an east–west expressway in lower Hamilton, which required a subsidy from the provincial government. The provincial government refused to pay the subsidy without the city proposing to build the Red Hill. Controversy A plan for the expressway was approved by regional council in 1979. The project required approvals from various boards: the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), Ontario Environmental Assessment Board (OEAB), Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC) and the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority (HRCA). The provincial government decided to submit approval for the project to one, larger hearing process, called the 'Consolidated Joint Board' which had two OMB officials and one OEAB official. 99 days of hearing were held in 1984. The OEAB, NEC and HRCA all opposed the project. Against the wishes of those agencies, and a group called "Save the Valley", the board approved the project 2–1, with the OEAB representative dissenting, in October 1985. The Save the Valley organization and the HRCA appealed to the provincial government, hoping for a cancellation like the Spadina Expressway in Toronto, but the appeal was rejected in 1987. Construction began in 1990, but was stopped by the election of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) government of Bob Rae. NDP MPPs had won all six ridings in the Hamilton area and had opposed the project as a matter of party policy. The Rae government withdrew funding for the project. Construction on both the King Street East and Queenston Road replacement bridges had already been completed. Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Council started a legal action in 1991 to get the funding reinstated, but was unsuccessful. Former Toronto mayor David Crombie was appointed by the Rae government to mediate the dispute. Crombie produced a plan without an expressway, instead proposing the construction and expansion of arterial roads on either side of the valley. The compromise was rejected by regional council in 1994. In 1995, the Progressive Conservatives led by Mike Harris won the provincial election. The Harris government restored funding to the RHVP project. While the project was again funded, it still required environment approvals to continue. Norm Sterling, Ontario Minister of the Environment, exempted the project. The Government of Canada notified Hamilton that the project would require federal environment approval, which Hamilton applied for in 1998. Environment Canada initiated a full environmental review, which Hamilton opposed, launching a lawsuit, arguing that the project had already been approved. A federal judicial review board sided with Hamilton, clearing