Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Percy Hatfield has presented a petition signed by 4,000 residents calling for the Ontario government to protect the Ojibway Prairie from commercial development.
The land has been the subject of a dispute between the City of Windsor and Coco Group, who wants the land rezoned for Big Box development. The eight-year battle is still before the Ontario Municipal Board.
Hatfield says the prairie would be one of a couple parcels of land that would be protected. "If you go down to the Detroit River and come all the way up to the Windsor Raceway and beyond, there's four or five different parcels of land. So what this petition calls is for the government to tell the OMB to back off. We're going to preserve this land, and it's going to be protected by the government as part of this five-park system."
The lands are home to 91 species at risk, including six endangered and 12 threatened species.
It could be some time before the government responds. The Ontario Legislature has risen for its summer break. "We can't keep hounding the minister every day in the House (of Commons)," says Hatfield. "What happens with petitions, they go through the process and we get an answer back saying it's been received. The minister has to write a letter saying this is where we stand on this."
