Another day: Case seeking injunction to stop fluoridation of Calgary’s water adjourned

It’s only been 10 days since Calgary began fluoridating the water once again, and already opponents are taking to the courts to stop it.

A group seeking an injunction to stop the fluoridation of Calgary’s water will have to try again after a Court of King’s Bench justice told them she was adjourning their case.

Safe Water Calgary arrived in court without the proper documents filed or notice given to the courts for their action.

City lawyer Colleen Sinclair sought for the case to be dismissed, telling court, “There’s no cause of action as to what the city did wrong when making this decision (to return fluoride to the water).”

Justice Caroline Magnan offered the group a chance to regroup by setting the new date.

Safe Water Calgary believes fluoridation is a public health threat and says the risk of damage is not worth the dental benefit.

“It’s not safe, it’s not effective and we have good science to prove that,” said Dr. Robert Dickson, founder of Safe Water Calgary.

Dickson has been a controversial figure in the anti-fluoride scene for years.

Earlier this year, he retired as a physician shortly after being sanctioned by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta.

Dickson had faced four charges from the college.

Three were dropped, but he admitted to a charge saying he did “impugn the credibility or integrity of medical and dental colleagues who supported the practice of fluoridating drinking water.”

Adding fluoride to Calgary’s drinking water has long been a contentious issue.

Calgarians most recently had their say in 2021 during a plebiscite, with 62 per cent voting in favour of reintroducing fluoride back into the water system.

Since then, the city has spent more than $28 million to upgrade both water treatment plants to be able to add in the fluoride.

Safe Water Calgary believes the question of fluoridation should not be decided at the ballot box.

“205,000 people back in 2021 are now dictating policy for 1.6 million people who didn’t vote for it back then,” said Dickson.

Many dentists and dental organizations say research and data prove the benefits of fluoridated water.

“When you look at it, then you can see the evidence is so overwhelmingly in favour of fluoride,” said Dr. Jim Dickinson, physician at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine.

“Perhaps the best example would be Singapore, which has been 100 per cent fluoridated for the past 40 years now. They wouldn’t be doing that if that was causing trouble for their children. It’s a very successful country, so I think that demonstrates that this is not a harmful problem.”

Safe Water Calgary says if its attempt to see an injunction fails, it will consider a lawsuit against the City of Calgary.

Meanwhile, Dickson says the group is lobbying the provincial government, claiming it has met with the premier, the minister of justice and the health minister and had positive sessions with each.

It also aims to introduce a motion at the next UCP AGM calling for a province-wide ban on fluoridation.

(With files from Hannah Lepine and Mason DePatie)