, Ojibway national urban park of Canada. I would like to thank the member for Windsor West for his hard work in bringing us here. I also want to acknowledge the work of the member for Windsor—Tecumseh for his advocacy.
I was able to visit this park when I was in Windsor about two months ago, and I was quite impressed with the enormous efforts that have been undertaken by the community, including the Friends of Ojibway Prairie.
I suspect that most of what I will say will be more of a reflection on the Rouge National Urban Park, which I am very proud to represent. This is how I want to frame it. On any given week, we have opposition day motions, and we have question period for around five hours. There is an enormous amount of back-and-forth among all the parties, and sometimes it is questionable as to what we are doing here and what this place really means.
After the seven and a half years I have been here, if I were to leave this place tomorrow or if I were to leave this place five years from now, the single most important thing that I would take away with me is the creation of Rouge National Urban Park.
I suspect the member for Windsor West is probably on a very similar journey to the one I am on. The reason is that this was a monumental achievement for us locally, for those of us who represented the Rouge park or, in this case, the Ojibway national park. It is monumental because, when we look back 30, 40 or 50 years from now, we will see that we were creating an enormous gem protecting our wildlife, protecting our natural habitat and ensuring there is ecological integrity in the hearts of some of the most densely populated places in all of Canada and North America.
As I look at the Rouge National Urban Park taking shape today, I often think of how we got there. I want to pay respect to a number of people who have been instrumental. I want to start off with Lois James, who, as members may know, was known as the mother of the Rouge. She unfortunately passed away several years ago.
We have tried to mark her success in so many ways, but the absolute legacy that she left is the park itself. Starting with her, and continuing with generations of activists who were inspired by her, we have managed to bring something very special to the greater Toronto area. We now have 79.1 square kilometres of protected space, with some of the most incredible wildlife protected, including the Carolinian forest. We have hundreds of endangered species, ecological areas and farms, which really do speak to the vibrancy of the park.
We had to do a balancing act to ensure that an established urban area could support a national park. Starting with Lois James, we went through the seventies and eighties, as the city of Toronto was sprawling. Scarborough was at that time a city of its own. It was sprawling, and there were enormous pressures for development because of shortages in housing.
We had activists. We had common citizens, including people who were principals, gardeners, students and people such as my friends Glenda Bearmaker, Jim Robb, Kevin O'Connor and others, who basically said that enough was enough. They saw that we had the historical Rouge River going through one of the most beautiful parts of the city, and if we were going to put development right in the centre of it, we would lose it and the ecological benefits that stemmed from it. People stood in front of bulldozers. There are stories of citizens who stood in front of bulldozers and said that enough was enough. They did not want to have development at the cost of the environment and the land.
I think the enormous sacrifices of the individuals there led us to the park today. I always say, with the member for Scarborough—Guildwood, that in many ways we are here as the last leg of this long marathon, but what we did was inconsequential compared to the work of the community itself, the fights the member for Nunavut was talking about and the enormous strides our community made.
Then, I look at all the people since then, the kids, the schools and the community. There will not be a week that goes by from now until the fall when we are not doing a tree planting. I, for example, am doing a “walk in the park”, as I call it, in the Rouge National Urban Park next Sunday, and there will be tree planting and a community cleanup tomorrow for Earth Day. There are tree-planting opportunities across the Rouge park that are done by organizations such as the Friends of the Rouge Watershed and Forests Ontario to ensure that the park is vibrant.
The unique nature of the Rouge park also means that we have active working farms with people who are recognized as heritage farmers. Farmers have farmed the area for a couple of hundred years. They have a form of tenure that allows them to continue until their demise, and we have new vibrant businesses that are taking shape, including what I am told is a microbrewery that is coming to the park.
Of course, this is all situated on the traditional lands of many indigenous nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit. There are also the Huron-Wendat, who have a long history, including areas of the park where their history dates back over 10,000 years. The park itself is managed with enormous guidance from the indigenous circle that is part of the operations of the park, and there are regular and ongoing consultations that really allow the park to be sensitive.
There is one thing I have believed a park should do, and I am going to put it out there, because it is something that is quite important. I have had many conversations on this, and I hope at some point it will happen. The Rouge National Urban Park is the single largest display of the federal government within the greater Toronto area, and as such, I believe there is a need for more reflection on reconciliation at the park. For example, there is a need for a truth and reconciliation trail that would enable those who are visiting the park to be able to recognize the long and painful history of indigenous people in Canada, but particularly in the region.
Also, I think there is a greater need to ensure that we use the park to bring people back to nature and bring people back to what is, I think, most important, and probably the most important threat this country and this world are facing today.
