Hamilton faces at least a dozen parkway crash lawsuits despite rejection of Red Hill class-action proposal

More than a dozen victims of crashes on the Red Hill Valley Parkway are expected to individually sue Hamilton now that a quashed class-action lawsuit attempt will not be revived.

But many of those individual lawsuits will likely wait on results from an ongoing judicial inquiry into Hamilton's slippery parkway mystery - as well as the looming public release of legally privileged" documents that municipal lawyers had originally sought to keep secret.

A proposed $250-million class action against Hamilton was filed in 2019 after the city revealed troubling friction tests on the east-end parkway were inexplicably buried for years. The lawsuit sought to represent victims of nearly 1,500 crashes on the Red Hill since it opened in 2007.

In June, a judge declined to certify the proposed class action, citing the inherent individual nature" of the causes of motor-vehicle collisions on the Red Hill. In his ruling, Justice David L. Edwards also pointed to the separate judicial inquiry as another means to bring public scrutiny" to parkway safety concerns.

The ruling will not be appealed and the city is not seeking costs from the plaintiffs, said Rob Hooper, a lead lawyer for the aborted class action.

But that is unlikely to be the end of litigation linked to the infamous hidden friction report. I believe (our firm has) about 13 cases for individuals and most if not all will proceed as individual cases," said Hooper.

Earlier this year, The Spectator reported at least 23 parkway-related legal actions against the city were waiting in the wings for a decision on the class-action lawsuit.

It's not clear how many prospective lawsuits in total might eventually go ahead. A rough tally of damages sought in individual actions reviewed by The Spectator exceeded $19 million.

Expect those legal claims to move slowly, however, as lawyers watch for new fodder to come out of the ongoing judicial inquiry. That includes confidential documents - mostly legal opinions - the city was recently ordered to hand over to the inquiry, said Hooper.

We are waiting. It should be interesting," he said.

The judicial inquiry, headed by Superior Court Justice Herman Wilton-Siegel, was requested by city council in 2019 as a way to transparently investigate the mystery of the hidden friction report as well as broader parkway safety concerns.

That city-funded inquiry - which could cost as much as $28 million - is not meant to establish civil or criminal liability.

But the judge who ruled against certifying a Red Hill class action wrote in his decision that individual lawsuits against the city will likely be aided" by inquiry findings.

That litigation risk to the taxpayer was cited by the city as a reason to try to keep dozens of privileged" documents containing legal advice about the parkway controversy out of the public eye. In a recent release, the city also noted the effort was strongly supported" by its insurer.

All exhibits filed with the judicial inquiry become public.

During a hearing held in August, the city was ordered to turn over all highly relevant" privileged documents to the inquiry. Some or all of those documents could be made public as exhibits as early as Thursday when public hearings resume with new witness testimony.

The two-phase hearing is now expected to last well into the fall. The inquiry commissioner's final report may not be complete until next year.

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