Council should not have reversed ban

The one file that a previous city council made a decision on that completely floored me, because it was good, was regarding the abolishment of fluoride from our drinking water. If I had to bet whether they would have done that, a firm no would have been my reply.

Of all the disappointing news that came from council chambers the past number of years, the fluoride ban was one that was correct, given the overwhelming amount of evidence in favour of the ban. Then the hope that a few new city councillors brought was quickly shattered. Our newest city council seems to be another set of regressives. In fact worse! Without regurgitating the obvious reasons for banning an industrial waste byproduct, fluoride, I want to point the finger of blame in two places: council and other local officials. As the data became available to dentists and other responsible medical authorities, why was it kept under wraps? If indicators showed that children were undergoing much more frequent dental interventions than previous to the fluoride ban, why was not an action plan implemented to deal with this? Officials should have raised awareness of this issue immediately, if indeed it is an issue. Explaining how more frequent brushing is needed should have taken place in our school systems. Leaflets, educational materials or a number of other methods could have and should have been used to notify parents and children of the concern over this matter.

To wait almost six years for new council members to be shamed into another bad decision was unethical, particularly if they thought children were indeed at risk. Shame. Franco Favot, Windsor