I want to also acknowledge the work of Parks Canada's Andrew Campbell, who is the lead for Ontario, as well as Omar McDadl, who is the superintendent of the park. In the minister's office we have Joshua Swift, Kate and Jamie MacDonald, who have been incredible. There is also Janet Sumner of Wildlands as well as both former minister McKenna and the current Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
In closing, I think what the member for Windsor West is doing in collaboration with this community and many of the community members who are part of the Friends of the Ojibway Prairie is creating a legacy. It is not his legacy, but a legacy for all Canadians for future generations, where we can look back and say this is what we did in eight, 10 or 12 years of being here; we are protecting the land and making sure there is green space, and we are building a better Canada for all of us.
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Uqaqtittiji, I would like to remind all members, specifically the members for Windsor—Tecumseh and Essex, not to use words like “our indigenous peoples” or “our first nations”. This is just to remind MPs that we do not belong to other people. We are not owned, so I ask members to please stop using those words together.
I am very pleased to represent Nunavut in supporting Bill C-248, as tabled by my colleague, the member for Windsor West. This bill would establish the Ojibway national urban park, which is the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of first nations, which includes the Ojibway, the Odawa and the Potawatomi.
Before I speak to my support of this bill, I send my congratulations to the amazing, courageous Nunavummiut who have just completed the Nunavut Quest in Arctic Bay in my riding. The Nunavut Quest is a great test of strength, perseverance and determination. It is a race of dog teams between communities.
Owning a dog team takes a lot of commitment and helps to protect Inuit culture. Dog teams were integral to the survival of Inuit in the harshest of conditions. Despite the governments efforts to eradicate Inuit culture and language, including the slaughter of dogs from the 1950s to the 1970s, Inuit remain steadfast in keeping Inuit culture alive.
This year, the competition was a journey that took nine dog team mushers and their support teams from Igloolik to Arctic Bay. I congratulate the organizers and the racers. The racers were: David Oyukuluk, Jovan Simic, Terry Uyarak, Donavan Qaunaq, Jonah Qaunaq, Joshua Haulli, Lee Inuarak, Michael Inuarak, Jeremy Koonoo, Apak Taqtu, Owen Willie and Christopher Piugattuk. Upigivatsi. I honour them.
To get back to this private member's bill from the member from Windsor West, I understand that it has taken several years and a lot of hard work to ensure that this region, which has a unique ecosystem, gains its status as a national urban park. This is a particularly important issue because this region is home to hundreds of endangered species that migrate there for their survival. Establishing the Ojibway national urban park will also protect the last remaining undeveloped natural shoreline in Windsor and Detroit.
I thank Chief Mary Duckworth of Caldwell first nation, who said, “Establishing Ojibway National Urban Park, not only preserves the last remaining shoreline and protects remnants of a rare ecosystem but underscores also how important it is to have a natural presence that has been unchanged by humans within a city. This is what makes it even more unique”.
A great aspect of this bill is the fact that it garnered support by so many, including Caldwell first nation, the City of Windsor, Friends of Ojibway Prairie, Friends of the Rouge, Wildlands League, the National Audubon society, Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge and Unifor.
In his remarks introducing the bill, the member for Windsor West quoted Michelle Prior, president of the National Parks Association of Queensland, Australia, and it is worth repeating an excerpt. She said:
National parks are a national achievement and a cornerstone of a modern, enlightened society. Not only are Australia’s parks famous worldwide and form part of our national identity, they provide an abundance of benefits. Reclaimed from the past as a legacy for the future, they are a fundamental aspect of life today.
A final bit of background on the importance of passing Bill C-248 is from a publication. In 2017, the Essex County Field Naturalists' Club and the Essex Region Conservation Authority published the Ojibway Shores Natural Heritage Inventory/Evaluation. I encourage everyone to read this comprehensive report. I learned so much and can absolutely imagine the beauty that exists in that region.
The report states that volunteers collected the data and experts verified it. I highlight this because it highlights the grassroots approach this initiative has taken and how important it is that Canada listens to the voices of the people. My colleague has done his part and we must take their leadership and ensure that the Ojibway national urban park becomes a reality. Not only has this been a grassroots initiative, but I am proud to highlight that my colleague, the member for Windsor West, has taken a non-partisan approach. He has worked with all parties, even the Liberals who have needed to be pushed to appreciate the great value that Bill C-248 has for all of Canada.
Why is this so important? I looked up the National Parks Act to see what would happen. Adding the Ojibway national urban park to the National Parks Act would provide two main outcomes: number one, that Canadians will have education, benefit and enjoyment of the park and, number two, that the park shall be maintained and made use of so as to leave it unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.
My colleague, the member for Windsor West, has undertaken a major task, which normally could have been completed by the federal government. He has basically handed it a gift. When national parks are to be added, there must be a lot of work that is completed. What was the work required, before tabling an amendment? One was to provide a report on a proposed park, check; two was that the report include information on consultations, check; and three was agreements reached with respect to establishment, check. Finally, Bill C-248 at this stage now has been reviewed at committee, namely, the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.
