|
March 2004
Newsletter
Councillors Refuse to Even Hear Highway 20 Option
The Expressway Implementation Committee met on February 24 but took no decisions except to refuse to hear a presentation on a Highway 20 option for the expressway. The committee hasn't met since early July, although it is supposed to "provide overall guidance and advice to staff on the development and implementation of the project, specifically the detailed design and construction phases."
The February 24 meeting was attended by over 40 citizens, but councillor turnout was sparse. Only three of the nine members were present when the meeting began at 8:40 am.
For the first half hour, the meeting was chaired by a staff member - Red Hill Project Manager Chris Murray - a procedure that was described by Mayor DiIanni as "very unusual" and "not appropriate" when he arrived at 9:10 am. Nevertheless, the committee did not even choose a chair, leaving the calling of the next meeting in limbo.
The City-hired "neutral facilitator" reported that "there isn't enough information that's being distributed about the project, that it's not coming in a timely enough way, and that the content is not necessarily meeting the needs of the people that it's being directed to".
She proposed several changes to address these shortcomings, including holding backyard meetings with anyone who asks, but got no response from the four committee members (Mitchell, Pearson, Bruckler and Merulla) present for her report. It is unclear if any of her recommendations will be implemented.
The "communication problem" was obvious at the meeting. Several individuals tried to address the committee. They were told "we'll open up the floor to whoever is in attendance" later in the meeting, but this did not occur. The only exception was a presentation made early in the meeting by a representative of the Haudenosaunee "women and Clan Mothers of Six Nations of the Grand Territory". She declared "all present and future negotiations" with the City to be "null and void" and said that the Haudenosaunee men, chiefs "and Paul Williams cease and desist from any further action associated with Red Hill Valley and the City of Hamilton".
Williams is one of the two negotiators who have signed the agreements with the City. He arrived late at the meeting with DiIanni and spoke extensively about his aims and objectives in the negotiations. He said, "we don't agree with the idea of the expressway" but argued that "if we went to court we would likely not only lose the fight against the expressway because we're coming at the tail end of 30 years of the fight against the expressway, we'd also probably suffer injury to the treaty rights." He described the negotiations as a pragmatic way to "mitigate the damage" and quoted "the great philosopher Mick Jagger" that "you can't always get what you want, but if you try real hard you'll get what you need." (note that the actual phrase is "might get what you need").
Councillor McHattie asked Williams about the ratification process at Six Nations. It has been widely reported that the agreement was only presented to a handful of the Confederacy Chiefs.
Williams refused to answer McHattie's question, saying that it's "none of our business how your politics works, and none of your business how our politics works." Mayor DiIanni rejected further efforts by McHattie to find out how many chiefs constitute the Confederacy Council.
McHattie noted the current financial crisis of Hamilton and the pending legal challenge by Mohawk citizen Larry Green. He argued that he needed to weigh the risks of proceeding with the expressway. He also noted that he has written to the federal department of Indian Affairs about the situation.
The City's lawyer responded that Williams should be trusted because he is a lawyer, and that any discussion of the Green case could only take place "in camera" at a future meeting.
Project Manager Chris Murray said he expects to issue tenders in mid-March for $45 million in road construction contracts between Mud Street and Melvin Avenue, and another large contract in the fall for the Barton Street interchange and work at the Rennie landfill. However, DiIanni subsequently clarified that this spending must first be approved in the 2004 budget process.
McHattie also tried to convince the committee to allow two McMaster professors to present their Highway 20 alternative. He was opposed by DiIanni, Pearson and Mitchell and was unable to get a seconder for his motion.
(Report prepared by CATCH - Citizens at City Hall. For more information visit their website at www.environmenthamilton.org/CATCH.)
|
