Honourable Kathleen Wynne
Premier of Ontario
Room 281
111 Wellesley St. West
Toronto, ON M7A 1A1

Dear Kathleen,

The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) is pleased to submit for your review a resolution and backgrounder developed by RNAO’s Community Health Nurses Initiatives Group (CHNIG), asking that the regulations for Ontario’s Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002 be amended to mandate the fluoridation of municipal drinking supplies at the optimal concentration of 0.7 ppm or a range of 0.5 ppm to 0.8 ppm. This resolution was approved by RNAO’s membership at our 2012 annual general meeting and subsequently acknowledged as RNAO’s highest priority resolution by RNAO’s Board of Directors.

Fluoridation of drinking water is widely supported by major health, medical and dental organizations in Canada and around the world. RNAO has reviewed the relevant literature and understands the scientific evidence supporting and disputing this recommendation. We have found there is consistent evidence supporting its benefit in reducing dental caries, while associated health risks are manageable at optimal fluoride concentrations. Further, the evidence points to fluoride’s reduction of the dental health gap between higher and lower income people.

This initiative is expected to improve overall health as well as dental health. Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Arlene King has pointed out: “As tooth decay is the single most common chronic disease among Canadians of all ages and poor oral health is linked to diabetes, heart disease and respiratory conditions, water fluoridation is, and must be recognized as, a very important public health measure.”

Kathleen, we very much thank you for your attention to this issue of importance to registered nurses and we urge you to amend the regulations under the Safe Drinking Water Act. We have attached the backgrounder of CHNIG’s resolution for your review. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions about this recommendation.

Warm regards,

Doris Grinspun, RN, MSN, PhD, LLD(hon), O.ONT.
Chief Executive Officer
Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario

cc: Honourable Deb Matthews, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
Honourable Linda Jeffrey, Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing
Tim Hudak, Leader of the Official Opposition
Andrea Horwath, Leader of the Third Party

*Original online at http://fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/canada.rnao_.8-12-13.pdf

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