I do hope the Liberal government joins in this collective call for the establishment of the Ojibway national urban park. The park needs the federal government to ensure the ecological integrity by its mandate established under the Canada National Parks Act. The Ojibway national urban park needs the government, according to the act, to help in its “Maintenance or restoration of ecological integrity, through the protection of natural resources and natural processes”.
Finally, I personally thank the member for Windsor West for asking me to speak on this important bill, Bill C-248. I thank the Three Fires Confederacy of first nations, which includes the Ojibway, the Odawa and the Potawatomi for sharing in their traditional territory and working toward the protection of this important area of Canada. I hope one day to visit the Ojibway national urban park.
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Mr. Speaker, it is certainly an honour to participate virtually in the House this afternoon.
The first thing I would like to do, with your indulgence, is to wish my lovely wife Allison happy birthday. She is incredibly sweet and young. I love her dearly and I want to celebrate that.
Second, I want to congratulate the member for Windsor West for getting the bill this far. The member and I have worked tirelessly on this together. It is a fantastic example of collaboration and how working across the aisles we can certainly get things done for our regions. I know how influential he was with respect to my private member's bill, Bill C-241, and it has been an honour to work with him on his private member's bill, Bill C-248, an act to amend the Canada National Parks Act, the Ojibway National Urban Park of Canada specifically.
This has been a fantastic example of collaboration from all levels of government, which is enormous. I know our constituents continually ask us to not always fight in the House and to try to get along and find common ground. It puts a big smile on my face on a Friday to know that really good, unique things can get done when we work together.
As an example, our provincial government has come to the table. The Minister of Environment and Climate Change has been amazing in making sure that this comes to fruition, along with MPP Andrew Dowie, from Windsor—Tecumseh, who has also been very influential in the conversation and bringing those folks together. I really want to celebrate and thank them.
I have had many conversations with Mayor Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor, who is very much in support of this private member's bill, along with the mayor and councillors of LaSalle. It is a win-win for our community, so I thank them.
I want to thank our first nations: Chief Duckworth of the Caldwell First Nation, in collaboration with the Walpole Island First Nation.
Then of course there were amazing community consultations and a ton of outreach. People have literally been so vital in this conversation and I just want to thank them so much for that.
I will be very prudent and say that I am happy the Liberals changed their mind, because twice they voted against this. I am not sure what changed, but I am certainly happy they recognize that this is going to lead to huge opportunities for tourism, our economy and the health and mental health of people in our regions of Essex, Windsor—Tecumseh, Windsor West and Chatham-Kent—Leamington.
I have done my due diligence. I have spent countless hours in discussions with mayors, in community consultations, and with stakeholders. There were two things that were always top of mind. One is to make darn sure that our corridors and arteries, Matchette Road and Malden Road, remain open so that the folks who need to get back and forth to Windsor to work in our automotive sector and our new battery plant that is coming up do not encounter a big blockade that does not allow them to get back and forth to work early. They are putting in countless hours at these businesses and we should not have the major arteries, which are the major roads, blocked so they cannot get back and forth from their place of residence.
Equally, I have spoken many times on the importance of getting Canadians active. We have been basically stuck in our home for three and a half years due to COVID. It is time to get active, to get out on the trails, either a biking or hiking trail, or spend time with family and mother nature. This park has white-tailed deer, raccoons and the endangered eastern fox snake, which I really hope does not cross the path in front of me when I go out to this new park. We have the Gordie Howe International Bridge set to open up in 2025, which perhaps can connect with this urban national park. There is going to be a walking path on the bridge.
The tourism opportunities here for our region are absolutely vital. It is huge for the area, let alone the economy and what it is going to bring to our small businesses, hotels and restaurants, all those who are offering their services.
This is a really good, very well-thought-out private member's bill. Again, I am very happy to be supporting this.
Let me also say that this does not affect private lands. It will have zero effect on those lands that are surrounding it today. This bill uses existing federal-provincial lands that already exist. All it is doing is taking the existing green space and bringing it all together, which is enormous. It is protecting the environment.
Essex, Windsor West and Windsor—Tecumseh is a very small area. We are surrounded by three bodies of water, Lake Erie, the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. Property is at a premium, to say the least. When we can give opportunities for folks to get outdoors, to get active, to spend time with their families away from our televisions, then I think we need to enhance that. We need to celebrate it. We have to do everything possible to ensure that we are doing our due diligence on that.
Tomorrow is Earth Day. What a fitting day to be talking about a private member's bill that is actually protecting some 800 acres in Essex that would go a long way to ensuring that our feathered and furry friends are protected.
I understand this bill is to be voted on next Wednesday, and I really hope that it gets passed. Equally, I am hoping that we can somehow, in some way get it to the Senate as quickly as possible, to get their support. Would it not be remarkable if we could get it through the Senate and allow these folks to start taking advantage, again, of this urban national park?
The greedy side of me says, along with Bill C-248, I also hope the Senate talks about Bill C-241, which is my private member's bill. Maybe they could push that through at the same time.
