Is another vote on water fluoridation coming in Calgary?

Another plebiscite on fluoridation could be on the ballot of the 2021 Calgary municipal election.

Councillor Jeromy Farkas on Tuesday asked city administration for an update and information on the history and cost of water fluoridation.

READ MORE: Here’s how removing fluoride from Calgary’s water affected kids’ teeth

“There’s a lot of recent research and studies that have come out on this topic and we get a lot of questions in our office from constituents,” he said.

“I want to be able come back to this conversation in a fact-based way.”

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Led by Councillor Druh Farrell, Calgary city council in 2011 moved to eliminate fluoride from the city’s drinking water, also rejecting setting up an expert panel to study the issue.

While some councillors were concerned about adding the chemical to the water, others cited financial reasons. At the time, it was reported it would cost the city of Calgary $6 million to make improvements to water treatment plants.

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READ MORE: Calgary city council says no to re-assessing fluoride in tap water

Farkas said council was wrong to vote the way it did without going to the people.

“In my mind, it was not legitimate for council to unilaterally stop water fluoridation, given that the precedent is that it was brought in through a plebiscite.”

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The Ward 11 councillor admits he campaigned strongly in favour of fluoridation in the run up to the 2017 municipal election, saying studies he’s exposed to demonstrate that water fluoridation is “one of modern society’s premier innovation in health sciences.”

READ MORE: Tooth decay ‘epidemic’ in Canada could be linked to too much fruit juice, study suggests

Farkas believes if fluoridation is brought back, it should be done through another plebiscite.

“I feel the only legitimate way to start water fluoridation again would be in a future plebiscite and depending on the level of public support for that, it could be a plebiscite attached to the next general election and we could do that cost effectively.”

Calgarians have voted in five plebiscites on water fluoridation, voting to add it to the drinking water in 1998 and, as recently 2016, city council rejected a call for another vote.