You are half right Stewy.
Drunk incompetents were the root cause.
But you are mostly wrong in terms of this conversation.
The damage could have been contained had the law not been change to prevent the Medical Officer of Health from accessing the water tests.
http://www.cmaj.ca/content/166/10/1326.1.full
"the local Public Utilities Commission was singled out for withholding May 15 lab tests that confirmed the presence of E. Coli in the town's water" and "Many have pointed out that 6 years ago the province's newly elected Tory government privatized water-testing laboratories as part of widespread budget cuts."