Conservatives will be voting in favour of Bill C-248. Again, I want to celebrate and congratulate the member for Windsor West. It has been an honour to work alongside him. This is only positive for our region, specifically for Essex, Windsor West, Windsor—Tecumseh and Chatham-Kent—Leamington. It would enhance the lives and mental health of people going forward.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by recognizing my colleague, the MP for Windsor West, for being a passionate champion of Ojibway all these years. I was glad to have the opportunity this past Monday to acknowledge the MP's 20 years of public service and his work to advance an Ojibway national urban park.
Our community gathered at Ojibway Nature Centre to celebrate four key milestones our federal government delivered through the work of the amazing Parks Canada. First, we announced the completion of the transfer of Ojibway Shores to Parks Canada. It is to be included in an Ojibway national urban park to be protected forever. Second, we announced that the first phase of the Parks Canada process in the creation of an Ojibway national urban park has been completed, and the process has graduated into the second phase. Third, we announced the acquisition and transfer of additional property on Titcombe Road to the City of Windsor for inclusion in an Ojibway national urban park. Finally, our community announced that the Province of Ontario has seen the value of an Ojibway national urban park and committed to transferring 60-plus hectares of provincial lands to Ojibway.
The credit for the protection of Ojibway Shores and the advancement of Ojibway national urban park rightfully rests with our community. Countless people have carried us to this tremendous day and time.
There are families, such as Derek and Ric Coronado, who have led efforts to protect Ojibway for decades. Karen Cedar, Paul Pratt and Tom Preney have poured their hearts and souls into looking after Ojibway for years.
From when I was a city councillor, I remember the number of times Jonathan Choquette came to fight for ecopassages and traffic calming to protect migrating wildlife. I have recently gotten to know professors Catherine Febria and Clint Jacobs, who opened the door to a deeper understanding of indigenous peoples' connections to Ojibway.
There are folks like Tom Henderson, Mike Fisher, Phil Roberts and Bill Roesel, who volunteer their time with the Friends of Ojibway Prairie and Essex County Field Naturalists' Club. There are people like Anna Lynn Meloche and Nancy Pancheshan, who rolled up their sleeves and took on developers and big box stores to elevate the urgency of conservation of Ojibway.
We can see so much courage, vision and togetherness, and there are hundreds of stories like this in Windsor Essex. They are as diverse and resilient as the plants and wildlife that call Ojibway home.
In addition to the people and groups I mentioned, there is the Detroit River Canadian Cleanup, Little Reg, URCA and the Unifor Local 444 environment committee.
These are the folks who will create an Ojibway national urban park. These are the drivers and the leaders, and this is the community. That is what gives me confidence and conviction that we will have an Ojibway national urban park: We are united, we are together and this is what we all want.
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The time provided for the consideration of Private Members' Business has now expired, and the order is dropped to the bottom of the order of precedence on the Order Paper.
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Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent point of order and well taken.
The Parks Canada process is the best path forward for one major reason. It prioritizes, from the very start, community consultation with our community and also with indigenous communities like Caldwell and Walpole Island, which have historic ties to Ojibway.
Consultation with first nations from the start on the design of the Ojibway national urban park is especially important, not only because Canada has a constitutional duty to consult with indigenous communities on the creation of national parks, but because Ojibway provides a genuine opportunity to strengthen our relationship with indigenous peoples and advance reconciliation.
Imagine an innovative made-in-Windsor model where indigenous communities and environmental groups co-design an Ojibway national urban park and share stewardship of an Ojibway national urban park. Imagine a process that allows other community groups to have a real voice in the design of an Ojibway national urban park. In the spirit of Black History Month, we want to hear from the Amherstburg Freedom Museum or the Essex County Black Historical Research Society, to connect Ojibway to the story of the Underground Railroad.
Again, I want to recognize my colleague, the MP for Windsor West, for being a passionate champion of Ojibway all these years. His contribution to this work cannot be overstated.
However, Bill C-248 bypasses community consultation, falls short of our duty to consult with first nations and creates a duplicate process that could jeopardize the progress and partnerships already developed by Parks Canada.
Here are some of the most significant concerns I have with Bill C-248—
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Mr. Speaker, I have raised this several times in the House before, to refrain from using the words “our indigenous people”. We are not owned. We are independent individuals. We are human beings and we are not owned by anybody.
I would like to remind the member not to use the word “our”.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to Bill C-248, an act to amend the Canada National Parks Act. I want to begin by acknowledging that the land I represent is the ancestral and unceded territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of first nations, the Ojibwa, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi.
I share my colleague's enthusiasm for the creation of an Ojibway national urban park, and I recognize his long-standing advocacy. Both of us recognize that Ojibway is a precious gem, unlike any other. Compared to, say, Rouge National Urban Park in Toronto, Ojibway is a postage stamp of land, but in its 300 hectares, Ojibway contains rare Carolinian forest and tall-grass prairie, and it has the most biodiversity in all of Canada, including hundreds of plants, reptiles, insects and wildlife.
