Alternate Routes, New Pathways:

Development, Democracy and the Political Ecology of

Transportation in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Richard Oddie

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies

in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

Faculty of Environmental Studies

York University
Toronto, Ontario

November, 2008
 Abstract

A number of recent studies in the emergent field of urban political ecology have
examined the role of discourse and symbolic representations of nature and the city in
conflicts over urban development and infrastructure. In my dissertation, I expand upon
this approach to consider why and how social movements mobilize counter-hegemonic
narratives that challenge prevailing notions of development, democracy and nature.
Through a case study of the decades-long conflict over the Red Hill Creek Expressway
in the (post) industrial city of Hamilton, Canada, I trace the historical development of
alternative narratives. I demonstrate how these narratives have been articulated through
representations of urban nature, in a dialogical relationship with a hegemonic narrative
of growth and progress. I argue that environmental discourses should not be treated as
static political positions but must be understood through the interplay between
competing narratives as they draw upon and influence each other, including attempts to
modify or co-opt particular ideas and symbols. My research presents a methodological
framework based on the historical analysis of political frames and ideologies,
examining how the language of sustainability, development and democracy was
appropriated, altered and re-appropriated over the course of this conflict.

My dissertation research applies this approach to three areas that have yet to receive
much attention in the field of urban political ecology: transportation infrastructure;
industrial cities; and colonialism. Through my analysis of the Red Hill Creek
Expressway conflict, I show how the development of transportation infrastructure is
shaped by changing political economic conditions and normative representations of
urban nature that are grounded in the unique socio-ecological history of this region as a
steel-manufacturing centre. Further, I argue that conflicts over urban development and
transportation in a Canadian context cannot be understood without considering the
colonial relationships, past and present, between indigenous peoples and non-Aboriginal
Canada. As I demonstrate, the interaction between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal
activists in this case challenges prevailing conceptions of environmentalism, along with
related understandings of citizenship, democracy and development in ways that point
towards a post-colonial political ecology.
 Table of Contents

1. The Political Ecology of Transportation and the Ideological Terrain

of Urban Nature

Other Voices: Environmental Narratives and Articulating Landscapes 1

Political Ecology, Urban Development and Post-Industrial Cities 8

Urban Metabolism and Transportation 15

The Social Production of Urban Space, Scale and Nature 20

Environmental Imaginaries, Frames and Ideologies 26

Research Methodology 33

Chapter Overview 37

2. Water, Stone and Steel: Hamilton’s Socio-Ecological Roots

The Head of the Lake: Aboriginal Inhabitants and Colonization 41

Imaginary Lines: Waterways, Railways and Roadways in the

Frontier City 51

The Rise of the Steel City 66

Urban Metabolism in the Steel City 78

The Industrial Imaginary 84

3. Accelerating Development and Resistance: Contested Landscapes

and Political Narratives

Urban Infrastructure, Suburbanization and the Automobile 89

Road to Progress: Early Proposals for the Red Hill Creek Expressway 103
 Pavers and Savers: Public Mobilization and Political Narratives 118

4. Re-Envisioning Urban Development? Globalization, Ecological

Modernization and Vision 2020

Endangered Environments and Economies 139

Politics, Ecology, Economics: The 1985 Joint-Board Hearing 144

Ecological Modernization and the Politics of Sustainable Development 159

Vision 2020: Participatory Planning and the Promise of Ecological

Modernization 172

Roadblock: Money, Trees and the NDP 177

5. Urban Sustainability, Neoliberalism and Public Ecology

Competing Visions of the Future 191

Neoliberalizing the Steel City 197

Multiplying Paths of Resistance: Justice, Development and Democracy 209

Expanding Networks: The Federal Environmental Assessment 219

Public Ecology and the Urban Ecological Imaginary 228

6. Contesting Development, Democracy and Aboriginal Rights in the

Red Hill Valley

The “New” City of Hamilton and the Transportation Network Engine 239

More Than Just a Road: Aboriginal Land and the Green Expressway 247

Confrontation and Collaboration in the Valley: The Showstoppers

and the Keepers of the Sacred Fire 255

 Aboriginal Rights: Land, Law and Colonial Imaginaries 270

Property, Nature and Indigenous Sovereignty 278

Searching for Political Space 285

7. Beyond Red Hill Valley: The Greening of Development and the

Democratization of Urban Ecology

Neo-Fordist Ecological Modernization and the Ideology of Development 295

Smart Growth, GRIDS and the Aerotropolis Debate 304

Seeds of Change: Urban Ecology and Activism After Red Hill 313

Beyond the City: Environmental Politics, Justice and Canadian

Colonialism
325

Conclusion: Some Contributions for Thought and Action

334

Bibliography 347

Appendices

Appendix A Participation Consent Form 376

Appendix B Interview Questions 377

 List of Figures

Figure 2.1 Physical geography of Hamilton 43

Figure 2.2 “Progress” by John Ganst, 1872 51

Figure 2.3 Land Survey of the Township of Barton, 1791 53

Figure 2.4 The Head of the Lake, c. 1835 55

Figure 2.5 Artist’s Depiction of the Hamilton Waterworks, 1863 66

Figure 2.6: East-End Incline Railway 70

Figure 2.7: The Electric City, 1903 71

Figure 2.8: Construction of the Hunter Street Tunnel, 1890s 86

Figure 2.9: Postcard depicting the industrial waterfront, 1904 86

Figure 3.1: A scenic drive following the edge of the Hamilton

Escarpment, c. 1950 91

Figure 3.2: Aerial view of industrial development along

Hamilton’s eastern waterfront, 1970s 96

Figure 3.3: Red Hill Valley route, with alternate routes

Kenilworth Avenue and Highway 20 highlighted 114

Figure 3.4: Save the Valley lawn signs 126

Figure 3.5: Savers and Pavers outside City Hall 129

Figure 4.1: Red Hill Valley, looking north from the escarpment 139

Figure 4.2: Red Hill Valley and surrounding area, 1990s 141

Figure 4.3: Existing and proposed industrial parks 151

Figure 4.4: Tree Crossing 180

Figure 4.5: Pro-Expressway Rally at Queen’s Park 181

Figure 5.1: “1000 Expressway Dollars” 201

Figure 5.2: Illustrating the “Pro-Expressway Vision” 215

Figure 5.3: Valley of Vermin 217

Figure 5.4: Get Hamilton Moving Task Force logo 220

Figure 6.1: Money and water down the drain? 243

Figure 6.2: Protest the Cuts poster 246

Figure 6.3: The Red Hill Valley Project 252

Figure 6.4: Rally for the Valley, August 4, 2003 256

Figure 6.5: Showstoppers Meeting, August 2003 259

Figure 6.6: The Greenhill Community Garden 259

Figure 6.7: Building the Longhouse 264

Figure 6.8: Claiming Sacred Space 267

Figure 6.9: The voice of the people? 270

Figure 6.10: March to Queen’s Park, 2003 286

Figure 6.11: Council Chambers Protest, 2004 289

Figure 7.1: The Red Hill Valley Parkway 297

Figure 7.2: Parking Meter Parties, 2001 and 2008 315

Figure 7.3: Sky Dragon Centre 320

Figure 7.4: Six Nations, in relation to Caledonia, Hamilton

and the Red Hill Valley 326

Figure 7.5: Blockade at Douglas Creek Estates, Caledonia 327