Counsel suggests broad scope of Red Hill Valley Parkway inquiry contributing to increased costs

The City of Hamilton’s solicitor is suggesting no one is to blame for the soaring cost of the judicial inquiry into safety issues involving the Red Hill Valley Parkway.

City legal counsel Eli Lederman told councillors on Monday that the “broad set of questions to be answered by the committee” never gave a true sense of how much talk and how many motions would happen during the probe.

“I think what we’ve tried to achieve, and think we have achieved, that these are the unfortunate aspects of a judicial inquiry that is quite broad in its scope,” Lederman remarked.

Last week, legal staff asked councillors to approve a revised estimate of between $26 and $28 million plus additional disbursement costs for the hearings.

So far, an estimated $18 million has been spent on the probe which is above the $7 million set aside in 2019 and a previously revised estimate of $11 million.

The mayor appeared show some buyer’s remorse during the update, submitting to the general issues committee he’s had regrets supporting the review amid the rising costs.

“If I knew then what I know now, would I have decided to follow through on a judicial review? I think most of us would probably answer no,” Eisenberger said.

City legal counsel Eli Lederman told councillors the additional costs are attributed to “a number of different factors” including the inquiry starting in April instead of January, the rescheduling of several witnesses to September and October due to having to park the inquiry for a short period in July.

Lederman also explained that the legal clock continued to run despite not being in session due to behind the scenes work related to the requisition of supporting documents for witnesses, taking statements and counsel “preparation sessions.”

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“There are preparatory sessions that take place when the hearing is not running, so that witnesses are testifying in a way that is efficient and that they understand the documents,” said Lederman.

“There’s a million documents that need to be reviewed as part of this process.”

The Red Hill Valley Parkway Inquiry (RHVPI) is centered around a 2013 city staff report on the surface of the roadway — a document that was allegedly buried for six years.

The study suggested remedial action due to friction levels in some areas of the roadway being below safety standards.

Since the opening of the parkway in 2007, a number of crash victims and families of victims have argued improper design and maintenance of the parkway over the years has led to numerous incidents.

City council has long insisted the report was never shared with them.

To date, the RHVPI cost summary estimates around $9.4 million in counsel fees and disbursements account for more than half of the $18 million spent so far.

An estimated $6.3 million has gone to external legal fees, and another $1.5 million into city expenses for data collection and hosting.

Lederman said city counsel and the commission council have recognized the escalating costs of the inquiry and made some efforts to evade a “duplication of effort” reallocating some work to teams that are have “lower billing rates.”

In all, he says there’s not much the city can do in terms of mitigating costs at this point since they are committed to the process.

“The only thing I can recommend is that we be vigilant, and we have been, and continue to do whatever we can to contain costs and ensure that the legal fees associated with this inquiry are being spent reasonably and are not excessive,” Lederman said.