When I first got elected in 2019, my first meeting with the Prime Minister's Office on Parliament Hill was about the creation of an Ojibway national urban park. Not quite two years later, I joined the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development at Ojibway, in addition to dozens and dozens of local community partners, to announce our government's commitment to create seven new national urban parks, among them Ojibway. It was a historic day. Parks Canada was put in charge of creating an Ojibway national urban park, which makes sense, since Parks Canada has over 100 years of experience building national parks. We trust the experts. Since that day, Parks Canada has been busy putting in the work to make Ojibway national urban park a reality.
I will walk members through the Parks Canada process, which I support, and the real measurable progress we have already made to building an Ojibway national urban park.
Last year, we established a local partnership committee to oversee the process of creating an Ojibway national urban park. Parks Canada provided the City of Windsor with $600,000 to begin consultations and the groundwork to carry out a joint work plan with Parks Canada. Windsor's city council voted unanimously in favour of this process. We brokered an agreement between the Windsor Port Authority, Transport Canada, and Environment and Climate Change Canada to transfer Ojibway Shores to Parks Canada for inclusion into an Ojibway national urban park.
I am proud to say that we will have some even better news to share with our community in short order on the transfer of Ojibway Shores. Ojibway Shores is the last piece of natural habitat on the shores of the Detroit River. It is priceless. It is beyond value, and our community fought tooth and nail to keep it safe from bulldozers. Now, through the Parks Canada process that is under way, we will protect Ojibway Shores forever.
In December, Parks Canada began a series of open houses and pop-up workshops to engage residents of our community, listen to our community members and get local feedback on the design of an Ojibway national urban park. What I mean by that is the design of not just the footprint of Ojibway national urban park, but the design of how Ojibway national urban park would be managed.
Most important, we are in the process as we speak of working toward a collaboration agreement with our indigenous partners, Caldwell first nation and Walpole Island first nation. Two weeks ago, I had a chance to meet with Chief Mary Duckworth and members of Caldwell first nation to talk about the Parks Canada process of building an Ojibway national urban park. What I heard is support for a Parks Canada process that envisions Caldwell first nation being not only co-designers of an Ojibway national urban park, but also co-managers and co-stewards. In that way, the Parks Canada process is not just about creating an Ojibway national urban park, it is also about taking concrete steps on the path to reconciliation with our indigenous partners.
The work of building an Ojibway national urban park is already being done. Ojibway national urban park is already being constructed, much like we see the construction of the Gordie Howe international bridge, right next door, moving forward. The Parks Canada process is the best path forward for one major reason, and that is that it prioritizes, from the very start, community consultation with our community and with indigenous communities such as Caldwell—
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent for his speech because at the very end he mentioned Alexander Graham Bell and Baddeck. That is the historic site from which the plane took off in February 1909. I just have to say it was my grandmother's cousin who was piloting that plane. His name was J.A.D. McCurdy. I wanted to get that in there, as I am proud of that heritage, and I am glad the member brought it up here in the House.
I am also proud to rise to speak to Bill C-248 here this evening. It is a bill that would create Ojibway national urban park near Windsor, Ontario, and it was put forward by the wonderful member for Windsor West, who has been working so hard and passionately on this for a decade now. I did speak to this bill when it was at second reading some time ago, but I would like to go over that ground again and really dive into why the bill is so important and why Ojibway national urban park is such an important initiative that we need to get done.
This proposal would combine lands that are owned by all levels of government, the federal government, the provincial government and the City of Windsor, and combine them into a really priceless package that would protect an endangered ecosystem that is unique in Canada. That is why this should be a national park. It is a small area. It is only 900 acres, or something like that, but it is so important from the national perspective and from the environmental perspective, that it would really be a fabulous addition to our national park system.
I would also like to thank the member for Windsor West, as I mentioned before, for inviting me down to Windsor a few years ago to visit this area. I had never been to Windsor. It was great to tour around the city and see the urban sprawl of Detroit right there across the river. It is such a vibrant place.
I toured the Ojibway Shores area, where the member told me all these stories, and each story was about the battles he had been through to protect this important area from various plans for development. He brought the community together, and he brought Caldwell first nation, other community groups, naturalist groups, biologists and even developers together to say it would be such a wonderful addition to not just the local area, but also to Canada.
We were there on a beautiful day in September. We hiked along some of the trails through beautiful grasslands. The big bluestem grass was full of the late summer flowers, such as asters and other beautiful flowers. There were birds, of course. That is my thing. I am always looking for rare birds, and there are a lot of birds there. We walked through the groves of oaks. This is kind of a savannah habitat. We saw a lot of people enjoying these trails. It was clear that this was a popular place for the locals to come on the weekends, get out of the urban habitats and enjoy nature.
