Red Hill Creek Expressway referendum shot down by Council

A motion that would see a public referendum on the Red Hill Creek Expressway was shot down by Hamilton councillors on August 5.

Ward 15 Councillor Margaret McCarthy, citing the massive public outcry and Monday’s citizen protest at the Red Hill site, asked councillors to consider a public referendum on the $180 million roadway before construction got any further along.

“In the interests of resolving this issue in a civil manner, I recommend we present all the information surrounding the expressway – both pro and con – to the public in the form of a referendum,” McCarthy requested. “That way, we can ensure that this council and, in fact, the next council has the clear will of the people onside.”

McCarthy noted that pro-expressway councillors are continually commenting that the public at large is in favour of the expressway. However, she noted, from her perspective, the continuous Letters to the Editor opposing the highway, as well as the huge citizens’ protest at the Red Hill site on Monday, tell a different story.

“If Hamilton councillors really believe the public is in favour of this highway, then they should have supported this referendum,” she said. “If they really believe the citizens of Hamilton are willing to spend $180 million to build eight kilometres of roadway, then they should be allowed to tell us that. But I saw that hundreds of people who came to Red Hill Valley on Monday, feeling very differently.”

 However, at August 5 Committee of the Whole, McCarthy’s motion went down in defeat. Mayor Bob Wade first asked staff if a Red Hill referendum motion had ever come before council during this sitting. Told it had not, Wade allowed the motion to move forward. In the end, only McCarthy, Ward 2 Councillor Andrea Horwath, who seconded it, and Ward 14 Councillor Dave Braden supported the motion, which was voted down 8-3.

 Regardless of the loss, McCarthy says she will bring it back to the August 13th Council meeting for a standing recorded vote.