Dear Mr. Frawley,

I am writing on behalf of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and Red Hill Valley Neighbourhoods Association. We would appreciate the opportunity to address members of the Niagara Escarpment Commission at their meeting on April 15, 2004.

We have recently received a staff report dated February 18, 1999, in which the Niagara Escarpment Commission indicates it is in a difficult situation regarding the planning for the protection of the Niagara Escarpment. We wish to bring forward important new information about the Red Hill Creek Expressway environmental assessment process that we believe will assist the Commission in resolving this conflict. An outline of our submission is attached.

Dear Minister Dombrowsky,

Further to our letters of December 17, 2003, November 5, 2003, November 13, 2003, and August 21, 2003, we are writing to clarify the status of the Red Hill Creek Expressway project.

While we have been promised a response indicating whether or not the Red Hill Creek Expressway approvals warrant a reassessment under s.11.4(1) of the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act, we have not received a decision to date. This week marks the five-month anniversary of our request.

Dear Minister Dombrowsky,

Further to my letter of November 5, 2003, I am writing to offer you further information and assistance regarding the Red Hill Creek Expressway issue.

In our letter, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper suggested that the people of this province need the independent oversight of your ministry to ensure that the best interests of the Red Hill Valley and the watershed community are respected. We did not ask you to cancel the Red Hill Creek Expressway, but rather to review the 18-year old provincial approvals for the project and ensure that all activities are carried out only after fair and legitimate decisions are made.

Dear Ms. Dombrowsky,

Further to our letter of August 21, 2003, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper is calling on you, the Minister of Environment, to respond to our request for a re-evaluation of provincial approvals granted eighteen years ago for the construction of an expressway through hamilton's Red Hill Valley.

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper called on Leona Dombrowsky, newly appointed Minister of Environment, to fast-track the province's decision on the future of the Red Hill Valley today.

Tensions over the proposed Red Hill Creek Expressway have reached an all-time high as police arrested several demonstrators on October 27 and an Anglican Canon on November 4, 2003 (later released). Demonstrations were sparked by the City of Hamilton's attempts to push ahead with construction before the upcoming municipal election.

At this press conference, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper will unveil the Province of Ontario's role in the construction of an expressway through the Red Hill Valley.

The Province of Ontario has confirmed that it will review the Red Hill Creek Expressway situation. The outcome of this review could affect the construction of a controversial expressway through the city's Red Hill Valley.

Provincial intervention could protect the future of the Red Hill Valley, says environmental justice group Lake Ontario Waterkeeper.

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper asked the province this week to reconsider its 1985 approval for the construction of an expressway through the Red Hill Valley. The City of Hamilton is in the early stages of construction for this Red Hill Creek Expressway, relying on the province's approval for the project.

Dear Hon. Wilson,

I am writing to you on behalf of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper (LOK), an environmental law group working to protect Lake Ontario. As you are likely aware, the City of Hamilton is currently undertaking to construct an expressway in the Red Hill Valley. This project is highly controversial and has been the subject of numerous public demonstrations and media reports.

Hamilton-area residents celebrate the City's last free-flowing waterway. The Red Hill Creek has been threatened by a proposed expressway for the last fifty years. Lynda Lukasik explains:

I was a participant in a camp-out organized by valley supporters to celebrate yet another Thanksgiving with an intact Red Hill Valley to enjoy. On Friday night I watched a small community of several dozen tents pop up along the trail at the upper end of the valley. It was a wonderful sight.