I think that has even amplified since the pandemic. We have seen a huge increase. I have not been back to Ojibway Shores, but around my home, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of people getting out on trails and enjoying nature, just because people have discovered that. They had nowhere else to go during the pandemic, and suddenly they have discovered that here in Canada we all live in beautiful places. Ojibway Shores is one of those places, and this area would protect three really important ecosystems: the tallgrass prairie; the oak savannah, as I mentioned; and the Carolinian forest.
In my previous life, as some members know, I was a biologist, and a lot of the work I did in that career was centred around endangered ecosystems and species at risk.
There are four ecosystems in this country that are consistently listed as the most endangered. There are the Garry oak savannahs of southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands in British Columbia. We have the desert grasslands in the South Okanagan area of British Columbia, which is where I come from, my home habitat. There is the Carolinian forest of southern Ontario, which is a deciduous forest. They are found throughout the eastern United States and squeak into Canada in southern Ontario. There is the tall grass prairie in southern Manitoba and parts of southern Ontario as well. The Ojibway national urban park would protect two of these important ecosystems, the tall grass prairie and the Carolinian forest.
We do not often think of Ontario as a prairie province, but it once had extensive tall grass prairies. Those have been largely wiped out over the last two centuries through agriculture and urban development. Only about 1% of these habitats still exist. In Ontario, there are only three areas larger than a few acres that represent this habitat. One of those is Ojibway Shores.
Endangered ecosystems, almost by definition, are home to a lot of species at risk. That is what makes them species at risk: Their ecosystems are endangered. There are almost 200 rare and endangered species in Ojibway Shores. There is no other area in Ontario that would come close to that length of a list for endangered and rare species, and only one or two areas in Canada would come close. One, as I mentioned before, is my home habitat in the desert grasslands of the Okanagan.
There are endangered plant communities. There are endangered insect communities. We do not know a lot about some of these things. I would just say in passing that one thing the government could do is spend a bit of money doing an inventory and a survey of some of our endangered species. We might find them in a lot more places or we might find that they are truly endangered. It would be a good investment.
In a previous speech, I mentioned the beautiful damselfly, the giant spreadwing, which is found in Canada only in Ojibway Shores. That is the only place it is known. There are also endangered reptiles, like the Massasauga rattlesnake. In my hometown, we have rattlesnakes that are threatened as well. Here, the Massasauga rattlesnake is found in a small population that is 300 kilometres away from the next population. It is isolated and endangered. There is the bobwhite quail, a really iconic species of small game bird that is found in Canada only in extreme southwestern Ontario. It used to be in Ojibway Shores. Now it is found only in Walpole Island, which is nearby. If we protect these areas, then we can talk about bringing some of these species back, but we need to protect them first.
This is not an area like Banff, Jasper, Kluane or Ivvavik, which are big, wild parks. This is an urban national park that is special. It is built in a mosaic of properties that are close to Windsor. It would be an integral part of that urban population. We have to make sure those properties connect habitats correctly so these species can thrive even in the small areas. We have a similar proposal in the South Okanagan to create a national park in a similar area, a mosaic of different lands.
Once again, I want to thank the member for Windsor West for his work on this. I congratulate him for all his effort and I hope everyone here joins us in voting for this very important bill.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very glad to be taking part in the debate on this bill, which calls for some legislative work. The bill seeks national recognition for an important place that is historically significant for our country. I will say more about that later.
First, I want to acknowledge the member for Windsor West's passion and determination. I have been in the House of Commons for eight years now, and I have had the pleasure of knowing my colleague that whole time. I have a lot of respect for him because he is so dedicated. More often than not, we do not share the same vision for Canada's future and how to achieve it, but I do admire his dedication and his passion for the causes he believes in, such as this one.
As the shadow minister for environment and climate change, I am privileged to be a member of the committee that studied this bill, but I know the study started quite a while ago. The member has been working on this for over 10 years and has been working on the bill for four years.
He and I both witnessed something of an about-face on the ministers' part. I will keep it civil because we are in Parliament. Initially, there seemed to be a willingness to go ahead, and departmental officials supported the initiative and were working hand in hand with the government.
Suddenly we have noticed in our committee that there has been a big switch coming from the ministerial bench. People have said one thing before and then switched their point of view to one that is more cautious. I want to raise the fact that it is not the first time we have seen this. Recently, while studying a bill in the official languages committee, we saw that there had been a big shift in the current government when it started to talk about certain issues.
I would like to see a little more discipline from the government side. We understand that the work we are doing is exceedingly serious. Since the Liberals have been in office for eight years now, we expect more consistency and coordination between the public service, which objectively analyzes the situation, and the government's political and partisan point of view. It is only natural for the government to have a political perspective, but the public service and the government need to work together.
If, three-quarters of the way into a job, it becomes clear that things are not working, then changes need to be made. Most importantly, the stakeholders need to be informed. We saw this happen with this bill. Unfortunately, we also saw this happen with the bill to overhaul the Official Languages Act. We witnessed a kind of mutiny within the government, which was sending members to committee who were basically saying the opposite of the government. I therefore urge the government to be a little more disciplined.
