Canada - No fluoride
No fluoride
Thunder Bay’s municipal drinking water received a great deal of attention this year.
Residents began to pay closer attention as a Thunder Bay District Health Unit campaign to put fluoride in the drinking water gained momentum. While numerous health officials championed the idea, putting fluoride into the city’s drinking water couldn’t escape controversy and becomes tbnewswatch.com’s eighth top news story of 2009.
City council ended the fluoride debate in July with a 6-5 vote against a resolution to study the fluoridation of Thunder Bay’s water. Had council not voted against the resolution, the issue could have went back to citizens in the form of a plebiscite.
"We can educate people on nutrition, proper oral care … those are the steps that I’m prepared to take first," Coun. Trevor Giertuga said just before he and his fellow councillors voted. "I personally don’t want (fluoride) in my water."
"My issue is the 2-million pounds of (fluoride) being washed through our system with only one per cent being consumed by the public," said Mayor Lynn Peterson. "The rest being flushed into the Great Lakes."
Councillors who voted against studying the fluoridation of the drinking water believed they were on the side of public perception.
But during that night in council chambers, it became clear that the politicians were not on the side of the health officials attending the meeting.
"I sit here dumbfounded that you don’t listen to the experts that you hire," Dr. Frank Stechey, Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario president, told council. "Your public health officials are telling you this (fluoridating water) is the way to go."
Council concluded that marathon meeting at 2:40 a.m., but the debate about the fluoridation of drinking water continued long after that.
Thunder Bay’s municipal drinking water received a great deal of attention this year.
Residents began to pay closer attention as a Thunder Bay District Health Unit campaign to put fluoride in the drinking water gained momentum. While numerous health officials championed the idea, putting fluoride into the city’s drinking water couldn’t escape controversy and becomes tbnewswatch.com’s eighth top news story of 2009.
City council ended the fluoride debate in July with a 6-5 vote against a resolution to study the fluoridation of Thunder Bay’s water. Had council not voted against the resolution, the issue could have went back to citizens in the form of a plebiscite.
"We can educate people on nutrition, proper oral care … those are the steps that I’m prepared to take first," Coun. Trevor Giertuga said just before he and his fellow councillors voted. "I personally don’t want (fluoride) in my water."
"My issue is the 2-million pounds of (fluoride) being washed through our system with only one per cent being consumed by the public," said Mayor Lynn Peterson. "The rest being flushed into the Great Lakes."
Councillors who voted against studying the fluoridation of the drinking water believed they were on the side of public perception.
But during that night in council chambers, it became clear that the politicians were not on the side of the health officials attending the meeting.
"I sit here dumbfounded that you don’t listen to the experts that you hire," Dr. Frank Stechey, Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario president, told council. "Your public health officials are telling you this (fluoridating water) is the way to go."
Council concluded that marathon meeting at 2:40 a.m., but the debate about the fluoridation of drinking water continued long after that.
posted by Bill at
9:50 AM
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