A year after a council vote, Calgary's fluoridation plan moves forward
Calgary is on track to have fluoride back in its water supply by the summer of 2024, the city says, but advocates for fluoridation are questioning why it's taking so long.
A year ago, council officially voted to reintroduce fluoride into the city's water after voters were asked about the issue for a seventh time in Calgary's history. In 2021, 62 per cent of people voted in favour of fluoridation in a plebiscite during the municipal election.
"What's being lost when we don't have water fluoridation is the opportunity for children who are living today to have the benefit of this public health measure," said Juliet Guichon, a University of Calgary medical bioethicist who spearheaded the pro-fluoride effort last year.
"Every month without (fluoridation) makes a difference," she said.
After fluoride stopped being added to the city's water supply in 2011, the infrastructure used to do so was removed. The work to do it again will take nearly three years from the time of the plebiscite.
"It's perplexing that it would take two and a half years with that knowledge already in hand to reinstate this public health measure," Guichon said.
New equipment will be installed and the same fluoride compound that was used in Calgary prior to 2011 is being sourced for when the two water treatment plants are ready for fluoridation again.
"I understand that we spent the past year doing the engineering work and we're going to spend the next year doing the capital work of actually installing the fluoride injection system at the water plants," said Coun. Richard Pootmans, the Ward 6 representative.
It'll cost just over $10 million to upgrade the treatment plants with a price tag for fluoridation coming in at over $30 million over 20 years. The city maintains those costs won't result in water bills increasing.
"Utility services, including fluoridation capital, operating and maintenance costs, are completely self-funded through water rates and service charges and are included in the Water Utility budget. There is no support from property taxes," reads a statement from a city spokesperson.
Calgary will join Lethbridge, Edmonton and Red Deer as Alberta cities with fluoridation.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.