Let us come back to the crux of the debate on this bill. I very much appreciated the historical aspect mentioned by my colleague from Windsor West. This is part of our heritage. Obviously, when we talk about national parks, we are reflecting on our roots and the history of our country. We are reflecting on the presence of first nations and the colonial era, either in New France or under British rule. It is part of a whole.
As my colleague said, in 1749, the French established a farming system, traces of which can still be seen in geographic features. There are streets and neighbourhoods in Windsor with very French-sounding names. That makes us very happy. This concerns that area.
As the member also mentioned, it is not so far from the Gordie Howe International Bridge either. I want to remind the House that this bridge, which connects Canada and the United States, is one of the biggest projects in Canada. This area sees the most trade in the country. I remember that the member mentioned the percentage.
I do not remember exactly how much money, but billions of dollars go from us to the U.S., and from the U.S. to us, via this bridge and the communities around it. That is very important to us.
I respect that this member praises his area, like I am quite sure all members do. I can assure members that I am very proud to be from Louis-Saint-Laurent, and I recognize when members are also proud of their ridings.
Yes, the Gordie Howe bridge is very important. I want to honourably confess that I have a conflict of interest in this matter. I am bringing it up because I want to acknowledge the extraordinary achievement of the Hon. Denis Lebel. He was the infrastructure minister at the time and the man behind this bridge.
We know that there were difficulties. Our partner, our neighbour, had some reservations. There were also reservations on the Canadian side, which is quite normal in infrastructure projects. That said, under the co-operative leadership of the Hon. Denis Lebel, we succeeded in building this bridge, and we look forward to seeing it open soon.
I just wanted to salute this extraordinary contribution. It is one of the Conservative government's great achievements, and it came about under the leadership of the Hon. Denis Lebel. I wanted to mention that.
I think there is currently some disagreement with departmental authorities about how to proceed. It is worth noting that the purpose of national parks is, first and foremost, to determine the cultural importance of this kind of proposal. It has to respect biodiversity. The landscape also needs to be considered. Would establishing a national park in the proposed area enhance the landscape? New parks also have to complement our other national parks.
Quebec has three national parks, including one in the Mauricie region. I am not big into the recreational and tourism activities there, but everyone tells me Mauricie is absolutely amazing. I would like to take a moment to salute one of Mauricie's great native sons, the Right Hon. Jean Chrétien, who was the instigator for that national park. Yes, he is a Liberal—nobody is perfect—but I recognize the Right Hon. Jean Chrétien's contribution, and I say that with tremendous respect, of course.
Yes, it has to be connected to the landscape. It has to complement the existing national park system, and essentially, it has to have the support of the first nations, the surrounding communities, the people who live in the area, and, of course, the municipal, provincial and ultimately federal governments.
There are five steps to establishing a national park: identify the general area; select the specific area; assess the feasibility; negotiate the necessary agreements, and finally, establish the park by amending the Canada National Parks Act. That is where we are right now, and we need to get it right. Obviously, the concerns expressed by the government will have to be evaluated.
Once again, I cannot help but notice that the government has waited until the last minute. The hon. member has been working on this for over 10 years and has spent over four years going through all the parliamentary steps needed to move forward. Now, just as we are about to pass the bill, the government is pulling back and asking if everything has been done correctly, because there are plenty of areas in Winnipeg where there could be beautiful parks.
With all due respect, my friends should perhaps have thought of this before, because this matter did not come out of nowhere. They have been talking about it for years. The act has been around forever, or almost, and it is very clear. Maybe they should have checked for problems before we got to this stage.
In closing, I also want to remind members that national historic sites can be evaluated without necessarily becoming national parks. I want to give a nod to my part of the country, Quebec City, where there is a historic site that includes three buildings at 57 and 63 Rue Saint‑Louis in Quebec City. It is probably the most modest historic site around. As an aviation enthusiast and history buff, I also want to salute the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site in Nova Scotia. It commemorates the first heavier-than-air controlled airplane flight, which took place in Baddeck on February 23, 1909. We salute the fact that it has become a historic site.
There is a difference between national parks and historic sites. We should be proud of our heritage. Let us designate new national parks properly and ensure that it is all done according to the rules.
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Madam Speaker, as one can tell, when we talk about how our communities benefit and thrive because of national parks, it can be a very emotional issue. Many members of Parliament take a great sense of pride in how we might achieve having more national parks.
For example, there is The Forks National Historic Site. It is not necessarily a park, but for that site, I can recall the way in which people came together from many different sectors and ultimately developed this beautiful treasure in the city of Winnipeg. Today, it attracts more tourists than any other site in Winnipeg and arguably the province of Manitoba.
There is also Riding Mountain National Park, which has had an impact not only on the people who live in and around it but also those who use it.
I would absolutely agree that these are important issues for the House of Commons. The government is definitely interested in and wants to see continuing progress with the Ojibway National Urban Park or Windsor National Urban Park.
