The MPP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek says the Ontario government should be doing everything it can to assist Hamilton city council with a judicial inquiry into safety concerns on the Red Hill Valley Parkway.
NDP MPP Paul Miller made the statement in the provincial legislature on Thursday afternoon, urging the Ford government to provide financial assistance for the inquiry.
“The Red Hill Valley Parkway is not just a bumpy, slippery road,” said Miller. “Lives were lost. And the families of these victims want to know why they have had to suffer this tragedy with no answers.”
Miller also said the province should review its own policies about regulating its highways, adding that the Red Hill serves as a partial link between two major provincial roadways — Highway 403 and the Queen Elizabeth Way.
“What is the point of ensuring safety on the QEW if the road that gets you there is dangerously unsafe?”
Hamilton city council has voted 14-2 in favour of calling for a judicial inquiry into how a 2013 report about friction levels on the roadway was buried for five years.
Council went against outside legal advice, which recommended the faster, cheaper option of an auditor general or ombudsman’s investigation.
A judicial inquiry could take up to three years to complete and cost as much as $11 million.