Applying ethical principles to the decision to build the Red Hill Creek Expressway

Abstract

When making decisions about budget expenditures, governments often confront stakeholders with dramatically opposing positions. These stakeholders attempt, through lobbying, to impress on politicians a preferred decision. Frequently forgotten in the process are issues of ethics. The bitter divide of a community over a funding decision would be improved if politicians incorporated the ethical principles of differing values, equal consideration, equitable participation, distributive justice and emphasis on non‐quantifiable factors into the decision process. These five principles are examined in this paper through the evaluation of the decision to build the Red Hill Creek Expressway in the region of Hamilton‐Wentworth in Ontario, Canada. The region’s failure to consider these fundamental principles in their decision‐making process is highlighted by examples from this case.

Citation

McKay, R.B. (2000), "Applying ethical principles to the decision to build the Red Hill Creek Expressway", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 58-67. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513550010334489