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May
1999 Newsletter
Review
of Events Related to Expressway
Events
related to the expressway are moving quite quickly. Since
our last newsletter, the Regional Chairman and others have
raised an alarm that their pet project is "in jeopardy",
and "in danger of dying the death of a thousand cuts".
At
the March 16 council meeting, the regional chairman accused
the federal government of delaying the expressway. He demanded
the assessment be completed within six months. This was
followed by two articles in the Spectator and an
appearance by Mr. Cooke on ONTV on March 22 in which the
TV station called on expressway supporters to speak up now.
On
March 26, the Chamber of Commerce issued a letter to all
its members under the title "Red Hill Creek Expressway Is
In Danger!". It urged all its members to attend an April
6 meeting to establish "The Greater Hamilton Better Roads
Task Force" and promised that "Terry Cooke will be present
to personally brief you". The name of the new pro-expressway
group was subsequently changed to the "Get Hamilton Moving
Committee". It appears its organizers didn't want to be
confused with people who think that existing infrastructure
should be repaired instead of borrowing millions to build
more new stuff.
The Chamber letter said that the expressway was in danger
because the environmentalist lobby "is causing support on
regional council to waver" and is "steering council members
and some business people who previously were supporters
to seriously consider putting the expressway on the chopping
block".
The
letter painted expressway opponents as a "highly orchestrated,
strongly motivated and well-connected environmentalist lobby"
and suggested this lobby is manipulating the media. Along
with Mr. Cooke's earlier statements, this was an open call
to swamp the newspapers and other media with pro-expressway
rhetoric and to pressure federal Members of Parliament to
interfere in the federal assessment law.
The
following day, the Spectator published a feature
article which opined that the federal assessment "could
spell the end of the line for expressway". It detailed the
shortcomings of the 1980s "assessment" process and outlined
the issues confronting the present federal process.
On
March 29, the Transportation Services Committee adopted
a motion from Mr. Cooke to ask for a full panel review and
impose a six month deadline on its completion (see following
article on assessment process).
This
was followed by a burst of articles and letters in the Spectator
(the authors must have forgotten their belief that the Spectator
had been taken over by Friends of Red Hill) and a string
of programs on CHML. Sheila Copps, the MP for Hamilton East,
was singled out for particular abuse.
On
April 14, the pro-expressway forces held a 250-person rally
with 11 speakers including Mr. Cooke, Jack Macdonald, Trevor
Pettit (Tory MPP on the Mountain), Lillian Ross (Tory MPP
in Hamilton West), Cam Nolan (head of the construction association),
Tony Battaglia (owner of the airport), and Frank D'Amico
(councillor and Liberal MPP candidate in Hamilton West).
Other MPP-wannabees attending included Brad Clark and Chris
Phillips, both candidates in the Stoney Creek riding. Letters
of support for the expressway were received from provincial
Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty, MPP Dominic Agostino, as
well as MP Tony Valeri and MP Stan Keyes.
On
the same day, these two MPs joined other members of the
Hamilton-Niagara caucus of the federal Liberal party in
sending a letter to the Fisheries and Environment ministers
asking that the expressway undergo a full panel review.
Other
regional councillors attending the pro-expressway rally
were Terry Anderson, Fred Eisenberger, Bob Charters, Duke
O'Sullivan, Chad Collins, Bill Kelly, Dennis Haining, Anne
Bain, and Albert Marrone.
The
meeting organizers required persons entering to sign a pledge
in support of the expressway. They also recruited Hamilton-Wentworth
police to protect themselves from "disruptions". Jack MacDonald
labelled road opponents as "radical vigilantes" (he repeated
this the following week on CHML). Macdonald urged the audience
to "go march down the street and scream at Sheila". Mr.
Cooke accused Copps of opposing and undermining the expressway
and declared: "we can only put up with so much crap". He
also claimed that Christine Stewart (Minister of the Environment)
has received 2000 letters opposing the expressway (three
times what we have heard previously) and exhorted the crowd
to write letters.
A
"Fact Sheet Re: Red Hill Creek Expressway" was handed out
saying that the number one environmental issue in Hamilton
Wentworth is "the dust, noise and pollution of heavy trucks
in and near residential neighbourhoods". It claimed that
"overall emissions throughout the region" would be reduced
by the expressway and said "we will be doing everything
possible to ensure that the valley continues to be a place
people and wildlife can enjoy".
The
leaflet also called for building other highway projects
such as the Perimeter Road, and the link between the airport
and the 403. It said "completion of the highway will not
impact our ability to maintain our existing infrastructure.
The Region's capital budgets allow sufficient funds to make
regular improvements to our infrastructure AND complete
the expressway".
Articles
and letters have continued to appear frequently in the Spectator.
The most recent event took place on Wednesday, April 28
when an open letter was released by over 80 McMaster Faculty
asking the Ministers of Fisheries and the Environment to
proceed to a full panel review of the expressway. The letter
is published elsewhere in this newsletter.
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