FLUORIDE ACTION NETWORK

FAN Bulletin 953: A HUGE victory in Dryden, Ontario

April 15, 2008

Yesterday the citizens of Dryden delivered a huge rejection to the notion of restarting fluoridation in their town. A massive majority said NO - 1902 versus 292. That's 87% to 13%.

This is an embarrassing defeat for Canada's chief dental officer Dr. Peter Cooney who spoke in Dryden on April 1 and did his best to persuade the citizens that fluoridation was safe and effective (see FAN bulletin #950, 4/7/08).

I spoke with one of the leaders of the citizens' campaign last night after the victory was declared - local pharmacist Rob Button -- and he said that they wanted to share what they have learned in this campaign with other communities in Ontario and Canada. He is looking forward to doing this at the FAN 3 conference in Toronto in August (details below). Are the dominos beginning to fall - the Niagara region in 2007; Quebec City on April 1, 2008 and now Dryden on April 14? How many more before August?

Congratulations to all the citizens of Dryden who made this wonderful victory possible.

Paul Connett