My understanding of the legislation, and I look to the member, is that it is more about coordinates. It is about where the park is going to be. To what degree did the member actually have a formal process that incorporated a wide spectrum of opinions and did the work Parks Canada is obligated to do by law?
I am eager about national parks too. I want to see more. I would like to see a national park in the city of Winnipeg, but I do not think it is just up to me to be able to say what the boundaries are, to say what it is I want and then just go out and solicit support for it. There needs to be a process that considers a wide spectrum of things.
The Province of Ontario might look at the bill and say that it is nice legislation, but my understanding is it wants to continue with the process Parks Canada has in place. If that is true, I would suggest members should be advised before they vote on the legislation to confirm that.
I raised the question about Caldwell First Nation. I applaud the chief and council and those individuals who have provided the remarks to the member.
Mr. Brian Masse: You are trying to speak on their behalf.
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux: He says that he is speaking on their behalf.
Mr. Brian Masse: No, I said you are trying to speak on their behalf.
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, for me, it is important to have consultation and work in progress with Parks Canada, the City of Windsor, indigenous communities and the Province of Ontario.
The member has told us about all the people who support it, but where was the process to ensure there was an actual consultation equivalent to what Parks Canada would have provided? I have not seen that. I was here during second reading also.
There might have been a lot of talk about the park. I can assure members that I have had many talks. I have talked, for example, about how I would love to see some sort of a management system for Winnipeg's waterways that would involve the different levels of government and the indigenous community.
There are four or five rivers in Manitoba: the Red River or the “Mighty Red”, the Assiniboine River, the Seine River and a couple of others. We believe there is great potential for a national park. I could list some people and organizations I have talked to that have shown substantial support, and I suspect my list is relatively small. I suspect we would find many members of the chamber on both sides of the House who have ideas on national parks and projects they would like to see.
We know for a fact that the government has been working with stakeholders, and they incorporate the ones I have mentioned. We know that back in 2021 there were formal agreements being put into place. There are ongoing consultations. There is indeed a process that ensures there has been appropriate consultation with the many groups out there that have a vested interest, whether they are the leadership of indigenous communities, the provincial or national governments, or community members who live in Windsor, the surrounding areas, or anywhere along where the park is being proposed. There are also other stakeholders, including environmentalists, who have concerns about wildlife and endangered species in general.
They all have a role to play. That is why we established the process. It is not to say that this particular member from Windsor is the one who has to acquire credit by bringing forward the legislation and saying it was their idea. No one owns the idea. This has been talked about for a great length of time. There are many individuals who have dedicated resources, whether financial or personal time and effort. It all needs to be taken into consideration.
That is not to say that this particular member is not passionate about it. I listened to him speak, not only this time but I believe also during second reading on this legislation. I will give him that. He is passionate. I will say that he has talked to a good number of people. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the standing committee. I do know that at the standing committee there was an attempt to make some changes. The member kind of mocked the government, in its moving amendments and this and that.
It is because it does not matter what side of the House one is on, we recognize true value. If there are things that could be done to further this along in the process, which could provide the assurances that Parks Canada has put into place, I suspect there would be greater support.
My concern is that it is not government versus opposition members. It is about whether or not, if members genuinely believe in issues like reconciliation, if they genuinely believe in the importance of having adequate and proper processes, then I would question why it is they might be voting in favour of this legislation.
If members vote for this, that would tell me that anyone who comes before the House and says they have consulted with 25, 30 or whatever stakeholders, and have built up some good letters of support and so forth, but they have not followed the formal process that has been established through legislation or regulation, we should trust them. Even if goes to committee, and it is not to devalue the opinions, advice and recommendations of so many who have already contributed to the debate, it is a vote of confidence in the people who work at Parks Canada, the people who are obligated to do what we have asked them to do, and establish that process to ensure that there is free and open a consultation that ensures that those vested parties are in fact being consulted in the most appropriate way.
This legislation does not deal with the issue of process. I think members need to be aware of that. If they want to believe in the institution of Parks Canada, and the process process, I would suggest they should vote against the legislation.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for coming to Windsor. As an ornithologist, he has a really great knowledge of the species at risk that we have. What is exciting about this is that it creates ecotourism, for sure, but it also creates a confidence in young people that we can actually, in our own backyards, affect climate change. That is the most important thing about this. When young people try to make a difference, they can see right in their own community what they can build together, with their own hands. We need to get this done so we can pass it on to them so they have the projects, the work and the things they need to save their environment and community and contribute to the planet.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Windsor West not only for this bill, but for the hard work he has put in over 10 years. We heard the passion in that speech. He has worked to bring communities together and to notify groups what was going on. I would also like to thank him for inviting me down there a couple of years ago. I toured the area and heard the stories of how these pieces of land were saved. We saw the community using the area and its beautiful trails.
I would like him to comment on that aspect. What will this bring for the community of people there?
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