Red Hill Judicial Investigation

A judge will be appointed, lawyers will cross examine witnesses and the public will be able to watch every step of the way.

The father of a young woman who was killed in a crash on the Red Hill Valley Parkway says Hamilton City Council’s decision to have a judicial investigation into the lost report on the road’s unsafe conditions, is the right way to go.

Some family’s who have lost loved ones in crashes on the Red Hill say they’ve always had a feeling that there is something wrong with this road. It wasn’t until a bombshell report written in 2013 came to light just a few weeks ago, that these families have felt validated, and outraged at the same time. The report showing that the fiction levels on the Red Hill are below standard will now be investigated by a superior court judge.

It was tucked away for over 5 years. Last night, city council decided to have a judge determine how such important information about the fiction levels on the Red Hill could have fallen through the cracks at city hall.

Councillor Brad Clark says a judge will be appointed, and the process will work much like a court case. City Council is putting together a list of questions they want answers too, and lawyers will examine witnesses. It’s the more expensive and time consuming option. A lawyer recommended council choose an Auditor General or Ombudsman investigation instead, but there is one big difference.

In a vote 14 to 2, the majority of councillors felt that it was this lack of transparency in an Auditor General investigation that was not right.

In May of 2015 Olivia Smosarski and her best friend Jordyn Hastings were killed on the Red Hill. Their families left with no explanation as to what went wrong that night.

David Smosarski says a judicial investigation provides the transparency that family members of those killed on the Red Hill want, and hopes that the investigation will prompt potentially life saving actions.

It was estimated that the judicial review could take up to 3 years and cost as much as 11 million dollars. Clark says that estimation is based on cases that were much more complex and says the more realistic cost would be around the million dollar mark.

Currently, City Councillors are providing lawyers with the scope of the investigation, what needs to be answered. Putting the case together could take a couple of months, its unclear how soon after the judicial review will begin.