Water safety regulations imposed after the Walkerton disaster have become burdensome because of government red tape, warns Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa Thompson.

“The reality is municipalities, for example, have a lot of responsibilities now in terms of water testing,” Thompson said Tuesday at a Queen’s Park news conference she held to talk about getting rid of red tape.

“Municipalities, their expenses are going through the roof because of regulation after regulation that is being introduced . . . . And I am going to leave it at that,” Thompson said.

“Sometimes in the house (legislature), when people are trying to justify regulations, they throw out the name of ‘Walkerton’ as if it is a bad thing. A tragedy did happen but we are moving forward.”

Minutes later she was scrambling to explain herself and that she really meant that regulations were really only as good as the people responsible for carrying them out.

“It’s all for naught,” she told the Star if rules are not applied properly, adding earlier that the 2000 water tragedy in Walkerton — where seven people died from drinking water contaminated with E. coli — happened because water testing results were falsified.

“First things first, I live just outside of Walkerton so we have to careful there because everybody at home knows what really happened there. Secondly, over and above that I can tell you that we have to take a look at the ridiculousness of regulations,” she said.

The state-of the-art Walkerton Clean Water Centre was built after the tragedy, which also sickened hundreds and left scores of residents with long-term health problems.

“Regulation upon regulation was imposed to make sure it never happens again,” said Thompson, whose riding of Huron—Bruce includes Walkerton.

Thompson, meanwhile, launched a new website, ontariopc.com/redtape, which will include a petition. Tory Leader Tim Hudak has promised to cut government red tape by a third over the next three years if his party is elected.