The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Another northern Manitoba community may be ready to stop adding fluoride to the water supply. Following a town council decision, Churchill will hold a referendum on the controversial practice next month, the Winnipeg Free Press reports. Rick Brackley, a spokesperson for an anti-fluoridation group in Churchill, told the newspaper it has taken three years of lobbying council to get the referendum. He said the fluoride added to water is derived from fertilizer processing and is a "toxic waste product." But the Free Press points out that the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention finds no scientific basis for allegations that fluoride is a health risk. Fighting cavities And the Manitoba government, while it does not mandate fluoridation, supports the measure as a means of fighting cavities, particularly among vulnerable populations. When city council voted to end fluoridation in Flin Flon in early July, they rejected the suggestion that the matter should go to a referendum. Leading the anti-fluoridation charge was Coun. Bill Hanson, who said fluoridation is tantamount to "medicating people without their informed consent." Ed Yauck, a retired dentist and former mayor, said at the time that council will see a petition to have such a referendum coincide with the 2014 civic election. Flin Flon began fluoridating in 1989 following that fall's referendum. By a margin of 50 votes, out of 1,334 cast, fluoridation supporters won what was a divisive battle.
