It was a rare show of contrition by the Ontario Tory leader for his government's botched handling of the worst E. coli outbreak in Canadian history. Seven people have died and up to 2,000 others have been affected to one degree or another by the disaster.

Earlier, Harris said Walkerton failed to make use of federal or provincial funding for sewer and water upgrades. In fact, the town of 5,000 people received $424,500 in funding - $141,500 from each level of government - when the joint infrastructure program was first implemented in 1994.

The money was used by Walkerton officials to improve the town's water network, a process that included the installation of a warning and back-up system in the event of possible bacterial contamination. "My staff had given me wrong information about provincial-federal infrastructure," Harris said June 7, after speaking personally with Walkerton Mayor David Thomson.

"I just apologize to you, to the people of Ontario and of course to Walkerton for any confusion over that."

Thomson accepted the apology.

"Statements sometimes are made without total investigation," said the mayor. "I'm sure that most municipalities try to spend their money wisely." (8 June 2000)