City has spent $1.9 million on Red Hill judicial inquiry

Hamilton has spent close to $2 million so far on a judicial inquiry into the crash-prone Red Hill Valley Parkway.

But given the COVID-19 pandemic ban on large gatherings, it is not clear when public hearings will be held to hear from witnesses or shed light on the findings of the multimilliondollar investigation.

City council voted in February 2019 to ask a Superior Court judge to investigate why a troubling friction study on the parkway was inexplicably hidden for years.

Justice Herman Wilton-Siegel was appointed to head the city-funded inquiry almost a year ago. An update report going to council Wednesday says document collection and interviewing of potential witnesses is “well underway” despite ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

The report lists more than $1.9 million spent so far on the inquiry. The city has earmarked up to $7 million in a reserve that could be used if needed for the investigation.

The breakdown so far includes:

$1.1 million associated with work by the office of the commissioner, Justice Wilton-Siegel. (The commissioner has an office for the inquiry and employs his own lawyer, Robert Centa;)

$714,000 by the city for its own lawyers and legal work associated with the inquiry;

$44,000 is listed for “other” expenses.

Most of the judicial inquiry’s work has happened behind the scenes, but Wilton-Siegel earlier held meetings to hear from individuals who want to formally participate at planned public hearings.

Those hearings — which include witness testimony and cross-examination — were originally expected late this year.

But inquiry staff say it is still too early to say whether the current pandemic restrictions will affect the timing of such hearings.

Council will hold a remote “closed” session Wednesday to discuss unspecified legal details related to the inquiry and threatened class-action lawsuit by families of Red Hill crash victims.

That proposed $250-million lawsuit has yet to be certified and efforts to move forward have been delayed by COVID-19 related court shutdowns.