Hamilton

City, steelworkers appeal to unseal U.S. Steel 'secret deal'

Retired steelworkers and the city are hoping the Court of Appeal process can do what the bankruptcy protection court could not: Open the "secret deal" between the Canadian government and U.S. Steel in 2011.

Motion for en expedited hearing will be presented Monday

The terms of the agreement between U.S. Steel and the Canadian government in 2011 have a new chance to be revealed. (John Rieti/CBC)

Retired steelworkers and the city of Hamilton filed an appeal Wednesday for the 2011 "secret deal" between the federal government and U.S. Steel to be unsealed.

A motion to expedite the appeal is expected to be heard in court on Monday, attorneys for the pensioners and the city said.

The Ontario Court of Appeals decided last week that it would reconsider the request to open the "secret deal" struck between the Canadian government and U.S. Steel in 2011, in which the feds dropped a lawsuit against the American steel manufacturer even after it had broken promises to manufacture steel in Canada.

That deal has been secret, its terms concealed from even pensioners and the city of Hamilton, but lawyers for the pensioners have argued that much in the ongoing negotiations hinges on it.

Ontario Superior Court Judge Herman Wilton-Siegel ruled in May that while he thought the terms of the deal would have bearing on the bankruptcy case, he didn't have the power to unseal the document. 

The steelworkers and the city are appealing that decision.

With files from Samantha Craggs and Jeff Green