OVER ONE MILLION : SPENT ON EXPRESSWAY LAWSUIT

Information released by Ottawa officials makes it almost certain that taxpayers have spent over $1 million already on the lawsuit launched by Hamilton over alleged federal delay of the Red Hill Valley Parkway. City staff have been asked to report to council on the status of the legal action initiated five years ago this month.
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency revealed last week that the justice department of the federal government had spent nearly $700,000 on the lawsuit as of December 31. The information came in response to a question filed in late January by Hamilton Mountain MP Chris Charlton.
“The cost of the work done by the Department of Justice on this litigation up to the end of December 2008 is about $690,300,” says the written response. “Other departments do not track their time so it is not possible to estimate the cost incurred by other federal departments involved in the litigation.”
The CEAA response goes on to estimate that “the vast majority of the cost incurred by the federal government” has been spent by the Justice department. The lawsuit named four cabinet ministers and 65 federal staff – almost all employed in the Ministry of the Environment or in Fisheries and Oceans Canada.