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In addition to voting for mayor, ward councillor and school board trustees, when Calgarians go to the polls this fall, they’ll be asked whether they’re in favour of reintroducing fluoridation of the municipal water supply.
The vote is non-binding, but city council will use it to inform future decisions.
Council also agreed that if a majority votes yes to the question, they’ll ask the mayor to write to the provincial government to ask them to take on the costs.
City staff say reintroducing fluoride would cost $30.1 million over a 20-year service life, but the cost wouldn’t drive water utility rates up.
Health — and dental health — fall under the province’s purview. Some council members said they were reluctant to wade into the fluoridation issue again because they say it’s the province’s responsibility to act.
Monday’s debate also saw Coun. Evan Woolley propose making the decision to restore fluoridation then and there, but council rejected that in an 8-6 vote.
Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he would have rather pulled the trigger now on putting fluoride back in Calgary’s water, saying he supports it as a public-health measure.
But he called putting it to the city electorate “the right thing to do.”
“We do have this history of plebiscites on fluoride,” he said. “It does make some sense that council took it out without asking people — but put it in only after a plebiscite the last time — to check the view of the public again.”
The municipal election is set for Oct. 18, 2021.
masmith@postmedia.com
Twitter: @meksmith
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