City, Indigenous group reach pact on creek cleanup job

Dredging of Chedoke Creek will commence in time to get the work done for province’s fall deadline, public works says

The city says it has settled a dispute with an Indigenous group over a disputed plan to clean up Chedoke Creek.

The agreement will allow the city to meet the province’s fall deadline to dredge the sewage-soaked Hamilton waterway, says Carlyle Khan, general manager of public works.

“We’re off to the races, we hope,” Khan said Wednesday after city council approved the settlement following an in camera huddle for a legal update.

Since last year, the dispute with the Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI) has stalled the $6million dredging project, which was spurred by a provincial order.

The Ontario government ordered the cleanup after The Spectator reported in 2019 that the city had kept secret the extent of a four-year, 24billion-litre sewage spill in the west-end creek that feeds Cootes Paradise.

With the project already delayed, the dredging project was paused last summer after the HDI told the city to seek the consent of hereditary Haudenosaunee chiefs and pay close to $400,000 for environmental monitoring and “capacity funding.”

The city’s contractor, meanwhile, refused to continue working, pointing to HDI members padding into the creek, tethering boats to dredging equipment and setting up camp in the work zone.

With the Oct. 31 project deadline looming, the city sought an urgent court hearing to oblige the Ontario government to intervene in the dispute.

In a letter earlier this month, the HDI assailed the court application, arguing its members had a “constitutionally protected” treaty right to visit the creek and urged the municipality and province to “meaningfully engage” with them.

“The Haudenosaunee people will exercise their treaty rights but will not block access to the site, prevent any dredging work, nor cause a work stoppage,” wrote HDI lawyer Tim Gilbert, adding the group had never “obstructed any work” to start with.

HDI spokesperson Aaron Detlor didn’t immediately respond to The Spectator’s request for comment late Wednesday following the city council vote to approve the settlement.

Khan noted the agreement involves a monitoring agreement with the HDI like those the city has already secured with Six Nations of the Grand River, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and the Huron-Wendat Nation.

That provides them each with up to $50,000 for monitoring work. In addition, the HDI is to receive $7,000 for the review of past studies relating to the dredging project, he noted.

The agreement stipulates the HDI “will not interfere” with the operation, said Khan, noting if that happens, “we can seek compensation from them.”

Mobilizing and testing all the equipment will take some time, but the dredging is expected to start in June, which will allow the city to meet the province’s deadline, he said.

Council authorized the release of the settlement agreement but the city hasn’t yet made it public.

Council authorized the release of the settlement agreement but the city hasn’t yet made it public