Canada - Taber to remove fluoride from drinking water

Taber to remove fluoride from drinking water .Thursday, 21 July 2011 02:01 Albrecht, Craig .
SOUTHERN ALBERTA NEWSPAPERS - TABER
Taber town council has gone where their Lethbridge counterparts decided not to tread in the fluoride debate.
This week in a 4-3 vote, council gave third and final reading to bylaw 2-2011, to repeal the fluoridation bylaw.
Voting against the bylaw Mayor Ray Bryant and councillors John Papp and Louie Tams, all of whom wanted a plebiscite to be held on whether to discontinue fluoridation of the town's water supply before a final decision was made.
As a result of the vote, the design work underway for upgrades to the Taber water treatment plant will not include the equipment necessary to provide fluoridation.
The decision came after a public-consultation phase that included a survey, the results of which showed a majority of residents favoured the town stopping fluoridation of its water. A total of 198 responses were gathered, and 61.6 per cent voted to discontinue fluoridation.
After a lengthy debate at city hall in April, Lethbridge city council voted down by a 5-4 margin a resolution by Ald. Bridget Mearns to end fluoridation of city drinking water, a practice adopted in 1974 after an equally close plebiscite on the issue.
Mearns brought the issue forward, arguing there's evidence that casts doubt on the ethics, safety and effectiveness of fluoridation in preventing tooth decay. Those voting in opposition cited their legal responsibility under the Municipal Government Act to protect the health of the public...........