The complainant is a City employee. His spouse, a City councillor, had asked the City water department supervisor to send a staff member to their home to take a water sample because the tap water had a bad odour and taste. The City water supervisor, accompanied by an officer of the Ministry of the Environment and two other City staff members, attended the complainant’s home to conduct the water sample test. The results showed an unacceptable reading for e-coli/fecal coliform. A second test was required, but the results would not be available until 48 hours later.

The complainant’s spouse was concerned that the City did not intend to notify their neighbours until the results of the second test were determined. The complainant’s spouse therefore notified her neighbours, as well as a local newspaper, of the first test results. She suggested that her neighbours refrain from drinking unboiled tap water until the second test results were received.