Province and city split the difference on Chedoke Cleanup deadline

Following a few days of negotiations, the province has agreed to the City’s request to add two months to the deadline for dredging Chedoke Creek. The two sides had originally agreed to a December 31 deadline, but then last week the province issued an order shortening the time line to August 31. After the negotiations, the province has agreed to extend the deadline to October 31. In a letter to Hamilton Director of Water Nick Winters, the province alluded to submissions made by the contractor’s who will do the work as a factor in the decision to extend the deadline. There was also an intervention to the MECP Minister, David Piccini by Mayor Andrea Horwath who said ”I want to personally thank the provincial government for addressing the city’s concerns…all of us want to see the remediation of Chedoke Creek completed as soon as possible and this new cooperative timeline will allow that to happen.”

The provincial letter does not mention the significant unaddressed issue—namely the objections raised by the Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI), who say they represent the hereditary chiefs, and whose picketing halted the cleanup last summer before dredging could begin. In a report to council, however, Director Winters noted. “during that discussion, (with the ministry) it was agreed that a deadline to complete the in-water targeted dredging work of October 31, 2023 would be more achievable provided the City and its contractor are able to gain free and unimpeded access to the work site and able to assure the contractor of same.”

In response to questions from the Bay Observer, a ministry spokesperson said Tuesday the city will be on its own in securing agreements with First Nations. The city has already secured go-ahead agreements with three elected band councils, but the HDI says it represents the hereditary chiefs. Six Nations of the grand elected Chief Mark Hill issued a statement last summer affirming the elected bands have been declared by the Supreme Court as the “only legitimate government of our nation.”