REGINA - Ahead of Friday’s special city council meeting regarding fluoride, here is a breakdown of the city’s previous decision, delegations, and more.
Back in 2021, city council passed a motion to implement fluoride in Regina’s water once upgrades to the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant were completed.
Those upgrades are expected to be completed in time for Jan. 2026.
In early March, Ward 10 Coun. Clark Bezo introduced a motion to reconsider the decision made in 2021.
At the time, Bezo said fluoride in drinking water was a concern he had heard while campaigning.
Bezo also spoke with medical experts on the matter, who suggested the risks of adding fluoride to water.
has presented is asking to postpone the fluoridation project for Regina's water supply "until there is conclusive evidence [that] there are no significant neurotoxic effects or other bodily harms."
Postponing the project would be a "proactive step" to safeguard the health of the community, particularly for children, it notes.
Delegates
There will be roughly 80 delegates either speaking or submitting a file for city council.
Some notable delegates include the College of Dental Surgeons of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) dental steering committee, dentists, organizations and more.
Gerry Uswak with the College of Dental Surgeons of Saskatchewan said while new research has suggested there is an association between fluoride and lower IQs, he noted they haven’t given enough strong evidence to associate fluoride as a risk.
Uswak believes more research is needed for evidence. However, he doesn’t support the decision to abandon adding fluoride to water.
The SHA’s dental steering committee also supports adding fluoride to water. "[We] recognize that [community water fluoride] (CWF) is a safe, effective and equitable public health measure in preventing tooth decay, regardless of age, social or economic status."
The committee uses a to showcase the effectiveness of fluoride.
"Children attending schools in communities with fluoridated water had significantly fewer cavities and tooth decay than communities without it."
Other delegates are strongly opposed to CWF, including Dr. Griffin Cole, who’s been a dentist for over 30 years.
Cole points out by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) links fluoride to confirmed cognitive impairments in babies/children.
fluoridation could increase the number of children with no tooth decay by only 3 per cent.
The Fluoride Action Network, a nonpartisan organization made up of 5,500 medical and scientific professionals, .
"Children of mothers with higher fluoride exposures during pregnancy had double the odds of several neurobehavioral problems compared to mothers with lower exposures."
The group also stated that a cavity can be repaired, but brain damage is permanent, with lifelong issues.
Decision making
Mayor Chad Bachynski said he expects everyone on council to listen to all the information received to make their decision.
In a recent interview, Ward 5 Coun. Sarah Turnbull said the challenging part of the discussion is finding a middle ground.
"How can we solve this? What harm could this potentially cause?"
A poll done by Spadina Strategies suggested a divide between Regina residents on fluoride in drinking water.
Fifty-two per cent of residents surveyed are in favour of fluoride, while 31 per cent of residents weren’t.
Another 17 per cent of residents were unsure of their decision.
Spadina Strategies said the margin of error for the poll is plus or minus 5.20 per cent.
With a lot of information to take in, city council could be forced to push their decision until Monday.
