After many years of frustrating work, it all started to turn around two years ago when IICPH Board member and water quality advocate Aliss Terpstra spotted a news item about a public meeting to be held four days later in Niagara Region. The Regional Council was being persuaded by the public health dental lobby to slip fluoridation into place over the whole region under the Amalgamation Act through its new streamlined Regional Water System, even though individual towns except for Welland had consistently voted against fluoridation of water for forty years.

It was cheaper to fluoridate the entire region from Hamilton to Niagara Falls than to isolate the infrastructure supply in Welland alone. Aliss frantically persuaded people she did not personally know but who were knowledgeable about the detrimental effects of water fluoridation to attend the meeting.

Five people countered about thirty dental and public health professionals who thought that convincing taxpayers to spend less money for the Region-wide fluoridation was a done deal.

The people who met at the meeting went on with several others to form the organization, People for Safe Drinking Water (PSDW). In January 2008, seven (including Aliss) deputed at the Niagara Regional Council meeting. Council voted not to fluoridate and subsequently passed a bylaw ending fluoridation for good. Through the work of PSDW and other advocates like Aliss against fluoridation of drinking water, a number of communities in Ontario have stopped (Dryden, Kingston, West Elgin); reduced fluoride levels (Hamilton); or are reconsidering it at the next election (Waterloo).

The latest is the town of Tottenham whose water had been fluoridated since 1973 and is the last municipal water system in Simcoe County to remove fluoride treatment. This victory was won through the efforts of Ward 5 Councillor Jim Stone who referred to fluoridation of water as “one of the greatest con jobs of the 20th century”.

The IICPH is very pleased with the work carried forward by Aliss to raise awareness on this issue. We applaud and endorse the work being carried out by the PSDW. We also note that Physicians for the Environment are also applauding the work of this group of dedicated advocates against fluoridation.

The International Society of Fluoride Research Conference at the University of Toronto held in August last year was an inspiring event and a terrific catalyst for subsequent activities. You can see and hear some of the speakers at that event at: www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=DB2EAB8BB119598F.