Latest news with #NikkivanOirschot
National Observer
15 hours ago
- Politics
- National Observer
Parks Canada will share stewardship with Indigenous nations
In a move that could revolutionize how national parks are managed, Parks Canada is partnering with Indigenous people to share authority over decisions in dozens of locations. Under its 2025‑26 Departmental Plan, the agency aims to have at least 27 natural heritage places and 15 cultural heritage sites managed in partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities by March 2026. The department says it is well on its way to meeting its goal, building on the 23 national parks and nine historic sites where Indigenous peoples were already part of formal co‑management at the end of the last fiscal year. '[It's] built upon decades of working with Indigenous partners … thinking about values like trust and respect and reciprocity … how we can better build relationships, have better trust and do a better job at respecting Indigenous ways of knowing and being in all that Parks Canada does,' said Nathan Cardinal, who is Métis and director of Indigenous policy at Parks Canada. Cardinal said the change builds on decades of co‑management agreements, such as long‑running consensus‑based governance with the Haida Nation in BC's Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and National Marine Conservation Area. But until recently, those arrangements were inconsistent and limited in scope. This ambitious target is supported by a series of policy and relationship shifts, foremost among them the Indigenous Stewardship Policy enacted in October 2024 in collaboration with the Indigenous Stewardship Circle, a group composed of Indigenous leaders. The policy sets a framework for respectful collaboration grounded in Indigenous knowledge, laws, governance and stewardship practices. "These lands are not just habitats for species-at-risk, they are home to our stories, our medicines and our ancestors,' said Nikki van Oirschot, chief of Caldwell First Nation. In northern Labrador, the Nunatsiavut Government, Makivvik and Parks Canada are working together on a new Inuit Protected Area and national marine conservation area next to Torngat Mountains National Park. The project could protect up to 17,000 square kilometres of coastal and marine waters. The goal, said Nunatsiavut Deputy Minister Jim Goudie, is nothing less than equal decision‑making power. Goudie said their work with Parks Canada on a proposed marine protected area is aimed at 'true co‑governance, where our president has the same decision‑making authority as the federal minister.' Nikki van Oirschot, chief of Caldwell First Nation, said that for Ojibway National Urban Park to be truly co‑governed, it must include firm commitments for long‑term ecological monitoring, guaranteed funding for the Nation's Land Guardian program and decision‑making rules that cannot be bypassed or overturned by a federal minister. Without those safeguards, 'co‑governance commitments could remain aspirational rather than actionable,' she warned. The urban park is envisioned as a place of learning, where young people gain land‑based skills and conservation knowledge from elders and visitors see that Indigenous presence is alive and ongoing, Oirschot said. While Parks Canada works to meet the national target of conserving 30 per cent of land and waters by 2030, the focus is on how those targets are met. 'It's really important that we continue to push towards 2030 but it's also really important that we do this work in a way that upholds our values when it comes to reconciliation and decolonization of the Protected Area establishment,' Cardinal said. Oirschot said success will be measured by the lasting relationships it builds — between people and the land, and between nations and the Crown. 'The ONUP landscape includes some of the last remaining tallgrass prairie and black oak savannah in Canada — ecosystems that are ecologically rare and culturally significant. These lands are not just habitats for species-at-risk, they are home to our stories, our medicines and our ancestors,' Oirschot said. Goudie called the current relationship 'excellent' compared to the past and said Parks Canada staff is 'actively trying to make sure reconciliation is not a buzzword, but actually being put into practice.' The agency's approach is a marked improvement from past decades, when the federal government often unilaterally chose park locations, displacing Indigenous people and cutting them off from their lands. 'There simply cannot be a new park or protected area in Canada that is not co‑managed by Indigenous peoples. I don't think there ever will be again,' said Chris Rider, national conservation director with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. Still, there are hurdles. Rider pointed to lengthy delays in securing federal funding once agreements are made. In one case, he said, it took two years from the public commitment to a new park before the money was announced. 'That's two years a community is waiting for certainty, and it undermines confidence,' he said. Much of the recent progress has been supported by the federal Enhanced Nature Legacy Fund, which is set to expire in April 2026. Without renewed financing, Rider warned, 'it's going to be incredibly difficult for Parks Canada to continue to deliver.' Parks Canada has also used federal funding to expand Indigenous Guardian programs — local stewardship jobs that put 'moccasins and mukluks on the ground' — but Cardinal said they are continuing to work to make funding more accessible and better aligned with the scope of the work. 'We're still in that negotiation. Things just started … so maybe two years down the road, I won't be so happy, but at this point, I have to be cautiously optimistic that we'll see the dollars that hopefully we negotiate,' Goudie said.
