Mayor George Fontaine and reelection-seeking councillors will run on a rather contentious record when they face voters this fall.
Tax and utility bill increases, overtures to expand Flin Flon’s borders and even planned cuts to public transit may help determine who is left standing at Council Chambers after the Oct. 22 election.
But for a narrow slice of the electorate, a largely forgotten controversy still leaves a bad taste: the end of water fluoridation.
“It is a strong issue for me,” says Amy Sapergia Green. “I mean, personally and professionally, my focus is prevention [of health problems]. And having a young family, I think that oral hygiene is important. I also know that in the North, we have pretty appalling rates of dental [decay], and I think anything we can do to improve those rates is worth doing.”
Sapergia Green, a registered nurse and mother of four, sees many parallels between opposition to water fluoridation and the anti-vaccination movement so widely disdained by science.
She believes most Flin Flonners don’t feel strongly about fluoridation one way or the other, but she sees only a very small group advocating the compund’s outright removal.
Of course that’s not how city councillors read the public opinion when in March 2011 they voted 4-1 to withdraw supplemental fluoride from the water beginning in 2012.
A few months later, council sped up the process by a 5-1 margin that saw fluoridation cease as of July 5, 2011. The compound hasn’t been added since.
Bold move
It was a bold move. Though anti-fluoridation movements have sprung up across North America over the past decade, there exists a strong scientific consensus around the oral health benefits of the practice.
Among the internationally and nationally respected agencies that back fluoridation: the World Health Organization, US Centers for Disease Control and Health Canada.
That wasn’t enough to sway the majority of council, whose anti-fluoridation arguments were as passionate as they were varied.
“For me the premise is, we’re medicating people without their informed consent,” said Coun. Bill Hanson prior to the July 5, 2011 vote.
Coun. Karen MacKinnon, another opponent, held up the fact that neither the federal nor provincial governments mandate fluoridation as proof there is no absolute certainty that the practice is suitable.
Coun. Colleen McKee said her biggest problem with fluoridation is that it removes individual choice. She said she knew of at least two residents who, out of medical necessity, must reduce their fluoride intake.
Ethical arguments aside, Coun. Hanson contended the city could not afford a $20,000 fluoride distributor for the water treatment plant that was still on the drawing board at the time of the vote.
But some wondered how big of a factor $20,000 could be for the $15.2-million treatment plant. If council viewed fluoridation as urgently as it viewed other public services, surely the cash could be found, couldn’t it?
Referendum
All other arguments aside, what upset fluoridation advocate Blair Sapergia the most was council’s reluctance to settle the debate with a public referendum.
“It was put in by referendum and that’s how it should have been removed,” says Sapergia.
The referendum in question took place in 1989 and showed that even a quarter-century ago, fluoridation was highly divisive in Flin Flon. Residents voted by a margin of less than four per cent in favour of the practice – just 50 votes out of 1,334 cast.
Sapergia, who is Sapergia Green’s father, still sees fluoridation as an advantageous tool, particularly for low-income families for whom strong oral health care is never a given.
“I do believe that fluoridation does prevent tooth decay,” he says.
But only one member of council, Coun. Skip Martin, was sympathetic to Sapergia’s arguments.
Addressing council during the July 5, 2011 debate, Coun. Martin said fluoride is not a drug, but an element.
He referenced studies showing that fluoridation cuts cavity rates by 20-40 per cent and is even more effective among children who lack proper dental habits.
It was all for naught, however, as Flin Flon joined Creighton, Denare Beach, Snow Lake and a growing list of other communities in refusing to inject fluoride into the water.
Three years later, questions from council’s decision continue to linger.
Did council prove itself to be anti-science? Is fluoridation one of those health practices that will in time be proven unsafe? Will a future council revisit the issue?
Only time – and perhaps further debate – will tell.
Timeline of a Debate
Early 1930s: Researchers begin to notice that people who drink water that is naturally high in fluoride have very few cavities.
1945: Brantford, Ont., becomes the first Canadian community to test water fluoridation. It is said that the move achieves a 54 per cent reduction in tooth decay among eight-year-olds.
October 25, 1989: By a margin of 50 votes out of 1,334 cast, Flin Flonners vote by way of referendum to bring fluoridation to their community.
Circa 2006: The Town of Snow Lake ends fluoridation of its water supply.
2008: Fluoridation debates grip both Flin Flon and Cranberry Portage, but Manitoba Health urges both communities to maintain the practice. They do.
2009: The LUD of Cranberry Portage goes against Manitoba Health’s advice and discontinues fluoridation.
March 1, 2011: By a 4-1 margin, Flin Flon city council votes to end fluoridation when the new water treatment plant opens. At this time, the plant is expected to open around mid-2012. Coun. Skip Martin is the lone opponent. By now, the Town of Creighton has ended fluoridation.
April 5, 2011: Coun. Bill Hanson, perhaps council’s leading opponent of fluoridation, announces plans to introduce a motion to end fluoridation immediately.
April 19, 2011: Coun. Hanson’s motion is delayed after two medical experts appear before council to urge that fluoridation continue. Dr. Khalida Hai-Santiago, oral health consultant for Manitoba Health, and Dr. Lawrence Elliott, medical officer of health for the NOR-MAN region, stress the effectiveness of the practice.
July 5, 2011: By a 5-1 margin, council votes to halt fluoridation immediately. Again, Coun. Martin is the lone opponent. Former mayor and retired dentist Ed Yauck asks council to bring the issue to another referendum, but his idea is rejected.
2013: Almost 95 per cent of Manitoba’s population accesses fluoridated water.
Sources: The Reminder archives, Canadian Public Health Association, Winnipeg Free Press, Manitoba Dental Association
