On June 30, Calgary resumed adjusting fluoride levels in its drinking water, nearly four years after 62 per cent of voters supported reinstating fluoridation.
Fluoride occurs naturally in the Bow and Elbow Rivers, but this move will raise levels to 0.7 milligrams per litre, the amount recommended by Health Canada. Medical experts in Canada and globally agree that fluoridation is a safe, effective way to help prevent tooth decay, especially in children. Yet, strong opposition to the measure persists.
Calgarians are no strangers to controversies concerning fluoridation. In fact, the 2021 vote was Calgary’s seventh. Calgary has voted on fluoridation more than any other major city in Canada. Between 1958 and 1971, Calgarians voted four times against adjusting fluoride levels. Back then, many North Americans believed that fluoridation was an “international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids,” to quote Stanley Kubrick’s classic satirical film Dr. Strangelove. Over the years, the reasons for opposing fluoridation have changed, but the debate remains intense.
In 1989, 55 per cent of Calgarians voted for fluoridation, which began in 1991. A 1998 vote confirmed public support. But in February 2011, city council decided, without a plebiscite, to stop adjusting fluoride levels. Advocates of fluoridation were caught unawares since fluoride had not been a major issue in the October 2010 election.
So why did city council change its mind?
Calgary has always had an active group of fluoridation opponents. They are part of a larger international movement that claims adjusting fluoride in water is unsafe. Most scientists and health professionals affirm fluoridation’s safety, but the opponents worked hard to convince members of city council otherwise. Still, before 2011, they hadn’t succeeded in shifting the majority.
Two key developments helped change that. First was Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Surprisingly, the tragic natural disaster in the Gulf of Mexico affected Calgary’s water. It disrupted the North American supply of fluoride, which is a byproduct of phosphate fertilizer production, much of it based in Louisiana. Consequently, some cities in Canada and the U.S., including Calgary’s neighbour, Red Deer, had to stop fluoridation temporarily. Although Calgary maintained its supply, the disruption reignited public interest in the issue.
Second, Calgary’s fluoridation equipment was aging and due for a $20 million replacement. Unwilling to spend the money, council chose to stop fluoridating the water.
Unwilling to spend the money, council chose to stop fluoridating the water.
By 2016, consequences had emerged. A 2021 study led by Lindsay McLaren compared dental health in Calgary and Edmonton, which had kept fluoridation. The findings showed that after Calgary stopped fluoridation, children’s tooth decay worsened significantly compared to Edmonton.
Dentists had already begun sounding the alarm. In 2017, a group of citizens, led by Juliet Guichon, a University of Calgary professor of law and ethics, formed Calgarians for Kids’ Health. The grassroots group campaigned for fluoridation’s return, citing research showing that the measure reduces dental decay by about 25 per cent.
Soon, Calgary was being cited, both in Canada and around the world, as an example of the negative effects of removing fluoride. Even some city councillors, like Gian-Carlo Carra, said that with hindsight they would not have voted to end fluoridation. But city council still didn’t want to reverse its 2011 decision. So, it put the matter to Calgarians again. In 2021, Calgarians gave their strongest “yes” yet.
Now that water fluoridation is returning, some people wonder if Calgary’s fluoride wars are finally over. That may be optimistic.
Opponents remain active and are now bolstered by prominent supporters like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Even though supporters of fluoridation can celebrate their recent success, they will need to remain vigilant if they want to protect their victory.
If Calgary’s past is any clue, the controversy over fluoridation has a way of resurfacing in unexpected ways.
Original article online at: https://healthydebate.ca/2025/07/topic/calgary-fluoride-battle-isnt-over/