CBC
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Caldwell First Nation to offer tours of traditional sites en route to first pow wow on new reserve
Caldwell First Nation will hold its first ever pow wow on its new reserve in Leamington next month — and people will be able to take bus tours en route that will showcase the community's history. The Caldwell First Nation Pow Wow Bus Tour will take 105 riders on a free 90-minute tour along the Windsor-Essex shoreline, during which Caldwell First Nation guides will take them to village sites, trading posts and trails that helped sustain the people for thousands of years. "Our people have touched every square foot of this region and left lasting and sometimes invisible imprints," said Chief Nikki van Oirschot in a news release announcing the tours. "People in our region can take this opportunity to learn about the incredibly rich, sacred and historic First Nation sites." Members of the First Nation began moving to the reserve last summer after securing a $105-million land claim settlement in 2011 and acquiring 80 hectares of land, which were officially designated a reserve in 2020. Holding the first ever pow wow on the new lands "means everything to us," said Coun. Randy DeGraw. "This is so exciting for all of us. … We have fought very hard to get our land back. We have it, and we have people living on the reserve now. So the next step of course is to have this competition pow wow and to celebrate." It's especially important for the community to hold the event for the youth, DeGraw added, because it will inspire them to host their own pow wows as well. DeGraw said a particularly beautiful aspect of the event is the coming together of the First Nation and its neighbours. "What we're hoping to do is plant a little seed with this pow wow, and every year watch it grow a little more and more," he said, "and the unity between First Nations and the surrounding communities coming together." The pow wow is a competitive event that will feature drummers, singers and dancers from other nations who will compete for prizes, DeGraw said. The grand entries take place at noon and 6 p.m on Aug. 9 and noon on Aug. 10. The Caldwell First Nation Pow Wow Bus Tour will depart Windsor at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 9 and at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 10. Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island is providing a promotional sponsorship to the project. The collaboration marks the first step in what will hopefully be "a long and meaningful collaboration on Indigenous tourism," said Gordon Orr, CEO of the tourism organization in the news release. "We're honoured to walk alongside a nation so rich in stories, wisdom and heritage, and we're excited to help open more doors for visitors to engage with and learn from their incredible legacy." Riders will board the bus at Destination Ontario – Ontario Travel Information Services at 110 Park St. E. in Windsor.
CBC
11-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Ojibway National Urban Park to be designated, open this year: MP
The Windsor-Essex community will see the opening of a national urban park this year, Windsor-Tecumseh Liberal MP Irek Kusmierczyk says. Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault was in Windsor over the weekend to reaffirm millions in funding for the proposed Ojibway National Urban Park, joined by Chief Nikki van Oirschot of Caldwell First Nation, as well as MP Irek Kusmierczyk. Guilbeault confirmed $36.1 million in funding over five years for Ojibway National Urban Park, as well as $4.6 million a year in ongoing long-term funding. The funding was first announced in the federal budget last April, and at the time was the first time federal funding had been dedicated to the park. Kusmierczyk is pushing for the park to open as early as the fall, he told CBC Windsor Morning on Monday. "This year we're going to have an Ojibway National Urban Park that's open," he said. "We're going to have a Gordie Howe International Bridge that's open. And we'll have a battery plant that is fully open. So I feel very bullish about — very optimistic about where Windsor Essex is going." Parks Canada now has all the resources that it needs to get agreements signed, to get the governance agreements in place, to set the boundaries of the park and to complete it and to operate it year after year, he said Work has been underway to establish a national urban park in Windsor since 2021 and in 2023, the last piece of undeveloped shoreline, Ojibway Shores, was transferred to Parks Canada for inclusion in the park. In March 2024 Caldwell First National and Parks Canada signed a memorandum of understanding working toward the park. "Caldwell First Nation is committed to ensuring that Anishinaabe perspectives and knowledge are embedded in the governance, management, and protection of this national urban park," said Chief Nikki van Oirschot. "We view this as an opportunity to restore balance, to honour the teachings of our ancestors, and to ensure that future generations inherit a relationship with these lands that is grounded in respect, sustainability, and cultural strength.
