Dozens rallied outside Kingston City Hall Saturday afternoon to voice their concerns about 5G networks.
Kingstonians for Safe Technology (K4ST) protested against the networks, which are being used by telecommunication companies to provide faster, wireless service to the public.
“The 5G network involves something called small cell antennas that will be placed every 100 metres or so through our communities,” a spokesperson from K4ST Andrea Loken said.
K4ST say local government officials should ban running the networks because there haven’t been any tests to see if exposure to 5G is safe.
World-renowned scientists came to Kingston City Hall to engage in a panel discussion on what they believe to be health risks that are linked to the exposure of radiation from 5G networks.
Anthony Miller, who is a former advisor for the World Health Organization (WHO), said 5G is classified as a carcinogen.
“The use of mobile phones increases the risk for cancer in humans, particularly brain cancer, for people that keep their phone close to their head,” says Miller.
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In addition to apparent health risks, other protestors say there are also risks to people’s privacy that need to be examined.
“As a community, we need to start asking our research agencies in Ottawa, the privacy commissioner of Canada, to start making 5G a focus in the context of privacy,” says Dr. Thomas Cooke, a postdoctoral fellow at Queens University. “Start creating the resources and opportunities we need to start investigating these things.”