Cost of judicial inquiry into slippery Red Hill parkway to climb as high as $20 million

It is now expected to cost up to $20 million to solve the mystery of Hamilton's slippery Red Hill Valley Parkway.

Council voted in March 2019 to ask a Superior Court judge to probe how a troubling safety report on the collision-prone parkway was inexplicably hidden for five years. The controversy spurred emergency repaving of the parkway and a planned $250-million class-action lawsuit that is separate from the inquiry.

Two and a half years later, the city has so far spent $11 million on the pandemic slowed inquiry - but costs will increase significantly" once public hearings begin in early 2022, suggests a new report from the city's legal team.

The report estimates the city will likely spend another $7 million by the end of next August and assumes public hearings - which will be held virtually, because of COVID - will begin by April, if not sooner.

It also recommends hiring a full-time inquiry communications employee for $115,000 a year to ensure the city can provide timely and relevant information to both internal and external stakeholders" during the hearing stage.

The latest estimate on final inquiry costs is now between $18 million and $20 million. Early predictions suggested the judicial probe could cost between $2 million and $11 million. The city has so far covered inquiry expenses with money pulled from reserves.

The law requires the city to cover all judicial inquiry costs other than expenses of formal participants like the province of Ontario or parkway builder Dufferin Construction, for example. Council voted earlier this year to ask the provincial government for inquiry funding aid, but it's unclear whether that request is being considered.

At one point, the inquiry was expected to hold in-person public hearings - featuring witness testimony and cross-examination - as early as fall 2020.

But the inquiry has been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic and delays in the handover of documents requested by the inquiry that left Commissioner Justice Herman Wilton-Siegel disappointed" last year.

The judge urged a faster turnaround last year and warned the final cost of the inquiry will be highly dependent on the duration."

Lawyer Robert Centa, counsel for the commissioner, could not say Tuesday exactly when the public hearings will begin or if more documentary delays are anticipated.

But he said the inquiry legal team has so far reviewed more than 130,000 Red Hill-related documents and interviewed more than 100 people so far. We're mindful of wanting to start (hearings) as soon as reasonably possible," he said.

Centa said an announcement on specific dates will hopefully come before the end of the year.

Separate from the inquiry, family members of parkway collision victims are pursuing a $250-million class-action lawsuit against the city as a result of the buried safety report.

Lawyer Rob Hooper said a motion to certify the class action will likely be heard early in the new year.

More to come...

Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at for The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com