Ontario's Environment Minister says the City of Hamilton failed its residents by keeping word of a massive sewage spill secret.
Jeff Yurek's comments come days after the Hamilton Spectator newspaper reported the city knew about the 24-billion litre sewage spill for more than a year.
City officials confirmed the report last week, but said the details of the spill into Chedoke Creek and Cootes Paradise waterways were a ``confidential matter.''
They said that is standard practice when it comes to an issue that could result in litigation.
Yurek says the province is moving ahead on a ``Made in Ontario'' initiative that would include real-time reporting of sewage spills in the province.
The City of Hamilton has said the leak started in 2014 due to a partially opened gate and continued for four years until it was detected in July 2018.