ecoLIVING London

City of London is attempting to by pass proper public discourse protocols (public participation meeting) and is trying to fast track its decision to continue water fluoridation.

On last minute notice we discovered the committee responsible for reviewing this issue will make recommendation to City Council to continue fluoridation thus prematurely ending any fair debate on the issue.

It is very important, at this juncture, that we show up at City hall with as many people as possible. It is pivotal that the committee members see and hear from us before this is considered a done deal. Without this public show it will become even more difficult to work on this issue!

So please round up your friends and significant others and attend this meeting. Details are below.

The committee in question to attend is "Built And Natural Environment Committee" and the meeting is scheduled for 4:00 pm on this Monday, Nov. 28th, 2011. When you enter City Hall you can ask for directions on where the meeting is. The visitor gallery is usually on second floor, however, please check to make sure. Please come early as the first item on the agenda is ours.

Those who can write please do so before 12 pm on Monday and ask the committee Secretary to attach your note to the agenda. Also copy to the committee members. Please ensure you include your address. See my example below for details.

Many thanks,

Chris Gupta

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To: "Heather Lysynski - Committee Secretary" - hlysynsk [at] london [dot] ca - phone 519 661-2500 Ext.4856 

To:
Bud Polhill - BPolhill [at] london [dot] ca
Denise Brown - dbrown [at] london [dot] ca
Sandy White - sawhite [at] london [dot] ca
Joe Fontana - jfontana [at] london [dot] ca
Joni Baechler - jbaechle [at] london [dot] ca
Joe Swan - jswan [at] london [dot] ca
John Simon, Division Manager - Water Operations - JSimon [at] london [dot] ca
John Braham, Director of Water and City Engineer - jbraam [at] london [dot] ca
Pat Mcnally, Executive Director - Planning, Environmental & Engineering Services - pmcnally [at] london [dot] ca

Heather, Please include the following note with the agenda for the "Built And Natural Environment Committee" on the Nov. 28th, 2011.

Thanks,

Chris Gupta

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Dear "Built and Natural Environment Committee" members:

Consent Item "UPDATE REGARDING WATER FLUORIDATION IN LONDON", agenda item 2 of 9 for closure is premature and inappropriate. There has not been a proper public consultation of this item to date and many questions posed to the City have not been answered.

The said document sent by the City Engineers is clearly side stepping the questions asked by many constituents. Our concerns on the safety of the products used (Hexafluorosilicic acid and Sodium silicofluoride) for water fluoridation are still unanswered. We get continued circular passing off of responsibility to Middlesex-London Health Unit and Health Canada endorsements without any demonstration that these products are safe. Health Canada then states that the decision to fluoride with these products belongs to the municipalities; the municipalities, can't say it is safe either and refer us to Middlesex-London Health Unit and round and round we go with no proof and no accountability.

Deliberately contaminating our water, is not a requirement regardless what Health Canada or Middlesex-London Health Unit say. Since the final decision to fluoride with an untested product rests with the city.

Dan Huggins from the city water department has often been cited by the Middlesex-London Health Unit when questioned on the scientific and legal determination of safety of fluoridation products used is questoined. He is unable to provide any animal studies (toxicology studies) and human studies (randomized, controlled clinical trials). But claims that the city conforms to NSF/ANSI 60 standards, which upon further investigation also do not have any such safety studies.

From the above it is clear that the city has not done its due diligence on water fluoridation and is simply following directives from other parties who are not responsible for any consequences from their actions. This realization is why other cities are able to eliminate this untested product from their water. Thus removing them from any wrong doing (liability) and continued injury to their constituents should they knowingly continue to add untested products to the water.

It is incumbent of you as elected representatives to do your due diligence and provide evidence of safety for hydrofluorosilicic acid as requested or seize this practice until such evidence is provided.

Chris Gupta P. Eng.
London, Ontario, Canada
N6H 2Y1
email: chrisgupta [at] alumni [dot] uwaterloo [dot] ca

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