CTV.ca reports that, “Calgary’s drinking water could soon be fluoride-free. City aldermen voted by a margin of 10 to 3 on Tuesday to eliminate the mineral from its water supply. …After the city’s Utilities and Environment committee voted 5-1 to exclude fluoride from Calgary’s water supply, some aldermen called for the matter to be put to a plebiscite. But after spending much of the afternoon Tuesday in heated debate about the issue, council decided not to have a public vote on the matter. …The issue now goes to Alberta Environment, which will have to amend the city’s water licence, which could take several months.”
The Calgary chapter campaigned against the fluoridation of their drinking water by organizing a public forum on it on January 18, by posting a video of that forum, see http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=6179, by making a deputation to the city’s Utilities and Environment committee on January 27 (which then voted against fluoridation), see http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=6116, and other actions.
The Council of Canadians has taken the position that there are environmental and health concerns associated with the fluoridation of drinking water and that this is an issue best decided through public consultation and debate at the local level. And so we congratulate the Calgary chapter on their successful campaign. The Council is also working with Eau Secours in Quebec which is opposing the Charest government’s plans to increase the fluoridation of drinking water there from about 3 per cent to 50 per cent. Our concerns are more fully outlined at http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3304.
The CTV report is at http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Health/20110209/calgary-water-fluoride-110209/.
