Excerpt
The Town of Lake Cowichan’s elected officials sought input from the public on a multitude of issues during their bi-yearly public meeting, Monday, November 22, at the Centennial Hall.
That was, despite a low turnout of just under 20 people, as a result of blustery winter weather.
Due to a recent surgery, councillor Jayne Ingram was unable to attend, but councillors Tim McGonigle, Franklin Hornbrook, Bob Day, and mayor Ross Forrest were on-hand to answer public questions and feedback during an open forum dictated by the public.
The following are some of the issues touched upon by mayor and council and the public during the public meeting.
During his introduction, councillor Tim McGonigle gave the public a presentation on his latest project; eliminating the injection of fluoride into the Town of Lake Cowichan’s drinking water.
Having researched fluoridation extensively in advance of a recent interview he had on CBC Radio, and for the public meeting, McGonigle came well informed about the subject, and enthusiastic to share his findings with the public.
“I think, like other WWII institutions, fluoridation has run its course, like leaded gasoline,” McGonigle said, adding that Lake Cowichan is the only community on Vancouver Island that continues to inject fluoride into its drinking water.
With adverse medical side-effects and little benefit to ingesting fluoride, McGongile said that the best option would be to discontinue the town’s fluoridation project.
“The savings would be $10,000… It can go a long way to doing other projects,” he said.
Although fluoride is a natural chemical, occurring in just about everything (1.5 mg of fluoride is in a Mc Donald’s Restaurant Big Mac), the fluoride the Town of Lake Cowichan is injecting into the drinking water is a chemical waste as a result of fertilizer production.
Toothpaste labels encouraged users to spit fluoridated toothpaste out after brushing one’s teeth, McGongile said, so why are we swallowing drinking water with fluoride in it?
At the end of his presentation, McGongile encouraged the public to research fluoridation themselves, and to form an opinion.
McGongile said that the item could very well come to a referendum vote during the next election, as the “medication of the public” shouldn’t be a council decision, he said.
So far, the public seems to support the anti-fluoride sentiment, with five people versus one voting against fluoride on a piece of paper put up on the wall of Centennial Hall during the meeting.
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